The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein Volume 1 - J. Donaldson & N. Minev.pdf

The

Life & Games of

Akiva Rubinstein Volume 1: Uncrowned King IM John Donaldson IM Nikolay Minev

2006 Russell Enterprises, Inc. Milford, CT USA

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein Volume 1: Uncrowned King ©

Copyright 2006

John Donaldson and Nikolay Minev All Rights Reserved ISBN 10: 1-888690-29-1 ISBN 13: 978-1-888690-29-3

P ublished by: Russell Enterprises, Inc. P.O. Box 5460 Milford, CT 06460 USA http://www.chesscafe.com [email protected]

Cover design by Janel Lowrance P rinted in the United States of America

Table of Contents Introduction to the Second Edition Introduction to the First Edition A Rubinstein Primer Tournament and Match Record 1 882- 1 904: The Young Rubinstein 1 905 St. Petersburg 1 906 Lodz 1 906 Ostende 1 906 1 907 1 907-08 Vienna 1 908 Prague 1 908 Lodz 1 908 Rubinstein-Marshall Match 1 908 St. Petersburg 1 909 Rubinstein-Mieses 1 909 Vi lna 1 909 Warsaw 1 909 1910 San Sebastian 1 9 1 1 Carlsbad 1 9 1 1 Warsaw City Championship 1 9 1 1 San Sebastian 1 9 1 2 Pistyan 1 9 1 2 Breslau 1 9 1 2 Vilna 1 9 1 2 The Years o f World War I 1919 1 920 N on-Tourn ament Games 1 906- 1 920 Addendum Bibliography Players Index Openings Index ECO Codes Ind ex Annotator Index Ind ex of Illustrations General Ind ex

4 6 9 10 12 33 43 51 58 76 1 17 1 26 1 40 1 53 1 66 1 75 1 98 203 209 210 217 227 244 246 259 268 28 1 296 323 3 36 3 54 377 3 87 3 89 3 92 393 3 95 396 397

Introduction to the Second Edition This year marks the one hundred and first anniversary of Akiva Rubinstein's re­ ceiving the master title at Barm en. As we noted in the first edition, it might seem a bit strange to devote so much attention to a player from so long ago. The an­ swer, we believe, is that in many ways Rubinstein was a truly m odem player and his gam es are sti ll very relevant today. This is an opinion not only held by us. Two recent books concerned with some of the greatest players of all time, My Great Predecessors: Part 1 by Garry Kasparov and Learn from the Legends by M ihail Marin both devote chapters to Rubinstein. Am ong today 's top players Boris Gelfand has mentioned on m ore than one occasion that the great Akiva is one of his heroes and it is no accident that he and many other top players readily contrib­ uted to Viktor Glatm an's Akiba Rubinstein's Chess Academy. The eleven years that have past since the publication of our first volume on Rubinstein have yielded some new inform ation. Nick Pope deserves credit for the biggest find, unearthing five new games of Rubinstein's from the m ammoth Ostende 1 906 tournam ent. There are several events from Rubinstein's early ca­ reer, where quite a few games are m iss ing, but Ostende 1 906 is the only one played in Western Europe. Thanks to Nick's find we now have 1 9 games and fragments of the 30 Rubinstein played in the Belgian port. It's likely that th is is how things will stand as Tony Gillam has spent many years researching Ostende 1 906 and recently published a book on the event. Alan Sm ith has found the rem aining m oves of Rubinstein-Nim zovitch , San Sebastian 1 9 1 2, and Per Skj oldager has discovered the actual position of th e ad­ j ourned game Rubinstein-Nimzovitch, Vilna 1 9 1 2, along with comm ents about the gam e from Nimzo's column in the Rigaer Rundschau. These comm ents from the original Germ an have been translated by Hans Baruch and give a good idea of what happened in the game (we have no actual m oves). It's likely that scraps of information l ike these are precisely the new discoveries researchers will make in the future. M ost primary source m aterial has been thor­ oughly picked over, the exception being some years of the Neue Lodzer Zeitung. The chess column of this paper, which appeared in the Saturday supplement, is potentially a gold m ine of material regarding Rubinstein's early career. In theory libraries in Poland plus those in maj or cities of the Russian empire like Hel sinki, Riga. Moscow and St. Petersburg would all be likely repositories but one hun­ dred years and m any upheavals have made it a hard to find item . One bright spot for Rubinstein fans look ing for new m aterial comes from the generosity of S imon Constam . Several d ecades ago Simon did a tremendous am ount of research on R ubinstein. He spent time in Holland and Belgian at vari­ ous libraries and befriend ed Rubinstein's sons Jonas and Samm y. I n this book yo u will find som e o f h is d is co veries from Ak iva 's tour of Holland in 1920 in4

eluding a fragment from the Rotterdam Quadrangular and som e very interesting non-tournam ent efforts. A curiosity from the early 20th century was the practice of strong local players taking every chance they had to play a visiting hero. This m ight m ean the local would not only face the master in a tournament but also in consultation games and even simuls! One of the players to do this in Holland, Rubinstein's country­ m en Sam uel Factor, would soon m ove to the United States where he won several Western Chess Association championships. Volum e 2 will have many m ore of Sim on's finds including over a dozen pictures from the Rubinstein fam ily ar­ chives and numerous training gam es between Akiva and his younger son Sammy. Note that we have ch anged the spelling of Rubinstein's name for this volum e from Akiba t o Akiva, a s i t appears i n Jewish sources. We are currently working on the second edition of volume two, which will cover the rem ainder of Rubinstein 's life ( 1 92 1 - 1 96 1 ) and would love to hear from read­ ers who m ight have any of the following games: Gothenburg 1 920/2 1 : Appel berg. Triberg 1 92 1 : Selez niev-R (rd 1 ), Selezniev-R (rd 4) and Spielm ann-R (rd 6) Hastings 1 922/23: Yates and E.G. Sergeant. . Southport 1 924: Wright. London 1 925: both gam es with Thomas. Lodz 1 927: Kohn, Bl ass and Friedman. Warsaw 1 927: Makarczyk Chicago 1 928: any from the simul R m ost likely gave in m id-March. Rogaska Slatina 1 929: Mar6czy, and Honlinger. Prague Olympiad 1 93 1 : Erdelyi, E. Steiner, and Grunfeld. Antwerp 1 93 1 : Baert, De Mey, and Perquin. War saw (?) 1 93 1 : match with H . Friedman ??? Please contact us at imwj d@ aol.com or John Donaldson - Mechanics ' Chess Di­ rector, 57 Post Street, Room 408, San Francisco, CA 94 1 04. We would like to thank all of our helpers from the previous edition and add Ricardo Alvarez Cela, Simon Constam , Nathan Divinsky, Mark Donlan, Anthony Gillam, Burt Hochberg, Peter Holmgren, Holly Lee, Jason Luchan, Michael Negele, Nick Pope, Per Skjoldager, Alan Sm ith and Edward Winter for this volume. This book is fond ly ded icated to Holly Lee and Elena Minev. John Donaldson Nikolay Minev August 2006 5

Introduction to the First Edition The name Akiva Rubinstein is certainly fam iliar to chess players around the world , but one m ight still wonder why the authors have spent so much tim e and energy on a player whose career ended over 60 years ago and who never even played , m uch less won, a match for the world championship. The answers are not hard to find . Akiva Kielowicz Rubinstein, Paul Keres and Viktor Korchnoi belong to a very select club: they are the strongest players never to become world champion. While Keres and Korchnoi had their chances at the title, Rubinstein was denied the opportunity. One might well call the great Akiva the strongest player to never have a shot at the crown. However, playing strength isn 't everything, and while Rubinstein will always be rem em bered for his great sporting results - especially 1 9 1 2, the m agic year when he won four big tournam ents - his contributions to the gam e went well beyond the accumulation of points and prizes. Rubinstein was as much an artist as a fighter and his best games compare favor­ ably with those of the greatest players of all time. His influence on the m od ern opening, m idd legame, and endgame is imm ense. Tod ay, system s in the N imzo­ Ind ian, French, and Four Knights Gam e bear his name and these represent but a fraction of his contributions to opening theory. As one of the pioneers in the treatm ent of positions with an isolated queen pawn or hanging pawns, Rubinstein was not averse to taking either side of these thematic m idd legames. While he is well-kn own for his opening and m idd legame play, it was in the end ­ ing, particularly rook end ings, that Rubinstein's genius was m ad e manifest. Not so m uch in technical end ings of R + P versus R - though he knew his basic theory well - but in strategic end i ngs of the sort d ealt with at length in M ikhail Shereshevsky 's Endgame Strategy. It's no accident that the Encyclopedia OfChess Endings chose m any of his rook end ings as examples of m odel play. Rubinstein's life away from the chess board is equally fascinating. A life d ifficult to sum up in a few words, it seem s m ore fiction than fact. Raised accord ing to fam ily trad ition to be a rabbi, Akiva's l i fe was transformed when he was intro­ d uced to chess. Rising through the ranks, he went from rank beginner to com ing within a hair 's breadth of Caissa's throne. The authors have spent much of their time in the last three years trying to d o justice t o this great player. Rubinstein d oes have books written about him - i n fact w e know of a t least eight - but none comes close t o being complete. There are s everal good samplers , but they leave the reader wish ing for more. 6

Early on, we hoped our planned work, incorporating all of Rubinstein's games, annotations, crosstables, pictures, and all the biographical m aterial we could get our hands on, would fit into one 300-page book. This turned out to be totally unrealistic. Visits to Warsaw, the Hague, Brussels, New York, and C leveland yielded such m aterial that the planned single volum e expanded to two books. We hope you enjoy reading this book as m uch as we did writing it. A few technical notes: Chess nom enclature tends to be confusing and inconsistent. It's not uncommon to find several different sources all spelling the same player's nam e a different way. In the interests of consistency we have with very few exceptions used Jer­ emy Gaige 's Chess Personalia and four volum e Chess Tournament Crosstables as our standard for the spelling of player and place names - with the m ore recent Chess Personalia the final arbiter in cases where the two differ. While we might not agree in all cases with the spellings chosen by Mr. Gaige, we feel that his system is logical and well thought out, and that standardization m akes a lot of sense. Gaige's work as a chess archivist is unparalleled. For the few rare cases where the player wasn 't mentioned by Gaige - mostly lesser-known Polish m asters - we have used Wladyslaw Litm anowicz and Jerzy Gizycki 's Szachy od A do Z as our guide. This m amm oth ( 1 ,438 pages) two­ volum e set is one of the best and m ost complete works of its kind. It proved invaluable in offering m uch otherwise unobtainable material about little-known Polish players. Today Poland is a very respectable chess country with a few GMs and a large num ber ofi Ms, but in the past it was a great power in the chess world. During the period 1 928- 1 939, the Poles won a gold, two silvers, and three bronze m edals in chess olympiads. Only in 1 93 3 , when the Poles were fourth, were they shut out of the m edals. Rubinstein, Tartakover, and Najdorf are nam es known to all chess players, but Poland had other good players: Flam berg, Salwe, Rotlewi, Przepi6rka, and Lowcki­ from the pre- World War One period alone. We have made a special effort to pro­ vide som e details of these players ' lives and to give some idea of what chess life was like then. The m ost difficult part of Rubinstein's career to research was the events he played in Poland. The difficulties stem from that country 's troubled history. A part of Russia till 19 1 8, no regular Polish chess periodical appeared until after indepen­ dence. The result is that what is obtainable is either from outside sources - prin­ cipally Russian - or comes fr om the rare books Pierwyj almanach Lodzinskogo obszczestwa liubitielej szachmatnoj igry ( 1907), edited by Daniuszewsk i and

