[Event "Nuremberg"] [Site "?"] [Round "0"] [White "Charousek"] [Black "Lasker"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C33"] [Opening "KGA: Bishop's Gambit, Bledow, 4.Bxd5"] {8. CHAROUSEK (1873-1900) Charosek died young, and his immense talent never was given a chance to fully ripen. It is said that as a schoolboy he found Bilguer's great Handbuch in a public library and copied out the whole thousand or so pages, memorizing much of it in the process. It is a strange story, but this Hungarian was a strange figure. His handling of the openins, his feeling for position and his flair for combination place him in the company of Morphy, Pillsbury and Alekhine Although he lived at a time when the gambits offered fewer chances than had been the case in Morphy's day, he showed a marked liking for gambit play. Charousek's prime lasted only about two years (1896-97) . The last three years of his life were a losing battle with tuberculosis} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 d5 4. Bxd5 Qh4+ 5. Kf1 g5 6. Nf3 Qh5 7. h4 Bg7 { Black's treatment of White's opening shows clearly why the gambits went out of fashion at the end of the last centure: Black has promptly returned the pawn in order to be able to develop hispieces} 8. Nc3 c6 9. Bc4 Bg4 10. d4 Nd7 ( 10... h6 {Maroczy}) 11. Kf2 $1 Bxf3 12. gxf3 O-O-O 13. hxg5 Qxg5 14. Ne2 { Winning the f-pawn. Black's only chance now is to make something out of the insecurity of White's Kingposition} 14... Qe7 15. c3 Ne5 16. Qa4 Nxc4 17. Qxc4 Nf6 18. Bxf4 Nd7 19. Qa4 a6 20. Qa5 Nf8 21. Ng3 { Charousek keeps a firm grip on the game} 21... Ne6 22. Nf5 Qf8 23. Bg3 Rd7 ( 23... Bf6 24. d5 cxd5 25. exd5 Qc5+ 26. Qxc5+ Nxc5 27. Nd6+ $18) 24. Nxg7 Qxg7 25. Qe5 Qxe5 26. Bxe5 f6 27. Bxf6 Rf8 28. Rh6 Nf4 29. Ke3 Ng2+ 30. Kd2 Rdf7 31. e5 Nf4 32. Rah1 {White wins without difficulty. This game - against the reigning world champion and the winner of the tournament - must have given Charousek great satisfaction} 32... Rg8 33. c4 Ne6 34. Ke3 Nf8 35. d5 Rd7 36. e6 1-0