Einstein vs. Emanuel Lasker, Part 1: Einstein and Chess.
Sometimes, it is quite common for anecdotes to spread and evolve through the years via word of mouth about famous personalities such as artists, scientists, philosophers or even politicians, in which unusual events or situations are recounted and told that are outside of what is commonly known about them officially, and which are taken as truthful within popular culture. Whether it is because of how implausible or incredible they may seem or because such tales can appear to be the perfect answer to a typical trivia question.
Debunking myths
In keeping with the above, within the global chess community, there are various anecdotes that claim that the German physicist Albert Einstein participated in public chess games and even played against none other than Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist and director of the Manhattan Project considered the Father of the Atomic Bomb.
—Albert Einstein walking outdoors with J. Robert Oppenheimer 1921.
Source: https://www.lbi.org/griffinger/record/243798
The anecdote surrounding Robert Oppenheimer is a popular story that has circulated for years on the internet and other media. According to this story, Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer played a game of chess together in 1933 at the University of California, Berkeley, where the latter was a professor. It is said that Einstein visited Berkeley in 1933 and Oppenheimer learned that Einstein was an avid chess player. Oppenheimer, who was also a strong player, challenged Einstein to a game of chess, and Einstein accepted.
It is said that the game was very intense and closely contested, and that both players showed a high level of skill and strategy. In the end, Einstein achieved an impressive victory, which surprised Oppenheimer and the other onlookers. The story also claims that after the game, Oppenheimer felt inspired to work harder in his scientific career, motivated by the skill and creativity that Einstein demonstrated in chess. It is said that Oppenheimer even became a more passionate player after his game with Einstein.
I have observed that in several websites written in both English and Spanish, the story of the chess match between Einstein and Oppenheimer is said to have taken place in Princeton. However, based on the available information here in Japan, there is no historical evidence that Oppenheimer visited Princeton in 1933 and met with Einstein there. In fact, it is known that Oppenheimer visited Princeton University in 1935 when Albert Einstein was already working there, and during that visit there is a famous anecdote that says that both of them mocked the university town, saying:
"Solipsistic lights shining in a separate and impotent desolation."
—Albert and Elsa Einstein receiving California Governor James Rolph, Jr. and reporters
in front of their rented house in Pasadena, early 1931.
Source: https://www.einstein.caltech.edu/
Now, Robert Oppenheimer was a professor at the University of California from 1929 to 1947. It is also well known that Albert Einstein fled Germany in 1933 and emigrated to the United States in the autumn of the same year, arriving in New York on 17 October 1933. Furthermore, there are historical records indicating that Einstein was in California in 1931. However, I have been unable to find photographs of Albert and Oppenheimer together in 1933. Most of the historical photographs of the two of them date from after World War II. It is possible that Einstein visited the University of California in 1933, given that he was already in the United States, and also, since there exists a photograph of the two of them together from 1921, it is correct that they knew each other since then.
There's another popular anecdote about a supposed chess game between Einstein and a player named Sell, which some sources claim took place in 1930 and others in 1913 in Hamburg. However, just like with the story of the game against Oppenheimer, there is no solid evidence to support its veracity. Some websites argue that the 1913 date is more likely, but there are no historical records that support the claim that Albert Einstein was in Hamburg in 1913, although he did attend the Second Solvay Conference in Brussels that same year.
—Second Solvay Conference 1913.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
On the other hand, there are historical records that indicate that Einstein visited Hamburg in September 1914 to give a series of lectures at the University of Hamburg. Perhaps the real game took place in 1914 against a student from the aforementioned university, but it's difficult to verify the story of the chess game against Sell. Moreover, the story has been the subject of debate among chess experts, and some have pointed out that the story seems to be an invention designed to enhance Einstein's reputation as a chess player, rather than a true and verifiable story.
On the other hand, some websites claim that the alleged match between Einstein and Sell took place in the city of Zurich in 1913. Below, I present what is believed to have been this match.
Emanuel Lasker and Albert Einstein
—Emanuel Lasker, date: ???
Source: Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame.
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess grandmaster and mathematician who reigned as world champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921. During his career, Lasker developed an innovative and strategic style of play that led him to win many important tournaments. Additionally, he wrote several books on chess and pioneered the use of psychology in the game. His legacy in chess is enormous, and he is considered one of the most influential and important players in the history of the game.
It is known that Einstein and Lasker met in Berlin in 1921 (although some sources suggest it was much earlier, around 1918) and maintained a friendship for several years. In fact, it is said that Lasker influenced the way Einstein thought about and applied the theory of relativity to physics. In a letter that Einstein wrote to Lasker in 1931, Einstein said:
"I cannot explain how your chess influenced my thinking, but it certainly did."
In the same letter, Einstein asked Lasker if he could send him some of his writings on the theory of relativity for him to read and give his opinion.
One of the most famous anecdotes is that Einstein and Lasker used to play chess together at the Berlin Chess Club. One day, while playing, Lasker asked Einstein if he knew how the knight moved in the game. Einstein replied that he did, but Lasker asked again, explaining that he wanted to hear how a physicist described the knight's movement. Einstein replied:
"The knight moves in a non-uniform gravitational field"
And Lasker laughed at the response, saying that it was a very complicated way to describe the knight's movement.
A glance at a reference book of the time ─ Ranneforths Schach-Kalender 1925, for example ─ shows that a number of Berlin chess clubs met in cafés and restaurants throughout the city. However, there was an area which was of particular significance, namely the section of Friedrichstrasse between Unter den Linden to Leipzigerstrasse, and several cross streets.
—Some of the places where Albert Einstein and Emanuel Lasker most likely met to play Chess.
Source: https://en.chessbase.com/post/a-rich-chess-life-berlin-chess-cafs-1920-1933
The map shows the Café Bauer on the south-east corner of Unter den Linden at Friedrichstrasse. It had been an important chess venue in the 19th century, but by the period under discussion it had been sold. The Equitable building shown at the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Leipzigerstrasse was the venue for several cafés and numerous chess events.
23 October 1931: The chess match
The chess game between Emanuel Lasker and Albert Einstein is said to have taken place on October 23, 1931, at Lasker's home in Berlin, Germany. The event was organized by the Berlin Chess Club and took place during a time of political turmoil in Germany. At that time, the country was in the midst of an economic and political crisis, and the Nazi party was gaining support throughout the country. The game became a moment of distraction for many Germans, and the newspapers and magazines of the time gave extensive coverage to the event, making it a highlight in the history of chess and German popular culture.
The game itself was seen as a friendly encounter between two brilliant minds, and was played in a spirit of camaraderie. Lasker won the game after Einstein made a mistake in move 23, but the defeat did not affect the friendship between the two men.
It is important to note that even if the story of the chess game is true, any written or recorded record of the moves made in the game may have been lost. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, the time in which the possible event took place was a very unstable period in Germany, with Hitler's rise to power on January 30, 1933, practically all information about events, texts, and other works related to Jewish figures were lost. Both Lasker and Einstein were Jewish, so it is feasible to assume that all photographs or publications from that time related to that game may have been lost. However, unlike the previously mentioned cases about the alleged games of Albert Einstein against Robert Oppenheimer and Sell, this game between Emanuel Lasker and Albert Einstein is considered more plausible because the context and conditions in which it occurred are more logical and consistent with known historical records about both characters.
—Adolf Hitler is welcomed by supporters at Nuremberg in 1933. Getty Images
Source: https://time.com/5884522/hitler-ascent-lesson/
Thank you for reading this text, it is my first publication in English language, I hope you enjoyed it and wait for the second part!
—Hitomi Katsuragi
Von: 桂木 仁美 👑