7

Mundt, and Ksiega Jubileuszowa Lodzkiego Towarzystwa Zwolennikow Gry Szachowej 1903-1938, edited by Daniuszewski. The authors had just a glimpse of what m ust be a large am ount of material in the newspaper Neue Lodzer Zeitung. This paper, which started a chess column in 1 902, reported news during the week and published more complete coverage, including games, in the Saturday supplement. We were not able to find a library that had the Saturday supplement, but jud ging from the fact that the daily paper gave round-by-round scores of the 1 903/04 Hand icap Tournam ent, the details of several Salwe-Rubinstein matches, and lots of information on the formation of the Lodz Chess Society, it must be a gold m ine. One im agines that m ore than a few Salwe-Rubinstein games m ight be hidden there. Our policy in offering annotations to gam es has been to com bine the comments of great m asters of the past with our own notes to give som e of the flavor of the time and to show what has been discovered since then. While serious space limi­ tations have required us to be selective, we have tried to point out the key games in Rubinstein's career and give them the appropriate attention they deserve. Most of the games that appear here can be found in either the two aforementioned works covering the history of the Lodz Chess Society or tournam ent books of events Rubinstein played in. As a space saving m easure we have confined our­ selves to citing sources only for gam es that are not found in these volumes. A work of this nature cannot be done alone and we were fortunate in getting lots of help. Dr. Al ice Loranth and Dr. Motoko Reece at the John G. White Collection of the C leveland Public Library were extremely helpful, as were Christian Bij l and Rob Verhoeven at the Royal Dutch Library in the Hague. Edward Winter (Trelex, Switzerland ) generously supplied us with som e nice archival photos and was an inval uable resource person. Eric Woro, books ed itor at ICE, deserves our thanks for transform ing a mo untain of rough text into a beautifully edited book with crosstables, diagrams and photos. Yvette Nagel was m ost generous in translating indecipherable xeroxes of Dutch newspapers into English, and her proofreading skills were very wel come. The authors would also like to thank Hans Baruch (Berkeley), Arne Berggren (Gothenburg), Jonathan Berry (Nanaimo, Canada), Andrzej Filipowicz (Warsaw), Michael Franett (Seattle), John Gilliam (Cincin­ nati), Jan Kalendovsky (Brno), Robert Moore (Anchorage), Jack O ' Keefe (Ann Arbor), Toni Prez iuso (Aarau, Switzerland), Sammy Rubinstein (Brussels), Yasser Seirawan (Seattle), Ken Whyld (Caistor, England), Dr. T adeusz Wo lsza (War­ saw) and Ton Sibbing of the Max Euwe Center in Am sterd am . We apologize if

8

we have inadvertently left anyone out. It goes without saying that any errors or om issions are the sole responsibility of the authors. This book is fondly dedicated to Elena M inev. John Donaldson Nikolay M inev August 1994

A Rubinstein Primer Players looking to im prove their positional understanding and endgam e skills will find studying the games of Rubinstein m ost helpful. The following serves as a good introduction to the games of Akiva and a careful study can 't help but increase one 's playing strength. Positional Themes

Janowsky-Rubinstein, Carlsbad 1907 (#127) Sal we-Rubinstein, Carlsbad 1907 (#131) Mar6czy-Rubinstein, Carlsbad 1907 (#139) Rubinstein-Salwe, Lodz 1907 (#147) Alapin-Rubinstein, Prague 1908 (#190) Rubinstein-Salwe, Lodz 1908 (#209) Rubinstein-Lasker, St. Petersburg 1909 (#227) Rubinstein-Capablanca, San Sebastian 1911 (#278) Rubinstein-Duras, Carlsbad 1911 (#281) Schlechter-Rubinstein, San Sebastian 1912 (#307) Rubinstein-Marshall, Breslau 1912 (#358) Rubinstein-Gottesdiener, Lodz 1916117 (#382) Rubinstein-Schlechter, Berlin 1918 (#400) Rook Endings

Rubinstein-Lasker, St. Petersburg 1909 (#227) Spielmann-Rubinstein, St. Petersburg 1909 (#240) Tarrasch-Rubinstein, San Sebastian 1911 (#271) Rubinstein-Ai ekhine, Carlsbad 1911 (#302) Schlechter-Rubinstein, San Sebastian 1912 (#307) Lasker-Rubinstein, St. Petersburg 1914 (#373) Rubinstein-Selezniev, Gothenburg 1920 (#442)

9

Tournament Record 1903-1920 Kiev Barmen Lodz 1 906 St. Petersburg Ostende Lodz Lodz 1 907 Ostende Carlsbad Lodz 1 907-8 Lodz Vienna 1 908 Prague Lodz St. Petersburg 1 909 Vi lna 1910 Warsaw Warsaw 191 1 San Sebastian Carlsbad Warsaw 1912 San Sebastian Pistyan Breslau Vilna 1 9 14 St. Petersburg Warsaw 1916 1 9 1 6-7 Lodz 1917 Warsaw Berlin 1918 Berlin 1919 Warsaw Stockh olm Rotterdam 1 920 Gothenburg 1 903 1 905

w

D

9

3

L 5

II ? 8 13 5 7 14 12 7 9 10 8 6 12 8 8 13 4 12 12 8 12

2

2

9

9 2

8 II 8

? 8 12 3 4 II 6 2 2 6 9 7 5 5 I

? 0

5 I 3 2 I 3 2

3 2

I 1 0 3

10 10 2 9 4 6 6 6 2 0 0

0 2 2

3 2 2

3 2

0

2

2 7 4

4 3 4

4 0 4 4 0

4

2

2

7

Score IO!h -6Y2 1 2-3 2!h-l!h 1 2-4 1 9- 1 1 6Y2 -2Y2 9-3 1 9Y2 -8!h 1 5-5 8-2 1 0-2 1 3-6 1 2!h -6!h 9Y2 -6Y2 1 4!h -3!h IO!h -4!h 8!h- 1 !h 1 3!h- 1 Y2 9-5 1 7-8 13-1 1 2!h -6!h 1 4-3 1 2-5 1 2-6 5-5 9-3 1 2Y2- 1 Y2 9- 1 1 -5 4-2 8!h-5!h 6-6 2Y2-Y2 9-4

Place 5th = 1 st = 1 st = 2nd 3rd I st I st = 1 st 1 st I st 1 st 4th 4th I st = 1 st 1 st 2nd = 1 st = 2nd = 2nd I st I st I st = 1 st I st = 6th = 1 st 1 st I st 4th 2nd 3rd 2nd 1 st 2nd

Note: Wins or losses by forfeit have been excluded from this list.

Handicap Tournaments 1 903-4 Lodz Warsaw 1 909 1919-20 Stockholm

2nd

2

1 7-3

7

0

7Y2-Y2

I st

18

2

SY2 -7

2nd

2

16

10

Match Record 1 903 - 1 920 1 903 1 904 1 905 1 907 1 908 1 908 1 909 1910 1916 1918 1 920

w Sa1we (Lodz) 5 4 Sa1we (Lodz) 3 Mieses (Lodz) 0 Duras (Barmen) 12 Salwe (Lodz) 3 Teichmann (Vienna) 3 Marshall (Warsaw) Mieses 5 (Berlin-Hannover-Frankfurt) 4 Flamberg (Warsaw) 2 Lowcki (Warsaw) 2 Schlechter (Berlin) Bogoljubow 5 (Gothenburg-Stockholm)

D 4 3 0 2 8 1 3 2

L 5 3 0 0 2 2 2 3

Score 7-7 5� -4� 3-0 1-1 1 6-6 3� -2� 4� -3� 6-4

1 3 3

0 0 1 4

4�-� 2�-� 3Y2 -2� 6� -5�

Simul Record 1 909

191 1

1912

1919 1 920

1 920

Warsaw Warsaw Moscow Moscow Frankfurt P aris Berlin Nuremberg Munich Budapest Berlin Lund Scheveningen Rotterdam Scheveningen Rotterdam Amsterdam The Hague Haarlem Nijmegen Gorinchem Deventer Enschede Trollhattan

October 1 5 November 5 December 27 December 3 1 January 30 March 1 9 March 27 April 30 May 1 May 6 January 1 9 February 8 February 26 March 1 March 4 March 1 5 March 1 7 March 20 March 22 March 27 March 29 April? April? October

II

22 21 35 38 15 18 40 29 40 5 25 25 10 3 10 28 25 28 26 28 22 25 26 46

(+ 1 6,=2,-4) (+ 1 8,=2,- 1 ) (+26,=5 ,-4) (+26,=5 ,-7) (+ 1 3 ,= 1 ,- 1 ) (+ 1 4,=2,-2) (+36,=3,- 1 ) (+22,-2,=5) (+28,=9,-3 ) (+3 ,=0,-2) (+24,=0,- 1 ) (+ 1 9,=5 ,- 1 ) (+6,=3 ,- 1 ) (+ 1 ,= 1 ,- 1 ) (+5 ,=4,- 1 ) (+ 1 3 ,=9,-6) (+ 1 6,=6,-3) (+2 1 ,=5,-2) (+2 1 ,=3,-2) (+25 ,=3 ,-0) (+2 1 ,= 1 ,-0) (+24,= 1 ,-0) (+26,=0,-0) (+36,=9,- 1 )

1882-1904: The Young Rubinstein Akiva Rubinstein's early life is clouded in mystery. The great grandmaster never wrote about himself and the biographical section in Rubinstein s Chess Master­ pieces (written by Barnie Winkelman with acknowledgement to Dr. Hannak's introduction to Rubinstein Gewinnt)- the only book to offer any real story of his life - is very unreliable; it weaves a rather romantic tale in which real events and myth are so closely intertwined as to be almost impossible to separate. We quote the first few paragraphs before the myt hologizing takes over. "Deep out of the shadows of the Middle Ages came Akiva Rubinstein. A dark squalid ghetto of Russia - Poland was the Bethlehem in which his spark of life was kindled. Rubinstein was born on December [October] 1 2, 1 882, in Stawiski, of the province of Lomza. For generations his ancestors had been rabbis and scholars of the Hebrew classics, equally inured to physical privation and the in­ tense cultivation of the mind. "In the home of Rubinstein's parents both were to be found - keenness of intel­ lect and stark poverty. A few weeks before his birth his father died, leaving be­ hind a wife and 1 2 children. Akiva went to the house of his grandparents, who forthwith undertook his upbringing. The lines of this upbringing were marked out to a nicety. The youngster would become a teacher of the Talmud, a student of Hebrew, even as his father and his grandfather before him. "His education was indeed received in the Cheder, the school of the Jewish com­ munity, and the Yeshiva, a higher academy of religious instru ction. The prescribed languages were Hebrew and Yiddish; Rubinstein understood no other, and had no desire for any other." We now look at a few other accounts of Rubinstein's first years. Gerald Abrahams, in Chess Treasury of the A ir (pp. 48-49), has this to say about Rubinstein's early l i fe : "Born in a poor Jewish family somewhere in Lomza province, Akiva Rubinstein was plunged at an early age into the only intellectual life available to most Russian Jews. He went into a Yeshiva and studied the Talmud, living the kind of life that poor students lived in the monastic academies of the Middle Ages. He was excellent at those brain-testing studies, which involves powers of memory, and a fine analytic discrimination. Those who met him in England in the 1 920's can attest that he had not lost his learning. And he spoke the fluent, cul­ tured Hebrew that Russian Jewry has now bequeathed to the culture of I srael. "It is told of him that, in his teens, he found the only available H eb rew chess book, and learned it by heart with all it s illustrative games. The subject captured him, and afforded him, eventual ly, an escape - if that is the proper word - from a career that might have ended in a Rabb inate. How he came to L odz, measured his

1 882- 1 904: The Young Rubinstein str ength against the master Salwe, and ultimately conquered the latter is too wel l known to need recapitulation. Suffice i t to say that, i n a very short peri od, from Kiev 1 904 [1903] , when he was fifth in the Russian Championship, to 1 9 1 2, when he won no fewer than five international tournaments (San Sebastian, Pistyan , Breslau, Warsaw, and St. Petersburg [Vllna] - an all-time record this - he filled the treasuries of chess with masterpieces and achieved a style and a distinction in his play that stands comparison with the performance of Capablanca." The following extract appeared in the Western Daily Mercury, Apri l 2, 1 909. Prefacing the piece, the columnist C.T. Blanchard thanked E. Znosko-Borovsky , chess editor of Novae Vremya, for specially contributing the article. The article appears to be an expanded version of what Znosko had written about Rubinstein for the St. P etersburg 1 906 tournament book. Emanuel Lasker, too, seems to have gleaned material from that biographical sketch (see below). Akiva Rubinstein was born in the little town of Stawiski in Poland October 12 [September 30, old sryle] , 1 882. Soon after, all his family moved to Bialystok, where he learned chess at the age of 1 8. He made his first studies in it from a little instructor by Sossnitz in the old Hebrew language. An accident brought him into a little book-seller's shop where he found a great many old and new chess books, which he studied industriously. But as he wished to study the game practically as well as theoretically he went to Stein's Cafe , where he met the strong first-class player G. G. Bartoschkewitsch (sic- Bartoszkiewicz). All these games, even at knight odds, ended in loss. Rubinstein's failure drove him to still further study the game with such good results that after a few weeks, he occasionally won against Bartoschkewitsch [sic - Bartoszkiewicz] . In 1 903 he traveled to Lodz, where he could get plenty of play against the master Salwe. In the same year, the Lodz Chess Club was formed and from that time R. 's serious play dates. The club arranged a match between Rubinstein and Salwe; it was for the first seven won games, but ended in a tie. In the autumn of that year Rubinstein went to Kiev, as a representa­ tive of the club, to take part in the Third All-Russian Champi­ onship. He won the fifth prize. During the tourney he inquired of Dr. Ossip Bernstein whether it paid for him to devote himself to chess. Bernstein replied that it did not pay. All the same, Rubinstein refused to be guided by this and devoted himself to learning the royal game. After he had divided first and second prizes with Salwe in a club tour13

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King ney, the Lodz C.C. got up a second match between them, best out of 1 0 games. This he won by 6Y2-3Yi [the score was actu­ ally 5Yl-4Yl] . In the first-class tourney, Barmen 1 905, he won the title of master by dividing fi rst and second prizes with Oldrich Duras. After this he always came out first at Lodz. The autumn of the same year he beat Mieses in three serious games. The following article by the World Champion appeared in Lasker s Chess Maga­ zine, October 1 907 (pp. 244-45 ) : O u r Berlin Letter by Emanuel Lasker

Berlin, end of September The all overshadowing event of the month gone by was, of course, the great Masters tournament at Carlsbad. Inasmuch as your readers have been kept fully informed by daily cable of its vicissitudes and final ending, I shall confine myself to a few biographical j ottings about the first-prize winner, which I trust will be news to many of them. Akiva Kiwelowicz Rubinstein was born on October 3 0 [12], 1 882, at Stawiski, a townlet in the government of Lomza, in Russian Poland. Soon after, his relatives removed to Bialystok. At the age of 1 8 he learned the rudiments of chess and soon became deeply interested in the game. By chance he ran across a chess instructor in Yiddish, and went swimmingly along in its perusal until he reached a part therein containing games from the first P arisian tournament of 1 876, which baffled him com­ pletely. He then began searching the secondhand bookstores for chess literature, and was rewarded by finding some books in Russian, also some foreign periodicals, which considerably furthered his progress. At that time he met over the board G. G. Bartoszkiewicz, then the strongest player at Bialystok. At first he lost at the odds of a knight, but R. went undaunted ahead, overcoming by degrees the odds, and finally breaking even on level terms. In 1 903 Rubinstein settled in Lodz, where he found a number of strong players, foremost among them Salwe. R. succeeded in holding his own with Salwe in oftband games, and beating the rest. Preparations were then going on for the third Russian National Tournament, and on Salwe 's suggestion Rubinstein aided him in forming a chess club at L odz, which the two represented as delegates at the Kiev Congress. R. 's de­ but was a splendid one. He obtained fifth prize with I I Yi points 14

1 882- 1 904: The Young Rubinstein of a possible 1 9, those preceding him being Chigorin, Bernstein, Yurev i ch, and Salwe . Returning to Lodz, where the newly founded club was prospering, he and Salwe contested a series of 1 0 games, R. winning 6'h-3'h [actually 5!0-4!0] . In the handi­ cap tourn ey he took second place after Salwe. In the club tour­ nament on even terms he divided first and second prizes with Salwe. Encouraged by his success at home he attended in 1 905 the German Congress at Barmen, where he divided first and second prizes with 0. Duras, and gained the coveted title of "Meister" and thereby the entry to all the future masters ' tour­ naments . In September 1 903 [ 1 905] , the young master encoun­ tered Jacques Mieses in a set match of three games, and won all three in a decisive fashion. Last year he was summoned to St. Petersburg for the fourth Pan-Russian Congress, and surprised friends and foes alike by not losing a single game. He won eight, drew eight, and divided second and third prizes with Blumenfeld, one point behind Salwe, the winner of the tournament. R, 's fu rther exploits are well known: third prize at Ostende 1 906; first and second with Mieses [Bernstein], Osten de 1 907; and finally, his crowning triumph at Carlsbad. Although R. has gone to the front by bounds and leaps, I would not liken him to a meteor. On the contrary I am fully convinced he has come to stay among the fixed stars on the chess horizon. To my estimation he is not a world beater, not a champion, if we restrict this title to those who are heads above their com­ petitors. But R. is and always will be a main factor who will have to be reckoned with, and it will always be a safe bet to find him in the money. R. 's style is thoroughly modem, aiming instinctively rather at correctness than at brilliancy. H i s chief asset is gameness, coupled with a keen insight into position, and resourcefulness. He can be brilliant if occasion warrants it . . . So what of Rubinstein's early life can we be sure of? This much seems clear. That he was born October 1 2, 1 882, in the small town of Stawiski, not far from Bialystok . That he was the last of 1 2 chi ldren and that he was raised by his grandparents to follow in the family tradition of being a rabbi . That some time between Rubinstein' s 1 4th and 1 8th birt hdays he became acquainted and quickly fascinated with chess. That it was the Bialystok first-category player Bartoszkiewicz who was his first nemesis and not Sal we. Wh en one substitutes the name of the former for the latter 15

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King the legend of Rubinstein meeting a strong master in the local cafe comes a lot closer to reality. Winkelman and Hannak wrote: "At 1 9 Rubinstein learned that in the nearby town of Lodz there lived a real chess master, one Georg Salwe - a champion, who, indeed, had crossed swords with the great Chigorin. Forthwith Rubinstein betook himself to Lodz; there he found in some way the means of subsistence, and thereafter was nowhere to be found except in the sphere of chess. He played with those to whom Sal we gave the odds of a Rook; but even against these yokels the young man of Stawiski did not shine. Clearly the lad of the ghetto was not cut out to be a chess player. "No one had any confidence in his ability except Rubinstein. He returned to his native village and for several months disappeared from view. Suddenly he was in Lodz once more. He entered the chess club, then direct to the table of master Salwe, and challenged him to battle. "Salwe smiled indulgently; those about the master mocked in derision. But Rubinstein seated himself, and played and won. The whole club went into a huddle. Without delay, a match between Salwe and Ru binstein was arranged. The result was a deadlock at 5-5 [actually 7-7] . A second match was played and victory rested with Rubinstein 5-3 [actually 5Z?-4Z?] . The old champion was dethroned, and the dreamy youth from the Polish village reigned in his stead." A nice story but nothing more. The odds that someone who had only been playing a short while could best Salwe - who won the 4th All-Ru ssian Championship in 1 906 - are exactly zero. But someone in that situation might be able to beat Bartoszkiewicz. A considerable achievement, indicating real promise, but not nearly so grandiose. Rubinstein was very fortunate in making his way to Lodz; in fact he could scarcely have asked for a better place to develop. Referred to as the Polish Manchester, Lodz, a cosmopolitan city of 3 00,000 people (40% Polish, 40% German, 20% Jewish) was, along with St. Petersburg and Moscow, one of the three great chess centers of the Russian Empire. The Lodz Chess Society was founded in 1 903 and continued up until the German invasion of Poland in 1 93 9. During this time the Society served as a model of what a chess organization can be. Many different types of tournaments were held, including matches, club championships, and handicap events. Foreign visitors were frequent guests of the Society. Mikhail Chi gorin, Frank Marshall, and Jacques Mieses played in events there while Capablanca, Alekhine, and Lasker gave simu ls. Sponsorship was provided for the best players to travel outside and serve as the club 's standard b earers in important international events. Salwe and Rub instein represented the club at Kiev 1903 while Akiva (Barmen 190 5 ) and G eorg Rotlewi 16

1 882- 1 904: The Young Rubinstein (Osten de 1 907) were sent west to gain their master titles. Players like the Russian masters Boris Verlinsky and Fedor Dus-Chotimirsky especially made visits to Lodz, so great was its reputation. Two books, Pierwyj Almanach Lodzinskogo Obszczestwa Liubitielej Szachmatnoj 1gry, by Mundt and Daniuszewski, which covers the period 1 903- 1 907, and Ksiega Jubileuszowa Lodzkiego Towarzystwa Zwolennikow Gry Szachowej 1 903-1 938, by Daniuszewski, chronicle some of the more important events held by the Society. Frank Marshall, writing about the 1 908 Lodz triangular in My Fifty Years ofChess, described the city as "a hospitable town, fanatically interested in chess. We were treated royally, and produced a great deal of interesting chess." The following article, which appeared in the British Chess Magazine, May 1 909 (pp. 204-5), sheds some light on the club where Rubinstein developed. "The Lodz Club is proud of Rubinstein, and he is proud of his club, for it is one of the strongest and the best equipped in the world. It occupies a handsome suite of rooms on the first floor in the Piotrkowska, for which, I was told, a rent of 2,000 rubles (2 1 0 English pounds) is paid. It is a nest of strong players, of whom Salwe is the best known, though the names of others, such as Rotlewi and Daniuszewski, are familiar on this side of the Elbe. I am not aware that the club is ever closed. I have personally left it, still going strong, at two o ' clock in the morning, and I have found play in progress there in the forenoon. No doubt this intensive cultivation of the game is more responsible for the genius strong play­ ers in Russia than any subtle kink, absent from ours, in the Slav cerebellum. Certain it is that, since Rubinstein joined the club, shortly after its foundation in 1 903 , he has had no lack of the very best practice. The club has arranged a long series of matches between him and the redoubtable Sal we. The first of these, in 1 903 , when Rubinstein was not yet 2 1 -he was born at Stawiski, in the North o f Poland, o n October 1 2 (n.s.), 1 882- ended in a draw. The second was won by Rubinstein, 5Yi-4Yi, and I believe that in all subsequent matches he has come out the victor." Rubinstein's games are the heart of this book, but before jumping in we would be remiss not to say something about his name. Jeremy Gaige, in his monumental Chess Personalia, gives Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein. This is what ordinarily appears but it's worth adding that in the place of his birth his first name was spelled Akiwa in Polish, that the Encyclopaedia Judaica and the English author Gerald Abrahams have his first name rendered Akiva - no doubt his very reli­ g ious family named him after the great Jewish law giver of the same name. In this edition we use the Jewish spelling. Rubinstein's middle name also raises comment. Bernard Cafferty, writing in Ed­ ward Winter 's Chess Notes #73 5 , has this to say: "Rubinstein was born in the old Russian Empire, and so should have a patronymic recorded on his birth certifi­ cate,just like Isaewitsch for N imzo. Various Russian sources concur on Kivelevich , 17

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King probably written Kiwelewitsch by A.K.R. himself." Ken Whyld and Jeremy Gaige give us Kiwelowicz, and the latter adds: "Poles and Jews were loath to use the Russian Patronymic, and I imagine, Polish Jews even more so." The Italian Encyclopaedia gives Kivelovic. Estocolmo 1919 (published by Ricardo Aguilera) has Kiwielewitsch. Judging by the available evidence, Rubinstein probably began his chess career a few years before the turn of the century. The following game is the earliest ex­ ample that has been preserved and it shows that Rubinstein already possessed good combinative skills. It is unclear when it was played, but Jeugdpartijen van Beroemde Meesters by S. Postma states it was played by correspondence in 1 897. games. The paper doesn 't indicate who partnered whom, but j ust notes that Langleben was on the winning side in both games.

(I) Rubinstein - Bartoszkiewicz Correspondence 1 897 (?) Two Knights [C55] l .e4 e5 2 . .£\ {3 4) c6 3 . Ac4 4:\f6 4 . d 4 e x d4 5 . 0 - 0 A c 5 6 . e 5 d 5 7.exf6 d x c4 8 . .§ e 1 + �f8 9 . .Q.g5 g x f6 1 0 . .I}.h6+ �g8 1 1 . 4:\x d4 A xd4 1 2 .c3 Af5 1 3 .c x d4 4:\x d4 14. 4:\c3 Ag6

The next game was pu b l i s hed i n Pierwyj A lmanach L o dzinskogo Obszczestwa Liubitielej Szachmatnoj Igry, Lodz 1 90 7 , edited by the Polish masters Dawid Daniuszewski and A. Mundt. That book offers a large num­ ber of early Rubinstein games but gives few details concerning the conditions under which they were played. No date is given for the following odds game but it appears l ikely that it was played in 1 902 or 1903 .1t's placed here, rather than in the non -tournament games section, because it might be from a handicap tournament.

1 5 . .§ e 8 + 1 � x e S 1 6 . � x d4 � e 5 17. 4:\d511, 1-0

(2) Rubinstein - Amateur Lodz 1902 or 1 903 (?) (without Nb l )

The Neue Lodz Zeitung offers some early details of Rubinstein's career. On March 19-20 , 1903 , it was report ed that Langleben, S alw e , Rub instein and Goldfarb played a pair of consultation

l . e4 e 5 2 . .1}.c4 4) f6 3 . d4 e x d4 4. 4:\f3 4:\xe4 5.0-0 .1le7 6 . � xd4 4) f6 7 . .Q.g5 0 - 0 8 .1ld 3 4:\c 6 9. �h4 g6 10. E!fel 4)d5 .

18

1 882- 1 904 : The Young Rubinstein Rubinstein 's great rival for much of his early career was G e o rg H e n ryk Solomonowicz Sal we ( 1 862- 1 920) . Salwe was born on October 24, 1 86 2 (Gaige; Szachy o d A do Z gives Dec. 1 2) in Warsaw and, unlike Rubinstein , who grew up in poverty, came from a wealthy family. While he was already considered one of Warsaw 's best play­ ers by 1 8 8 2 , it was n ' t unt i l Sal we moved to Lodz in 1 894 that he found real opportunities to test his skills . There, i n 1 899, h e split a pair o f games against Dawid Janowsky, during the latter's visit to Lodz that year. When the Lodz Chess Society was formed in 1 90 3 , he and Rub inste i n benefited enormously.

l l . § x e7 1 4) d x e7 1 2 . Jl.f6 d S 1 3 . § e 1 Jl.e6 1 4 . 4) e 5 4) x e 5 1 S . § xe5 �d6 16.� x h7+1 Cit' x h7 17.§h5+ Cit'g8 18.§h8+ mate, 1-0

The following game may also be from the same handicap event.

Sal we didn 't play his first real tourna­ ment until he was 40 (Kiev 1 903) but this late start didn't prevent him from achieving some excellent results, in ­ cluding a victory in the fourth All-Rus­ sian tournament at Saint Petersburg in 1 90 6 . Salwe played three matches against Rubinstein, drawing in 1 903 (77), losing in 1 904 (4-6), and getting shellacked in 1 907 (6- 1 6).

(3) Rubinstein - Amateur Lodz , 1 903 (without Ra 1 , with pawn on a3) 1 .e4 e5 2 . 4) f3 4)c6 3 . .1lc4 .1lc5 4.c3 4) f6 5.d4 exd4 6.c x d4 .1le7 7.d5 4) bs s.es 4) g4 9 . h 3 4) h6 10.d6 cxd6 1 1 .exd6 .1lf6 12.�e2+ Cit'fS 13.4)c3 Axc3+ 14.bxc3 4)c6 15.0-0 �e8 16.�d2 4)e5 17.§e1 .£1 x f3+ 18. gxf3 �d8

A businessman by profession, Salwe found time to edit the short-lived Yid­ dish language chess magazine Shakh­ Zaytung ( 1 9 1 3 ) , w h i c h nu mbered Rub inste i n among its contributors . During a brief career, which for all in­ tents and purposes lasted from 1 903 to 1 9 1 4, Sal we was Poland's number-two player, reaching a five-year peak aver­ age rating of2500, according to the E lo system.

19. � x h6! g x h6 20.,1l x h6+ Cit'gS 21 .Cit'h2 �f8 22.§g1 +, 1--0 [Szachista, issue 3, 1 995]

The Neue Lodzer Zeitung of 1 903 pro­ vides some critical details about the first match between Rubinstein and Salwe. 19

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King It was held from April 26 to June 7 and the winner was the fi rst to reach 7 points. The match was to be a qualify­ ing event for the upcoming All-Russian championship, with the winner seeded in. The match was played on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Lodz Chess Club. Adj ourned games took place on Fridays. The final score of the match was 7-7, from which we can de­ duce that the final game was a draw. This explains why both Rubinstein and Salwe were able to play in Kiev later that year.

as a great opening theoretician but here his lack of experience tells as he com­ mits an elementary blunder. 7./il xc6 bxc6 8.e5 /ild7

( A) Today theory deals only w i th 8 ... 4Jg4. Rubinstein's forgotten con­ tinuation is also insufficient to revive 6...g6 but credit should be given to Salwe, who plays the rest of the game very well. 9.exd6 exd6 10.0-0 Ae7 l l.Ah6! lil b6 1 2 . A b 3 d5 1 3 . E! e l Ae6 1 4 .'li'/d 2 Af6 1 5 . E! a d l 'li'/e7 16./ila41 /ild7 17.c4 d4

The following two games are all that have been preserved from their first match. The first game was drawn, and then Sal we drew blood with the follow­ ing sharp attack.

(D) If 1 7 ... dxc4 1 8 . .ll x c4 4Je5 1 9 . .ll x e6 fxe6 20.'ifl'e2!. 18.c51 lil xc5

(4) Salwe - Rubinstein Lodz (2) April 1 5 , 1 903 Sicilian Sozin [B57]

(D) Or 1 8 . . . 0-0 1 9 .'ifl'a5 4Jb8 20 . .1lf4 ! . 1 9 ./il x c 5 'li'/ x c 5 2 0 . .il, x e6 f x e 6 2 1 . E! x e6+ c:lf7 22.E!del E!hd8

Notes by D a n i u s z e w s k i ( D) fro m Ks iega J u b i leuszowa L o dzkiego To warzystwa Zwo len n ikow Gry Szachowej 1 903- 1 938, and Authors (A).

(D) In case of 22 ....§ he8 White wins spectacularly b y 2 3 .l"lx f6 + 'it' x f6 24.'ifl'f4+ 'ifl'f5 25 .'ifl'xd4+ .§e5 26 . .§ xe5 'ifl'xe5 27 . .llg 7+! .

l .e4 c5 2 ./ilf3 /i}c6 3 ./ilc3 /ilf6 4.d4 cxd4 5./il x d4 d6 6 . .il,c4

2 3 .'li'/f4 'li'/f5 25.'li'/xc6 Ag5

(A) "The Sozin Attack" claims almost all recent books. Only for the record, the Russian master Veniamin Sozin was born in 1 896. This game shows that the variation 6 . .llc 4, and the ideas behind it, were known quite a while before Sozin 's discovery. 6 . . . g6?

(A) Later in his career Rubinstein was to acquire a justly deserved reputation 20

2 4 .'li'/c7 +

c:l g8

1 882- 1 904: The Young Rubinstein 26:li\'c41 Axh6

E!cS 1 6 .\'t' h 1 h6?! 17. "�e3 Ae7 18.E!g1 g5 19.g41 gxf4

There is nothing better. If 26 . . . �d5 27..§ e8+!, or 26 ... �h8 27 . .§ 6e5!, but not 27. �xd4+? .§ x d4 28 . .§ e8 + �f8 29.Jlxf8 .§ xeS! and it i s Black who wins.

l f l 9 .. .fxg4 then 20.fxg5! gxf3 2 l .gxh6, etc. 2 0 . � x f4 -'lg 5 2 1 . .£) x g 5 h x g 5 2 2 . � g3 f4 23.�h3 {l x e 5 24.�h7+ \'t'f7 25.d x e5 E!g8

2 7 . E! e 8 + \'t' g7 2 8 . �g8 + \'t'f6 29. E! xd8 Ad2 30. E! x a8, 1 -0

(5) Rubinstein - Sa/we Lodz (3) April 1 7, 1 903 Queen 's Pawn Zukertort [D05] 1.d4 d5 2.e3 e6 3.Ad3 {lf6 4 . .£)f3 c5 5.b3 {lc6 6.Ab2 Ad6 7. .£)bd2 0-0 8.0-0

This unpretentious system of develop­ ment, associated with the world cham­ pionship challenger Johannes Z ukertort, served Rubinstein well throughout his career.

26.a41 b6 27 . .1la3 E!c5 28.�g6+ \'t'f8 29.�f6+ � x f6 30.exf6 .1}.c6 3 1 .j}_ x c5+ bxc5 32.fxg7+, 1-0

8 ... cxd4 9.exd4 .flh5?1

Rubinstein's first maj or tournament was the Third All-Russian Champion­ ship, held September 1 -26, 1 903, in Kiev. Representing the Lodz Chess Club along with Salwe, the 20-year-old Akiva scored a creditable 1 1 Y2-6Y2 to place fifth. Chigorin, who was to die only four years later, won his third title in this seminal event, which was the baptism not only for Rubinstein but for Salwe and Bernstein as well. Bachmann's A lmanach for 1 903 re­ ports the following conditions for the tournament: T he playing schedule was five days a week with Thursdays and Sundays set aside for adj ournments. The games were held from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. and the time control was 30 moves in two hours followed by 1 5 moves in

B l ack ' s best try, 9 . . . �c7 , to meet 1 0 . a 3?! with lO . . . eS!, would be an­ swered by 10 . c4! when White has sl ightly better chances. 10.g3 g6 ll . .fle5 Ad7 12.f4 .flg7 13 .a3 f5 14:li\'e2 j}_e8 15 . .£)df3

21

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King � g7+ 3 S . \t'd 2 � g S + 3 6 . .Q. e 3 � xfS 3 7. .§fl d S 3S.cxdS � x dS+ 39.\t'cl c4 40.\t'bl \t'eS 4 1 . .§e l � a S 4 2 . .§ g l � c 3 4 3 . A c l e 3 4 4 . A b 2 � d 2 4 S . .§ gS+ \t' d 7 4 6 . A f S + \t'c6 47 . .§ c S + \t' b 7 48.Ae5 Ae4 + 49.Axe4+ \t'xc8, o-t

one hour. Chigorin won 500 rubles for his victory, with Rubinstein collecting 1 25 for his fifth-place finish. (6) Rubinstein - A. Rabinovich Kiev ( 1) 1 903 Dutch [A85 ] l .d4 f S 2.c4 e6 3 . � f3 � f6 4.e3 Ae7 s.�c3 b6 6.Ad3 Ab7 7.0-o o-o s.b3 d6 9.Ab2 h6 10. �e2 gS l l.e4 g4 12.�el �c6 l3.exfS?

