Moritz Porges ( 1859 - 1909) Chess Player

Moritz Porges (b. 23/3/1857, d. Prague 27/11/1909) was a Czech chess player.

He belongs to the family tree of Natan Porges (Prague 1470)

His championship game against Emanuer Lasker (Nuremberg 20/07/1896) is quoted in many chess anthologies.

https://www.geni.com/people/Moritz-Porges/6000000015120465983?through=6000000111188137821

NÜRNBERG 1896
Nürnberg 1896 should have become a German Chess Congress, but the local chess club took over the organisation and included no minor groups.
Thirty-nine players wanted to participate in the master competition, nineteen were allowed.
When Burn withdrew, Charousek took his place.
The contest coincided with the Bayerischen Landesausstellung.
Nineteen rounds were played in the premises of the Museum Society from 20 vii until 9 viii.
A tempo of thirty moves in two hours was applied in the morning.
Games were resumed in the afternoon with a time limit of fifteen moves per hour and continued until the end.
The main prizes went to Lasker (3000 M), Maróczy (2000 M), Tarrasch and Pillsbury (each 1250 M), Janowsky (600 M), Steinitz (300 M), Walbrodt and Schlechter (each 100 M).
The level and rules were similar to Hastings 1895.
 

Standing: Lasker, Charousek, Schlechter, two organisers, Janowsky, Maróczy, Marco, Showalter, three organisers
Seated: Albin, Porges, Chigorin, Tarrasch, Winawer, Steinitz, Blackburne, Schallopp, Schiffers, Pillsbury, Walbrodt, Teichmann
 
Lasker had a better result than in Hastings, because he won by one point instead of trailing the winner by the same margin.
The world champion was on his way to complete superiority in super tournaments.
Tarrasch regarded five games won by Lasker as ‘lucky’.
An important example was Lasker - Chigorin. Tarrasch underestimated the importance of tactics.
Later Lasker was characterised as a ‘psychologist’, who made errors in order to confuse the opponent.
That was even more naive. 

His championship records :
Number of games in database: 18
Years covered: 1892 to 1896
Overall record: +4 -9 =5 (36.1%)*

http://www.chessgames.com/player/moritz_porges.html

The Porges Lasker game (Nuremberg 20/07/1896)

Last time we discussed how to build an attack. You will recall that an important attacking element is the threat. By stringing threats together on each successive move, you’ll be able to add more and more pressure until something snaps. You’ll break through and earn a well-deserved victory.
Alertness is all-important. If you don’t seize the opportunity it will likely vanish forever. And, your opponent may build an attack with threats of her own. I highly recommend going over master games — especially games from long ago — to learn how the master’s sharp play brings marvelous victories.
The following game was played over 100 years ago between M. Porges and world champion Emanuel Lasker (with black). Lasker loved to catch his napping opponents with a surprise attacks. Let’s see how he does it.
1. e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 Nf6
4. 0-0 Nxe4
5. d4 Be7
6. Qe2 Nd6
7. Bxc6 bxc6
8. dxe5 Nb7
9. b3 0-0
10. Bb2 d5!
11. exd6 e.p. cxd6
12. Nbd2 Re8
13. Rfe1 Bd7
14. Ne4?

Black to move
   
White sees no danger. After all, black’s pieces are not even past the second rank. But watch how Lasker plays sharply. By using a threat with every move he totally transforms the position.
14 … d5 (the first on many threats)
15. Ned2 The knight must retreat because 15. Ng3 Bb4 wins the exchange.
15. … Ba3
This powerful discovery produces two threats and limits white’s choice to a single move.
16. Be5 f6 (Notice how sometimes the threat is a very simple move. Simple, but effective.)
17. Qa6
Unable to respond directly to Lasker’s latest threat, white creates threats of his own.
17. … fxe5
18. Qxa3 e4
White has avoided losing material. However, the threats keep coming. And, compare Lasker’s pawns now to how they looked in the previous diagram. What an improvement!
19. Nd4 Qf6!

Yes! Lasker gains time yet again and prepares to launch a kingside attack.
20. c3 Rf8
Having completed his work in the e-file, the rook teams up with the queen on the f-file.
21. f3
White would prefer not to loosen up his kingside like this. But, what else can he do? On 21. Rf1 Qg5 followed by 22. … Bh3 wins the exchange. Or the unnatural 21. Re2 is met by c5 22. Nc2 Bg4 (or 22. … Qxc3 first).21. … Qg5 (Never letting up on those threats) 22. Qc1 Nc5!
Now it’s the knight’s turn to get into the act. There’s now a strong threat of winning the exchange with 23. … Nd3.
23. Nf1 Qg6
Lasker avoids the queen trade and simply repeats the threat of 24. … Nd3. Also, 24. … exf3 is threatened as well. It’s a common mistake among juniors to trade queens too readily. As you can see, Lasker’s queen is important to the attack.
24. Re3 Nd3With each move Lasker improves the position and coordination of his pieces. On the other hand, white’s pieces look like they’ve been tossed in a blender.
25. Qd1 Nf4
26. Ng3 h5!The white knight won’t be able to stay on g3.
27. Nde2

Black to move
   
Desperate to remove the black knight, white temporarily weakens his f3 square. Lasker knows that strong positions often enable winning sacrifices. Ever on the alert for the opportunity, he uncovers a very nice "sac" which breaks open the kingside.
27. … Nxg2!
Now the king reluctantly takes a walk.
28. Kxg2 exf3+
29. Rxf3 Bh3+!
30. Kxh3
30 Kf2 holds out longer. But after 30. … Bg4! Lasker’s attack rages ahead and soon he’ll play h4 to dislodge the knight on g3. This is a fun position to test your analyzing ability.
30. … Qg4+!
31. Kg2 Qxf3+
32. Kg1 h4
33. Nh1Or, you might prefer to end it with
33. Nf1 h3 followed by 34. … Qg2 mate.
33. … Qe3+ Resigns For
34. Kg2 allows the black h-pawn to do the honors.
Being sharp is a lot more fun than being dull. You can learn how to be sharp by going over games of the chess masters from long ago. May you too enjoy the thrill of sharp play.

Moritz Porges vs Wilfried Paulsen
DSB-07.Kongress 1892  ·  Sicilian, Kan (B42)  ·  1-0

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1265871

Plots 1-2-1 & 1b
This grave is the oldest Porges stone in the cemetery.
Photo : 1993

http://www.porges.net/PorgesGravesNJC.html