Edward Lasker

(1885-1981)

U.S. Chess

Hall of Fame

Inducted 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1914, Edward Lasker emigrated from Germany to the United States, where he soon became one of America’s top early 20th-century players. Lasker won five U.S. Open Chess Championships (1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921), which were then known as the Western Open. In 1923, he challenged Frank Marshall to a match for the U.S. Chess Championship and narrowly lost, 8.5-9.5. Lasker popularized chess through his books, including Chess for Fun & Chess for Blood (1942), Chess Secrets I Learned from the Masters (1951), and The Adventure of Chess (1959). His Schachstrategie (1911), later published in English as Chess Strategy (1915), was an influential primer on the game that went through many editions.

 

Notable Games

Photographer unknown
Gisela Gresser, Edward Lasker, and Maurice Wertheim
c 1940s
Collection of World Chess Hall of Fame
 
Bain News Service
Edward Lasker
Date unknown
Collection of World Chess Hall of Fame