City of London Chess Club Championship Final, continued

We present a further selection of games from this annual event, widely considered in Albion to rank second only to the British Championship in terms of prestige and strength.  Our understanding is that some games have been scheduled at the mutual convenience of the players involved, so that not all competitors have completed the same number of rounds, a circumstance which renders determining the current standings a difficult affair.  We shall of course inform our readers of the final results of this tourney as soon as they come to hand.

Here Mr. Cole defeats Mr. Ward in a game featuring a most hotly-contested finish.  White's 37th and 38th moves required steady nerves indeed, as the Black attack appeared most threatening:

Next, Herr Edward Lasker employs a slow but powerful central advance to take the full point from Mr. O.C. Müller:

In the following contest Mr. Cole conducts a spirited attack against Mr. Walker.  (Our own Herr Fritz discovered the pretty resource 25.Ng5 for White, which, while perhaps not fully sufficient, might still have offered the first player better chances to resist.  See the notes for a few apposite variations):

Finally, we must present a correction, yet one which creates a bit of a mystery.  We are informed by Mr. G.A. Thomas that the score of the pawn endgame won by him from Mr Cole, which we took verbatim from sources in Britain, was incorrect.  Mr. Thomas further states that the move 49.Kc4, as given in the incorrect version of the score, would not have led to a win, owing to the reply 49...Ka5, and that 49.Kb4, as played, represented the path to victory.  So it did, and yet, as was demonstrated by the analysis of members of our club presented in our original publication of this fine endgame, the move 49.Kc4 does indeed win for White, and quite nicely.  We reproduce the game below, having now included the conclusion as supplied by Mr. Thomas, while also leaving intact the analysis of our clubmates, which, though now rendered moot in terms of the actual play, nevertheless possesses much interest and beauty: