Consultation miniatures

We present for the consideration of our readers two recent games serving as evidence that the old saying, "Two heads are better than one" is not necessarily true in our world of chess.  The game is so complex, and the opportunities to go astray so numerous, that even a team of accomplished players working in consultation can at times suffer a speedy loss - speedier, even, than any individual member of the group might have suffered if playing alone.  Such are the dangers involved when attempting to amalgamate disparate viewpoints into a single coherent plan.

In the first example, played on the 21st ult. in England, Messrs. Saunders and Ed. Lasker defeated Messrs. Field and White by means of an attractive central breakthrough:

 

The second example is perhaps even more striking, as it was played by correspondence in the ongoing match between teams from Williams College and Yale University, a circumstance that might be thought to minimize, if not eliminate, the possibility of swift catastrophe.  Nevertheless, that is indeed what occurred here.  Our understanding is that Yale currently leads the contest by a score of 2-0, with the game below representing the first victory for the New Haven men.