Lasker's Double Bishop Sacrifice

Emanuel Lasker was twenty years old and playing in one of his first serious international tournaments when he sat down against the German amateur Johann Bauer in the first round at Amsterdam in August 1889. The game that followed introduced a sacrificial pattern that has been named after Lasker ever since, even though later research turned up isolated earlier examples.

After building a quiet attacking position with 1.f4 and a fianchettoed bishop on b2, Lasker breaks open Bauer's king with 14.Nh5, and when Black captures, White answers with 15.Bxh7+, giving up the first bishop to drag the king into the open. After 15...Kxh7 16.Qxh5+ Kg8, Lasker gives up the second bishop with 17.Bxg7, and once the black king has been stripped of both defenders, the queen and rook finish the job alone. It is the double bishop sacrifice in its purest, textbook form: two pieces for two or three pawns, followed by mating threats that keep coming faster than Black can find only moves to stop them.

This is one of the most frequently taught patterns in chess instruction precisely because Lasker's version is so clean. Club players who learn to recognise the shape, a bishop on b2 or b7, a knight ready to land on h5 or h4, and a king still on g8 or g1, will spot the same sacrifice appear in their own games for the rest of their playing life.