(7) Kalinsky - Rubinstein Kiev (2) 1 903 Center Game [C22] l .e4 eS 2.d4 e x d4 3 . � x d4 �c6 4.�a4 �f6 s.Af4 AcS 6.�d2 o-o 7.f3 dS s.o-o-o �e7 9.AbS �d4 1 0 . � b3 � x b3 + l l . � x b3 d x e4 1 2 . � e 2 ? c 6 1 3 . -'l.d 3 e x d3 14. � x d3 �dS lS.Ad2 Ae6 16.a3 .§ adS 1 7 . �e4 � f6 1 S . �a4 bS 19. �aS Ab6 20. �c3 Ac4 2 l .�f4 � d S 2 2 . � x d S A x d S 2 3 . .§ h e l �f6 24.�xf6 gxf6 2S.Ac3 .§deS 26.Axf6 .§e6 27.Ac3 .§feS 2S.b4 .§ xel 29 . .§ xel .§ xel + 30.-'l.xel fS 3l .Ad2 Ac4 32.g4 Ae2 33.g xfS A x f3 3 4 . Af4 Ae4 3 S .f6 \t'f7 3 6 . A e S Ads 3 7 . Ad4 a6 3S.c3 A x f6 39.Axf6 \t' x f6, 0-1

White should play 1 3A:Jc2 with the better game. 1 3 . . . � x d4 14. �e3 eS 1 S . � x h 6 .§f7 16.�e2 .§ h 7 17.�e3?1

Perhaps 1 7: �g5 + is preferable. 17 . . . cS 1S.�g3 \t'f71 1 9.f4 gx f3 20.gxf3 �hS 2l . .§f2 .§gS 22 . .§g2

(8) Rubinstein - Benko Kiev (3) 1 903 Dutch [A84]

2 2 . . . .§ x h 2 1 24 . .§g2

2 3 . .§ x h 2

l .d4 fS 2.c4 �f6 3.e3 e6 4.Ad3 b6 s.�e2 Ab7 6.0-o .Q.e7 7.�bc3 0-0 S.�c2 �c6 9.a3 �hS 10.f4 Af6? l l .g4! fxg4 12.j}.xh7+ \t'hS 13.Ag6 � xf4 14 . .§ x f4 eS lS.�fS AgS 1 6 . � x fS+ � x fS 17 . .§ x fS+ .§ xfS 1S.Ae4 ... 1-0 [In 3 5 moves. The rest of the game is not avai lable.]

.§ x g 3 +

As 24.'it'hl would be met by 24 . . . Eih3! . 24. . . �g41 2 S . A x d4 .§ x g 2 + 2 6. \t' x g2 �h2+ 27.\t'fl � x e3+ 2 S . A x e3 A h 4 2 9 . Ag t � h 3 + 3 0 .\t' e 2 A x e l 3 l . .§ x e l A x f3 + 32.\t'd2 �g2+ 33.\t'c3 e 4 34.Ac2

Moishe Leopoldowicz Lowcki ( 188 1 1 940), although not a star o f the first order, was one of Poland's better play22

1 882- 1 904 : The Young Rubinstein 1 8 . A x f6 A x f6 t 9 . A h 3 Ag7 20 . .§.afl f5 2 1 .g4 Ac8 2 2 .g x f5 A x f5 23. -'1.xf5 .§. xf5 24.e4?

ers for more than a quarter century. Lowcki (sometimes spelled Lowtzky) was equal fi rst in the 1 9 1 6 Warsaw Championship with Rubinstein and second the foll owing year. Professor Elo has his best five year average at 2440. Lowcki was arrested by the Ge­ stapo in 1 940 and perished in a con­ centration camp later that year.

With 24.�g2! White achieves a clear advantage. 24 . . . d x e4 25 . .£) x e4 ? 26.d4 g 3 59.'e3 and White wins.

1 .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.4)c3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.4)f3 4)c6 6.Af4

5 4 . g x h4 � x h4 5 5 . � b 5 � h 3 5 6 . � b 6 .§h8 5 7 . � c 5 E! c 8 + 58.�b6 E!f8 59.E!c2, 1-0

Rubinstein's trademark 6.g3 had not yet been invented. 27

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 6 . . . a6 7 . d x c 5 d4 8 . 4) e4 A x c 5 9 . 4) x c 5 � a 5 + 1 0 . � d 2 � x c 5 l l . §acl �b6 1 2.e3 4)f6 13.Ad3 0-0 14.4) xd4 4) xd4 1 5.exd4 �e6+ 16.Ae3 �xa2 17.0-0 b5? 18.Ag5 Ab7? 19.Axf6 gxf6 20. �h6, 1-0

17.b3

To discourage Black 's queenside break c5-c4 . . . .

1 7 . . . Ad6 1 8 . f 5 f6 1 9 . Ag41 b5 2 0 . A h 5 § bs 2 t .g4 Ae7 2 2 .h4 § fc8 2 3 . g 5 4) d8 2 4 . c4 1 4) f8 25.§g1 4)b7 26.4)f2 4) d6 27.4)g4 'it'h8 28.g xf6 g x f6 29.4)h6 4)g6 3 0 . f x g6 J}.f8 3 1 . 4) f7 + 4) x f7 32.gxf7 �d7 33.f!g8, 1-0

The first meeting between these two great players sees Chigorin, who was in fantastic form in this event ( 1 5 -3 ! ), defeating the young Akiva with a model King's Indian type attack. ( 1 7) Chigorin - Rubinstein Kiev ( 1 2) 1 903 French Chigorin [COO]

A modern King 's Indian type attack played in 1 903 ! ( 1 8) Rubinstein - Levitsky Kiev ( 1 3 ) 1 903 French Exchange [CO l ]

1 .e4 e6 2. �e2

Chigorin 's patent.

1 .d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.e3

2 ... 4) c6 3.f4 4)d4 4. �d3 c5 5.4)f3 4)c6 6.�e2 Ae7 7.4)c3 d5 8.d3 4)f6 9.g3 a6?! 10.J}.g2 0-0 1 1 .0-0 Ad7 12.4)e51 d4? 13.4) xd7 4) xd7 14.4)d1 e5 1 5.'it'h1 �c7 16.Ah31

Rubinstein avoids the Albin (3.dxe5 d4), and the play transposes into the Exchange French.

1 6 . . . §ad8?

3 ... exd4 4.exd4 Ae6 5.4)c3 4)f6 6.cxd5 4) xd5 7.4)f3 Ae7 8.J}.e2 0-0 9.0-0 4)d7 1 0 . 4) x d5 A x d5 l l . Af4 f!e8 1 2 . �c2 c6 13.§ad1 4) f8 1 4 . b 3 4) e6 1 5 . A e 5 f6 16 . .Q.g3 Ab4 1 7 . Ad 3 4) f8 1 8 . 4) h4 g6 1 9 .f4 Aa5 20.f5 g5 2 1 .4)f3 Ab6 22.'it'h1 h6 23.Af2 �d7 24.§fe1 Aa5 25.4)d2 �f7 2 6 . § x e8 § x eS 2 7 . 4) e4 Ac7 28.§e1 'it'g7 29. �d1 h5 30.h4 g4 3 1 . 4)g3 b5 32. § x e8 � xeS 33. �e1 � xe1 + 34. J}. x e 1 A x g3 35.Ax g3 'it'f7 36.'it'g1 'it'e7 37. 'it'f2 4)d7 38.Ac7 a6 . . . Draw [In 52 moves. The rest of the game score is not avai lable.]

Rubinstein continues to dither. Correct is 16 . . b7-b5 to get queen-side play.

Past and future legends meet in the fol­ lowing game, which may be the fi rst in

Chigorin shows his mastery of closed positions. He transfers the bishop to h5 prior to the kingside pawn storm .

.

28

1 882- 1 904: The Young Rubinstein which Rubinstein played . . dxe4 in the French . Emanuel S c h i ffers ( 1 8 5 01 904), long Russia's second-best player after Chigorin, was near the end of his life when he participated at Kiev. .

( 1 9) Schijfers - Rubinstein Kiev ( 1 4) 1 903 French Rubinstein [CI 0] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.4:)c3 4:)f6 4 . .1lg5 d x e4 5 . 4:) x e4 4:) bd7 6 . 4:) f3 Jle7 7 . 4:) x f6+ 4:) xf6 S . .ll d 3 0-0 9.0-0 b6 1 0 . 4:) e 5 .ll b7 l l . c 3 §cS 12.'lte2 c5 13.§ad1 c x d4 14.c xd4 �d5 1 5 .£J f3 §fdS 1 6.b3? �a5 17.4:)e5

Emanuel Schiffers

•

4.4:) x d4 4:)f6 5.4:) xc6 bxc6 6 .1ld3 d5 7 . e x d 5 c x d 5 S . 0 - 0 .ll e 7 9 . .1l b 5 + .ll d 7 1 0 . .1l x d7 + � x d7 1 1 . 4:)d2 0-0 1 2.b3 �f5 13 . .1lb2 .lld 6 14.4:)f3 §adS 15.§fe1 4:)e4 1 6 . � d 3 §feS 1 7 . § e 2 § e 6 1S.§ae1 §deS 19.4:)d4? .ll x h2+? •

The right answer is 19 . . . �h5! . 20. cifl x h 2 1 7 . . . § x d4 ! 1S . .Il x h7 + ? 4:) x h7 1 9 . .1l x e7 §e4 2 0 . 4:) c4 § x e 2 21.4:) xa5 b x a 5 ... 0-1 [ I n 4 4 moves. The rest of the game score is unavail­ able.]

(A) White h a s to take, as 2 0 . �fl?? �xf2+ 2 1 .El xf2 f)g3 + 22 .�xg3 E! xe l + is mate !

Here the two young bucks, Rubinstein and Bernstein, who were both born in 1 882, meet for the first time.

If 2 1 . . .�h5 22.�h3 �e5 23.4:)f5! and White wins.

20

•••

§h6+ 21.ciflg1 �e5

2 2 . 4:) f3 �h5 24.4:)g1 §g6

(20) Rubinstein - Bernstein Kiev ( 1 5) 1 903 Scotch [C45]

2 3 . ciflf l

�h1+

If 24 . . . E!.h2 25.�f3 ElhS (threatening 26 . . . 4:)d2 + 27.§xd2 �xgl + 28 .'it>xgl E! xe l mate) then 2 6 . g3! and White wins.

Notes from the tournament book. 1 .e4 e5 2 . 4:) f3 4:) c 6 3 .d4 e x d 4

29

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King (22) Rubinstein - Znosko-Borovsky Kiev (I 7) 1 903 Queen's Gambit Declined [D5 5] Notes from the tournament book. 1 .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3 . .£lc3 4)f6 4 . .Q.g5 Ae7 5.e3 4)bd7 6.4){3 b6 7.cxd5 .£l xd5 s . .Q. x e7 .£l xe7 9.Ad3 .Q.b7 1 0 . f! c 1 a6 1 1 .0-0 4) g6 1 2 . 4) e4 E! c 8 1 3 . � e 2 a 5 1 4 . E! c 3 0 - 0 15.E!fc1 4)b8 16.�c2 c 6 17.�b3 �c7? 18.4)eg5 .£ld7

25.f4??

