Capablanca

The young mathematician would wrest the world chess title from Austria’s Wilhelm Steinitz in 1894 and hold the crown for a record 27 years before he was dethroned by Jose Raul Capablanca in 1921.

Lasker was, of course, the ex-world champ, having lost the crown to Jose Capablanca two years earlier.

Like many of Capablanca’s best wins, there’s no spectacular brilliancy here, but a world-class opponent is still rendered helpless in less than 30 moves.

To see a great champion at the very peak of his powers, check out Capablanca’s win in London against well-known Russian master and author Eugene Znosko-Borovsky.

Na4!, another of Capablanca’s signature “petite combinaciones” — tactical touches in the service of harmonious positional whole.