Edward Lasker

He waived his right to exemption, which he said would make his American citizenship be granted more quickly; however, the war was over before he was called up to military service. Read Less

However, later the additional name Lasker was given to him to distinguish him from another Meier Hindels also living in Lask. Samuel Lasker moved to another Polish village, Kepno, in 1769, after it had been captured by Frederick the Great and became a German township, and I am the last descendant of his who was born there. He was the greatgrandfather of my greatgrandfather. His first-born son left Kepmen sic-Kempen and moved to Jarotschin, another Polish village, and Emanuel Lasker was that one's greatgrandson.

Lasker was deeply impressed by Go. He first read about it in a magazine article by Korschelt which suggested Go as a rival to chess, a claim that he found amusing. Later on his interest was piqued again when he noticed the record of a Go game on the back of a Japanese newspaper being read by a customer of a cafe where they played chess. He and his friend Dr. Max Lange (1883–1923) – not to be confused with the more famous 19th century chess master Max Lange – took the paper after he had left, and deciphered the diagram, but the game was not complete. The position led them to assume that the notation under the game would indicate a Black victory, but being unable to read Japanese, they had to ask another Japanese customer at the cafe. To their surprise, it was a resignation by Black. Read Less