After 25 :�h3 E!.ge6!? 26.E!.dl ! (but not 26:�xhl ? e4 'it'd2 5 5 . 'it'd5 'it'c3 56.c.t>c6 c.t>xb3 57.'it'xb6 c.t>b4! it is Black who wins.

(A) According to ECO, White has com­ pensation for the pawn. 11 ... .£Ja4 12.Ad6 Ad7 13.c4 0-0-0 14.0-0 .£lc3 15.Ad3 Ae8 16.c5 f6 17.Ac4 .£ld5 18.a4 Ag6?!

47. . . 'iti'h5, Draw

(30) Rubinstein Lowy Barmen (4) 1 905 Queen 's Pawn [D02]

(A) Perhaps the immediate 18 . . . Ah5 is better.

-

19.a5 a6 20. E!,fe1 E!.he8 2 l . E!.e2 Ah5 22.E!.b2 .£Je3 23 . .£ld2 Ag6

1 .d4 d5 2 . .£lf3 c5 3.c3 e6 4.Af4 .£!c6 5.e3 �b6 6.�b3 c4 7.�c2 .£! f6 8 . h 3 Ad7 9 . .£l bd 2 E!,c8 10.Ae2 �a5 1 1 .0-0 b5 12.a3 Ae7 13.e4 �a4 14.�b1! 'iti'f8 15 . .£Je5 Ae8 1 6 . Af3 h 6 1 7 . e x d 5 e x d 5 18.E!.e1 .£jd8 19 . .£Jfl .£! e6 20. �f5 �a6 2 1 .Ad2 E!,d8 2 2 . E!,e2 E!,d6 23. E!.ae1 g6 24. �c2 'iti'g7 25.g3! A d s 2 6 . Ag 2 .£! g8 2 7 . f4 f6 28 . .£l f3 f5 29 . .£Je3 .£J f6 30 . .£l h4 'iti'h7 31 . .£jexf5 E!.b6 32.'iti'h2 Af7 33 . .£Je3 .£!g7 34 . .£J f3 .£!d7 35 . .£Je5 .£J xe5 36.fxe5 �b7 37.E!.f2 Ae6 3 8 . E!, e f 1 .£l f5 3 9 . .£J x f 5 A x f5 40 . E!, x f5 g x f5 4 l . � x f5 + E!, g6 4 2 . e 6 Ac7 4 3 . A x d 5 A x g3 + 44 . 'iti' h 1 � e 7 4 5 . Ae4 E!. hg8 4 6 . �f7+ � x f7 4 7 . e x f7 E!, f8 48.E!,f6, 1-0

( V ) A good answ er. I f 23 . . . 4J x d 4 24.§abl § d7 then 25 .Axa6! . 24.E!.a3 .£l f 5 25.E!.b6

25 . . . .£j xd6?

(V) It is understandable that Black is anxious to eliminate the strong bishop. But stronger, much stronger, is the simple 25 . . . 4Jfxd4 ! . In this case White should use heroic resources, probably 26. § ab3!?.

(3 1 ) Vidmar Rubinstein Barmen (5) 1 905 French Bum [C 1 1 ] -

Notes by Vidmar (V) and Authors (A).

26.,1l. x a6!!

1 .e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3 . .£lc3 .£!f6 4.Ag5 dxe4 5 . .£J xe4 Ae7 6.Ad3!?

( V ) The de c i s i v e b l o w ! If now 26 . . . b x a6 the n 2 7 . l"l x c 6 + 'b7 (or

(V) My gambit in this variation. 36

1 905 2 7 . . . 'it'b8 2 8 . c x d6) 2 8 . .§ b6+ 'it'c7 2 9 . c x d6 + .§ x d6 3 0 . .§ c 3 + 'it'd7 3 l ..§ b7+ 'it'd8 32 . .§ cc7 .§ xd4 33 . .§ xg7 'it'c8 34 . .§ bc7+ 'it'b8 3 5 A::l b 3! .§ d l + 3 6.'it'f2 .§ ed8 37 . .£lc5 and White wins.

(33) Benima - Rubinstein Barmen (7) 1 905 Queen 's Gambit Declined [D5 5] 1 .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3 . .£\c3 .£1 f6 4.Ag5 .£1 bd7 5.e3 Ae7 6 . .£1f3 0-0 7.tftc2 b6 8 . 0 - 0 - 0 Ab7 9 . c x d 5 e x d 5 1 0 . h4 c 5 l l . A d 3 f! c 8 1 2 . .Q.f5 c x d4 13 . .£\ x d4 g6 14. Ad3 .£\c5 1 5 . 'it> b 1 .£1 fe4 1 6 . -'l, x e7 tt1 x e7 1 7 . h 5 .£\ x d 3 1 8 . f! x d3 f!c4 1 9 . h x g6 h x g6 20.f3 .£\c5 2 1 .b3 .£\ xd3 22.� xd3 f!c5 23 . .£\ce2 f!e8 24.f!h6 �g5

26 . . . .£\a7 27.c x d6 f!d7 28. f! x b7 f! x b7 29.f!b3 .£1c6 30.f! x b7 .£\b8 31.f!c 7+ d8 32.Ab5 e5 33.d5 e4 34 . .£\ b3 Af5 3 5 . .£\ d4 Acs 36. -'l, x eS, 1 -0

(32) Rubinstein - E. Cohn Barmen (6) 1 905 Queen 's Gambit Declined [D53 ]

The immediate capture of the e-pawn by 24 . . . �xe3 allows 2 5 . .§ xg6+.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e 6 3 . .£\c3 .£1f6 4.Ag5 .£\bd7 5 . .£\f3 Ae7 6.e3 c6 7.Ad3 dxc4 8.-'l, xc4 b5 9.Ad3 a6 10.0-0 Ab7 1 1 . � e 2 c5 1 2 . f! ad 1 c4 13.Ab1 f!c8 14 . .£\e5 b4 1 5 . .£\ a4 .£\ x e 5 1 6 . d x e 5 .£1 d 5 1 7 . -'l, x e7 tt1 x e7 1 8 . f4 tftc7 1 9 . e 4 .£1 b6 20 . .£\ x b6 ttf x b6 + 2 1 . 'it> h 1 0 - 0 22.f!d6 tftc5 23.Ac2 Ac6 24. tftf2 tft xf2 25.f!xf2 Ab5 26.f!fd2 f!c5 27.'it>g1 g6 28.f!2d4 'it>g7 29.f!b6 fifeS 30.a4 bxa3 3 1 .b x a3 c3 32.a4 Ac4 33.'it>f2 f!8c7 34. 'it>e3 Afl 35.g4 g5 36.fxg5 f! xe5 37.h4 j'lc4 3 8 . f! d 8 f6 3 9 . g x f6 + 'it> x f6 40. f!f8+ 'it>g7 4 1 . f! bb8 f! e c 5 42. f!g8+ 'it>f7 43.g5 e5 44. f!be8 f! d7 4 5 . f!ef8+ 'it> e 7 4 6 . f! g7 + xf8 47. f! x d7 Af7 48.f!a7 f!c6 49.'it>d 3 Ags 5 0 . h 5 .Q.f7 5 1 .g6 h x g6 5 2 . h 6 g 5 5 3 . f! a8 + Ae8 5 4 . h 7 f! h 6 5 5 . x c3 f! x h7 5 6 . f! x a 6 g4 5 7 . f! f6 + f! f7 5 8 . f! x f7 + x f7 5 9 . 'it> d 2 'it>f6 60.a5 Ac6 61 .'it>e3 e7 62.a6 g3 63 . A d 3 d6 6 4 . f3 c 5 6 5 . 'it> x g3 'it> b 6 6 6 . 'it> f3 A e 8 67 . g4 Ag6 6 s . � f3 Ah7 69. -'l,b5 j'lg6 70.�e3 Ah7, Draw

25.f!h2 � x e3 26.�d1 Aa6 27.g4 A xe2

This is how the game score is given in all sources, but as Alan Savage pointed out in his review of the first edition of thi s book, neither player is likely to have m i s sed 28 . .§ x e 2 when White w i n s . We theorize that the miss ing moves 27 . . . �d3 + and 28.'it'b2 were left out. With those inserted, the game continuation makes sense; 28 . . . �xe2

37

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 8.e4 fxe4 9.� x e4 � xe4 1 0. .Q. x e4 dS l l .Ac2 dxc4 12.dxeS � xd1 + 1 3 . A x d 1 AcS 14.Ac2 0-0 1 S . Ad 2 � d 7 1 6 . f4 � b6 1 7 . b4 Ae7 18.0-0 E!d8 1 9 . f!fd 1 Ag4 2 0 . \t'f2 � d S 2 l . a 3 f!f8 2 2 . g3 E!ae8 23.Ae4 .ilf6! 24.f!ac1 A xeS 2S.Af3 A x f3 26.\t'xf3 b5 27.f!c2 g S 2 8 . h 4 h6 2 9 . h x g 5 h x g S 30.f!h1 .Q.g7 31 . .Q.c1 f!e7 32.f!hS g4 + 3 3 . \t' x g4 � f6 + 3 4 . \t' h 4 � x h S 3 5 . \t' x h 5 E! fe8 3 6 . � c 3 .Q. d 4 3 7 . \t'g4 f! e 1 38 .fS .il x c3 3 9 . E! x c 3 13 8 e 4 + 4 0 . \t'g 5 E! d 4 41.g4 f!ee4 42.f!g3 \t'f7 43.\t'h5 f!d3 44.f!g2 f!e1 4 S .Af4 f!h1 + 46.\t'gS c3 47.f!e2 f!d8 48.Ae3 f!e8, 0-1

29.4:lxe2 (29Jhe2 �xd4+ 30.�xd4 1"\ x e 2 + winning) 29 . . . �xf3 3 0 . 'it' a l �e4 3 l .�d4 1"\ c l + . 2 8 . � x e 2 � x f3 2 9 . \t' a 1 30.�d4 f!cl +, 0-1

�e4

Oldrich Duras ( 1 882- 1 95 7), who was born the same year as Rubinstein, was among the top dozen players in the world from 1 906 to 1 9 1 2 . The Oxford Companion notes: "After the war he was unable to spare enough time from his professional duties to continue his tournament career; instead he success­ fully renewed his interest in study com­ posing, which he had pursued in his youth. He also composed problems at this time."

