Loman-Lasker, A Missed Opportunity for Immortality, and a Measure of Redemption
You probably haven't heard of Rudolf Johannes Loman (1861-1932). He isn't among the greats, but he was a pretty good player in the late 19th and early 20th century, winning a very early Dutch Championship in 1912. He was strong enough to score against some elite players, too, though he took many more lumps against them than he dished out. For example, he won a couple of games against Frank Marshall and defeated Joseph Henry Blackburne once; he also managed a draw with Richard Teichmann and four draws with future world champion Max Euwe. He even managed to win simul games against Emanuel Lasker and Jose Capablanca - more about which anon.
In Amsterdam 1889, Loman faced Lasker in a tournament game, five years before the latter became the world champion. (This was the same tournament where Lasker beat Johann Bauer with the famous double bishop sacrifice. Lasker did well in the tournament, but finished second to Amos Burn. Burn scored 7/8, Lasker was a point behind, and Loman finished with a -2 score.) Lasker won, and quickly, but Loman missed a chance - and what a chance! (Click here to see the bare game score and see if you can figure out for yourself what he missed, and then look at the next game entry to see the answer.)
That wasn't quite the end of the story, though. While it was only a simul, Loman managed to turn the tables with a trick that's well known to the present day. Lasker had achieved a winning ending, and Loman was reduced to a series of spite checks - or so it seemed. In the immortal words of the clickbait masters, you won't believe what happened next...(but you can find out by checking the third entry in the game file).