The Prussian King (later Emperor) William I made a joke out of the confusion by saying, "Good morning, dear Heydebrand.

His friend Paul Rudolf von Bilguer, responsible for the original plan, had died in 1840, with the work still in the early stages.

In the course of his researches he traveled extensively (including a trip around the world in 1887–88) and accumulated a comprehensive chess library, to which he published a catalog in 1896.

One of von der Lasa's last services was to encourage H. J. R. Murray to pursue further researches into the early history of chess.

Von der Lasa died on 27 July 1899 in Storchnest bei Lissa, Posen (then in Prussia, now Osieczna in Poland).