(36) Moewig - Rubinstein Barmen ( 1 0) 1 905 Queen's Gambit Tarrasch [040]

(34) Duras - Rubinstein Barmen (8) 1 905 Ruy Lopez [C77] l . e4 e 5 2 . � f3 � c 6 3 . A b5 a6 4.Aa4 �f6 5.d3 d6 6.�c3 Ad7 7.0-0 Ae7 8.Ab3 �a5 9.d4 exd4 1 0 . � x d4 � x b 3 l l . a x b3 0 - 0 1 2 . Ag 5 f! e 8 1 3 . f! a d 1 A c 6 14.E!fe1 h 6 15.Ah4 �d7 16.�d5 A x d5 17.e x d 5 g5 1 8 . Jlg3 � h 5 19.�d3 Af6 20.c3 �b5 21.�xb5 a x b 5 2 2 . b4 \t'f8 2 3 . \t'f l f! a 2 2 4 . f! b 1 g4 2 5 . � g 1 f! x e 1 + 26.\t'xe1 Ae5 27.A xe5 dxe5 28.f3 g x f3 2 9 . � x f3 f6 3 0 . g3 \t'e7 3 1 . � h4 �g7 32.�g2 �f5 33.g4 �d6 34.�e3 �c4 35.�f5+ \t'f7 36.\t'f2 \t'g6 37.\t'f3?? �d2+, 0-1

1 .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.�c3 �f6 4.�f3 c S s .e3 � c6 6 . d x c S A x e S 7 . a 3 0 - 0 8.b4 .Q.e7 9.Ab2 a 6 10.�c2 d x c4 1 l . A xc4 b5 1 2 . f!d 1 �b6 13.Ad3 Ab7 14.0-0 E!ac8 1S. �b1 E!c7 1 6 . � e4 � x e4 1 7 . A x e4 g6 18.h4 a5 19.hS f5 20.hx g6 h xg6 2 l . A xc6 A x c6 2 2 . � a 2 AdS 2 3 . f! x d 5 e x d S 24. � x d S + \t'h7 2 5 . � d4 a x b4 2 6 . � e6 b x a 3 2 7 . � x f8 + A x f8 2 8 . ,ild4 � c 6 29.�d8 \t'g8 30.�h4 13h7 31.�g3 b4 32.f!d1 �d6 33.f4 f!d7 34.f!c1 b 3 3 S . � h 4 f! h 7 3 6 . � e 1 b 2 37.f!c8 f!b7 38. �b1 � e 6 3 9 . f! a8 �c4 4 0 . \t' h 2 E! b 3 , 0 - 1

(35) Rubinstein - Bleijkmans Barmen (9) 1 905 Dutch [A84]

(37) Rubinstein - Gajdos Barmen ( 1 1 ) 1 905 Queen 's Gambit Tarrasch [032]

1.d4 fS 2.c4 e6 3.e3 �f6 4.Ad3 d6 s . � c3 eS 6.�ge2 c6 7 .f3 g6

1.d4 d5 2.�f3 e6 3.c4 4)f6 4.4)c3 cS S.cxdS e xd S 6.Af4 a6 7.e3 4)c6

38

1 905 s. A e2 Ae7 9.dxc5 A xc5 10.0-0 0- 0 l l . E{cl -'le7 1 2 . 4) d4 4) x d4 1 3 . � x d4 Ae6 1 4 . Af3 � a 5 1 5.!!cd1

d x c4 8 . A x c4 0 - 0 9 . h 3 � b 6 10.Ab3 E{d8 1 1 .0-0 4)f8 12. �e2 4)g6 1 3.Ah2 Ad6 14.4)e5 A xe5 1 5 . d x e 5 4) d 5 1 6 . 4) e4 A d 7 17.4)d6 Ae8 18.e4 4) de7 19.ct;h1 4) c8 2 0 . f4 �b4 2 1 . f 5 4) x d 6 22.exd6 4)f8 23. �g4, 1-0

More logical was the natural lS . .§ fd l . 1 5 . . . !!fd8 16.Ae5 E{ac8 17.-'le2 �b4 1 8 . � x b4 A x b4 1 9 . Af3 Jt xc3 20.A xc3 4) e4 2 1 . Ad4 f6 22.Ae2 ct;f7 23.f3 4)d6 24. E{c1 E{ xc1 25.E{xc1 !!c8 26.E{ x c8 A xeS 27.ct;f2 Ad7 28.ct;e1 4)b5

(39) Kieseritzky - Rubinstein Barmen ( 1 3) 1 905 Queen's Gambit Cambridge Springs [052] 1 .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.4)c3 4)f6 4.Ag5 4) bd7 5.e3 c6 6.4)f3 �a5

Here 28 . . . .\lbS makes more sense. Now the young Rubinstein demonstrates his legendary endgame prowess.

The Cambridge Springs takes its name from the small town in eastern Penn­ sylvania, where a big international tour­ nament was held in 1 904. The actual sequence of moves was first played back in 1 892 in Hodges-Lasker.

2 9 . A c 5 ct;e6 3 0 . ct; d 2 f5 3 1 .b3 4) d 6 3 2 . a 4 4) c 8 3 3 . ctlc 3 4) e7 34.Ad4 g6 35.ct;b4 Ac6

7.Ax f6 gx f6 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.Ad3 A e 7 1 0 . � c 2 f5 1 1 . 0 - 0 0 - 0 1 2 . ct;h 1 4) f6 13.4)e5 Ad6 14.f4 a6 15.!!f3 4) e4 16.E{h3 f6 17.4)f3 b5 18.4) x e4 fxe4 1 9 . -'l x e4 d x e4 20. � x e4 !!a7 21 .E{c1 !!c7 22.E{g1 b4 2 3 .g4 �d5 2 4 . � d 3 Ab7 25.!!fl !!g7 26.b3 e5 27.�c4 exf4 28.!!h5 � xc4 29.bxc4 fxe3 30.d5 E{ x g4 3 1 . !! e 1 f 5 3 2 . h 3 !! x c4 33.!!d1 e2, 0-1

36. ct;c5 ct;d7 37.a5 4) c8 38.Ad1 .£Ja7 3 9 . h4 4) b 5 4 0 . A c 2 4) c7 4 l .g3 4)e8 4 2 . A e 5 1 ct;e6 43 .f4 ctld7 44.b4 4)c7? 45.Axc7 ct; xc7 46. Ab3 h5 47.Aa2 ct;d7 4s.Axd5 A xd5 49.ct; xd5 ctlc7 50.ct;e5, 1-0

(40) Rubinstein - Petzold Barmen ( 1 4) 1 905 Queen 's Gambit Semi-Slav [046] 1 .d4 d5 2.4)f3 4)f6 3.c4 e6 4.4)c3 4) bd7 5.e3 c6 6.Ad3 Ad6 7.0-0 e5

(38) Rubinstein - Sartori Barmen ( 1 2) 1 905 Queen 's Gambit Declined [037]

A forgotten "novelty."

1 . d4 d5 2.4)f3 4)f6 3.c4 e6 4.4)c3 Ae7 5.Af4 c6 6.e3 .£l bd7 7.-'ld3

8.cxd5 cxd5 9.dxe5 .£! xe5 10.Ae2 .£lc6 l l .�b3 0-0 1 2 . f!d1 .£la5?1

39

Akiba Rubinstein : Uncrowned King Probably better is 1 2 . . . J:ie6, and i f 1 3 .�xb7 .£\b4! 1 4 .a3 ( 1 4 .�b5? Ad7 1 5 .�b7 Ac6) 14 .. .l:"\ b8 1 5 .�xa7 §. a8 w i t h a draw, or 1 3 . .£\d4 ? ! .£\ x d4 1 4 . §. xd4? Ae5 . 1 3 . �a4 A e 6 1 4 . b3 a6 1 5 . Ab2 �b6? 16. �h4 �ds 17.Ad3 h6 18.4)e2 Ae7 19.4)f4 4) e4 20. �h5 4)f6 21.-'l_xf6 -'l_ x f6 22.§ac1 4)c6 2 3 . Ac4 �a5 2 4 . -'l_ x d 5 -'l_ x d 5 2 5 . 4) x d 5 � x a 2 26. 4) x f6+ g x f6 27.4) h4 E!fd8 28.4)f5, 1-0

leave after the first game was drawn. We consider the tournament book the most reliable source. The first game of the match follows; the second appears to be lost forever. ( 42) Duras - Rubinstein Barmen (Playoff) 1 905 French Exchange [CO I ] l . e4 e6 2 . d4 d 5 3 . e x d 5 e x d 5 4.Ad3 4Jf6 5.4Jf3 Ad6 6.0-o o-o 7 . Ag 5 Ag4 8 . 4) c 3 c6 9 . � d 2 4) bd7 10.4)e2 �c7 1 1 . 4)g3 §ae8 1 2 . § a e 1 § e 6 1 3 . 4) h4 § fe 8 1 4 . 4) hf5 § x e 1 1 5 . § x e 1 § x e l + 1 6 . � x e 1 -'l_ f 4 1 7 . -'l_ x f4 � x f4 18. �e7 g6 19. �d8+ 4)f8 20. � x f6 -'l_ xf5 21.4) xf5 �c1+ 22.-'l_fl gxf5 2 3 . h 4 4) e 6 2 4 . � x f 5 � x b 2 2 5 . A d 3 �c 1 + 2 6 . � h 2 �f4+ 27. � x f4 4) xf4 28.-'l_f1 4)e6 29.c3 �g7 30. �g3 c5 3 1 .d x c 5 4) x c 5 32.�f4 4)e4 33.c4 4)d2

( 4 1 ) Kunze - Rubinstein Barmen ( 1 5 ) 1 905 French Bum [C 1 1 ] 1 .e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.4)c3 4)f6 4.Ag5 d x e4 5 . A x f6 g x f6 6 . 4) x e4 f5 7.4)c3 Ag7 8.4)f3 0-0 9.4)e5? c5 10.f4 c x d4 1 1 . 4)e2 4)c6 1 2 . 4) f3 �b6 1 3.§b1 �a5+ 14.4)d2 Ad7 1 5 . 4) c 1 �c7 1 6 . 4) d 3 E!ac8 17.-'l_e2 4)e7 18.§c1 4)d5 19.4)f1 4) xf4 20.4) xf4 � x f4 21.4)d2 Ac6 22.g3 �g5 23.0-o Ah6 24. 4Jb3 �e3+ 25.§f2 e5 26.�fl f4 27.g4 f3 28. -'l_ x f3 -'l_ x f3 29.§e1 E! xc2! 3 0 . § x e3 -'l_ x e3 3 1 . � e 1 A x f2 + 3 2 . � x f2 § x f2 3 3 . � x f2 A d 5 34. 4) c 1 §c8 3 5 . 4) d3 e 4 36.4)e1 e3+ 37.�e2 Ae4, 0- 1

The two winners of the Hauptturnier played a short match at the end of the tournament to try to find a clear win­ ner but the matter remained unresolved when both games were drawn and Rubinstein had to leave. Curiously, in an apprec i at i O n o f Duras i n Ceskoslovensky Sach, 1 93 1 (p. 1 63 ) , his match record is given a s Rubinstein (Barmen 1 905) 2-2. The Field of 1 905 (pp. 506-507) says Rubinstein had to

34.c xd5!

In a difficult position Duras finds an e x c e l l e nt i d e a , after w h i c h i t i s Rubinstein who must play careful ly. 34 . . . 4) x fl 3 5-�e5 � d 2 36. �d6 �f6 3 7 . � c7 � e 4 3 8 . d 6 4J c 5 40

1 905 3 9 . d7 4) e 6 + 40 . xg7 57.e7, 1-0 [New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, l 906]

(74) Gattie - Rubinstein Ostende June 1 2, 1 906 Queen's Pawn [D04]

1 7 . 4) x f71 .§ x f7 1 8. � x e6 -'1, x d4 1 9 . A x d 5 A x f 2 + 2 0 . h 1 �f8 2 1 . .§ f 1 .§c2 22 . .§ a c 1 .§ x c 1 23 . .§ xc1, 1-0

1 .d4 d5 2.4)f3 4)f6 3.e3 c5 4.b3 4)c6 s . A b 2 Af5 6 . Jld 3 Jlg6 7 . d x c 5 � a 5 + 8 . 4) bd 2 e6 9 . a 3 � x c 5 1 0 . 0- 0 A e 7 1 1 . � e 2 0 - 0 1 2 . Jl x g6 h x g6 1 3 . b4?? C l 3 .c4=) 13 ... �xc2 14.A xf6 Axf6 1 5 . .§fc1 �a4 16 . .§ab1 � x a3 17.4)b3 .§ac8 1 8 . 4) c 5 4) x b4 1 9 . �d 2 4) a 2 20 . .§c2 4)c3, 0-1 [New Yorker Staats-Zeitung 1 906]

(76) Leonhardt - Rubinstein Ostende June 1 4, 1 906 Queen's Gambit Declined [D55] 1 .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.4)c3 4)f6 4.Ag5 4)bd7 5.e3 Ae7 6.4)f3 0-0 7 . .§c1 b6 8 . c x d 5 e x d 5 9 . A d 3 A b 7 1 0 .0-0 c5

Bulgarian Grandmaster Ivan Radulov, who has tried this setup many times, believes this is a difficult variation for Black.

(75) Rubinstein - Burn Ostende June 1 3 , 1 906 Queen 's Gambit Declined [037] 1 .d4 d5 2.4)f3 4)f6 3.c4 e6 4.4)c3 4)bd7 5.e3 Ae7 6.Jld3 0-0 7.0-0 d x c4 8 . A x c4 c5 9 . � e 2 4) b6 ? 1 1 0 . A b 3 c x d4 1 1 . e x d4 Jl d 7 12 ..§ e 1 Ac6 13.4)e5 Jld5

l l .�e2

ECO considers l l ..llf5 c4 1 2.4Je5 g6 13 . .1lbl .§ e8 14.f4 better for White. 65

Akiba Rubinstein : Uncrowned King 15 ... g5 16.-i:) xgS?I

1 6.Axe4 dxe4 1 7.4Jxg5 .ilxg5 1 8.�g4 was an easy win. After the game con­ tinuation Rubinstein can still fight.

The continuation l l . . .h6 1 2 .Af4 4Jh5 1 3 .Ae5 does not yield Black equality. 1 2.Af4 .§e8

16 . . . Jl, x g 5 1 7 . -i:) x e S 18. ti'/g4+ Ag5?

Orthodox moves don 't do the trick, but the double-edged 1 2 . . . g5 1 3 .Bg3 f5 was not in Rubinstein's style.

A x f4

The fi nal m i stake . A fte r 18 . . . �f8 1 9 .Axe4 dxe4 20 . .§. fd l the position looks scary for B lack, but consider 2 0 . . . .1l x h 2 + 2 1 . \t' x h 2 � x e 8 , when things are not c l ear after 2 2 . �f5 ( 2 2 . .§. d6 �c7 2 3 . �f4 �f8 24 . .§. cd l .§. d8) 22 . . . �h4+ 23.�gl .§. d8.

13.-i:)bS a6?

19.dlxe4 dxe4 20 . .§fd1 h5

Or 20 . . . 4Je5 2 l ..§. xd8 4::\ x g4 22 . .§. xa8 (22 .4Jf6+) 22 . . . Axa8 23 . .§. xc5 winning. 2 1 . ti'/ x d7 ti'/ x d7 22 . .§ x d7 Jl, c 6 2 3 . -i) c7 .§c8 24 . .§ d 6 Ab7 25 . .£) x a6 Ae7 2 6 . .§ d 7 A x a6 27 . .§ x e7 Ad3 28 . .§e5 c4 29 . .§ xh5 .§ a S 3 0 . a 3 .§ b8 3 1 . .§ g 5 + �f8 3 2 . h4 .§ x b 2 3 3 .a4 �e7 3 4 . h 5 �d6 3 5 . .§ b 5 .§ a 2 3 6 . h 6 .§ x a4 37. .§b8, 1-0 [New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, 1 906]

13 . . . f!. c8 had to be played, when after 14.4Jxa7 (1 4.4Je5 a6 1 5.4Ja7 .§. c7 looks survivable) 14 . . . .§. a8 1 5 .4Jb5 .§. xa2 Black would still be in the game. 14.d xc5?

1 4 . 4Jc7! g5 15 . .ilxe4 dxe4 1 6.4Jxg5 .ll x g5 17.�g4 wins on the spot.

Second Stage Games

14 ... b xc5?

(77) Rubinstein - Znosko-Borovsky Ostende June 1 8, 1 906 Queen 's Pawn [D02]

1 4 . . . axb5 1 5 .c6 Axc6 16 . .§. xc6 .§. xa2 17 . .ilxb5 Ac5 1 8.�c2 allows White a positional advantage but is preferable to what happens in the game.

1 .d4 d5 2 . .£){3 c5 3.c3 e6 4.Af4 .£)c6 s.e3 .£)f6 6 . .£)bd2 Ae7 7.h3 o - o s . Ad 3 Ad7 9 . 0 - o ti'/ b6 1 0 . ti'/ b 3 .§ fc8 1 1 . .£l e 5 Ae8 12 . .§ fe 1 4) d 7 1 3 . 4) df3 4) d x e 5 1 4 . 4) x e S f6 1 5 . .£1 x c 6 ti'/ x c 6 1 6 . ti'/c 2 f 5 1 7 . � e 2 c4 1 8 . Jl, c 2

1 5 .-i)c71

Leonhardt doesn ' t m i s s his second chance. 66

Ostende 1 906 � b6 1 9 . g4 g6 2 0 . g x f 5 e x f5 2 t . � f 3 Jtf7 2 2 . �g3 Ae6 23 .§abl �a5 24.f31 �d8 25.§e2 �d7 2 6 . h4 Af6 2 7 . h 5 �f7 28.hxg6+ hxg6 29.e4 §h8 30.§g2 §ag8 3 l . Ae5 Ah4 32.�f4 §h5 33 .b3 1 c x b3 34 . .1l, x b3 b5 3 5 .a4 §c8? 3 6 . e x d 5 .1l, x d 5 3 7 . j}. x d 5 � x d 5 3 8 . § x b 5 �c4 3 9 . § b7+ .1l,e7 40 .1l,d6?

l l . �e5 c 5 1 2 . �f3 §e8 13.§cdl?!

1 3 . 1"l fd 1 looks more natural. 1 3 ...cxd4 14.exd4 �f8 15.g4

This attacking move is extremely com­ mittal. B lack has plenty of defenders and no weaknesses. Add to this that g4g5 can often be met by . . . 4Je4. It is clear that 1 5 . 1"l fe 1 was more prudent. But fortune favors the brave!

•

1 5 ...j}.d6 16.Jtg3 � e6?

A c c o r d i n g to Z n o s k o - B o ro v s ky, 40.Af6! wins on the spot. 4o . . . § h l + l 4t.�xhl �fl+ 4 2 . �h 2 § h8 + 4 3 . �g3 � e l + 44.§f2 �gl+, Draw [St. Petersburg Zeitung, copied in Bohemia, November 8 , 1 908]

1 6 . . . 1"\ cS is correct, with equal chances. 17.§fel?

1 7.Axh7+! 'it'f8 ( 1 7 . . . 'it'xh7 1 8.4Jxf7) 1 8 . �f5 leaves White a pawn up, as 18 . . . g6 is met by 1 9.�xf6.

(78) Rubinstein - Salwe Ostende June 20, 1 906 Queen's Gambit Declined [037] l. d4 d5 2.�f3 �f6 3.c4 e6 4.�c3 -'\. e7 5 . Jl.f4 0-0 6.e3 b6 7.c x d 5 ex d5 8.Jl.d3 Jl.b7 9.0-0 a 6 lO.§cl �bd7

No second chances for Akiva. Now the initiative switches to Black. 18.�g2 �ge4 19.f3 � xc3 20.bxc3 �c7 2 1.�h3 h6?

After 1 0 . . . Ad6 1 1 .xdl �xa2 23.cxb6 axb6 24.�xb6 �d5 doesn't leave Black with enough compensation for the sacrificed queen.

Third Stage Games

(80) Marshall - Rubinstein Ostende June 2 5 , 1 906 Queen's Gambit Declined [D6 1 ]

20. �c2

2 0 . 'i;!;> x b 2 �f6 + 2 l . � e 5 � x e 5 + 2 2 . .£\xe5 �e6 2 3 . c6 .§. ac8 i s equal . 20.'i;!;>bl is similar to the game continu­ ation, but with a few twists of its own. 20 . . . �c7 Most importantly, the queen on c7 is ready to attack the white king. 21 . �h6+ f6 2 2 .tl'd2 ( 2 2 . l"! d6+ .lle6) and now either 22 . . . .lle 5 2 3 .tl'g 5 + or 2 2 . . . b x c 5 2 3 . � x b 2 + '3i e 7 2 4 . tl'g7

1 .d4 d 5 2.c4 e6 3 . .£lc3 .£l f6 4.Ag5 .£l bd7 5.e3 Ae7 6.'ii\' c 2 0-0 7 . .£lf3 Ete8 8.Ad3 dxc4 9.Axc4 a6 10.a4 c 5 1 1 . 0 - 0 b6 1 2 . Et fd 1 Ab7 1 3 . d x c 5 'ii\' c 7 1 4 . A d 3 .£! x c 5 1 1 5 . A x f6 g x f6 1 6 . J}. x h7 + ? �g7 17.gd4 Eth8 18.Etg4+ �f8 19.gg3 f5 20. A x f5 e x f5 2 1 . 'ii\' x f5 'ii\' d 7 69

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 2 2 . � x d7 4) x d7 23 . .§ d 1 .§d8 2 4 . 4) d4 .£lc5 2 5 .b4 4) e6 26.4) x e6+ fxe6 27 . .§ x d8+ .Q. x d8 28 . .§g4 .§h4 2 9 . .§ x h4 .Q. x h4 30.b5 a5 3 1 .f3 C3;e7 32 .e4 C3;d6 33.g3 .Q.f6 34.4)a2

ing his menace of the black kingside pawns, and preventing the advance of those on the queenside. 44 . . . h6

White 's preceding move allows Black time for this important preliminary. 45.C3;f2 c2 46 . .§a1 C3;e4 47.C3;e1 c3

The winning move, forever preventing

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Carlsbad 1 907 August 20 - September 17

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 16 ... c4 17.Ae2 a5! 18.§fdl �b4 1 9 . Etd4 § fd8 2 0 . §cd l §d7 2l.Af3 §adS

(H) The following variation might be useful to the student: 8 A jdb5? d4 9.g 2 .§ d 2 2 9 . .§ ee7 hS 3 0 . .§ x g7 + Cit> h 8 3 1 . .§ h 7 + Cit>g8 32 . .§ag7+ Cit>f8 33 . .§d7, 1 -0

after 1 7 .�xb5 axb5 1 8 . El xa8 El xa8 1 9.d8 1 7 . � b 5 + 'it>c8 1 8.�a6+ \t>b8 1 9 . .§ c l ! , followed by -'l.e5, and wins. (K) 1 4 . .§ xdl would have had the same result. Black must not play 16 . . . \t>dS?, but 16 . . . 'lflxd7, though this too gives White a pawn.

(K) Not 1 4 . . . \t>d8 1 5 . .§ xdl and White wins immediately.

Vienna 1 908 15.� xd7 .1lh5 16.�e5 E!c8 17.g4 Ag6 18.� x g6 h xg6 19.,1ld4 a6 20.�d2 f6 21.E!ac1 E! xc1 22.E!xc1 e5

(S) Or 22 . . J'!.xh2 23 . .§ c8+ 'it>f7 24.'it>e2! eS 2S .�cS �xeS 26 . .§ xcS followed by §aS winning the a-pawn. 2 3 . A c 5 E! x h 2 24 . A x f8 � x f8 25. �e21 e4 26.E!c6 E!g2

28 . � x c 5 � x c 5 2 9 . Ac7 E! x e 1 30 . E! x e 1 E! d 2 3 1 . E! e8+ �f7 32.§a8 E! xb2 33.E!xa7 �g6 34.a4 h 5 3 5 . a 5 b x a 5 3 6 . E! x a 5 E! c 2 3 7 . Ag3 � h 6 3 8 . Af2 � e4 39 . .1l e 3 + �g6 4 0 . E! a 4 � g3 41.Af4 �e2+ 42.�h2 h4 43.Ad6 �h5 44.E!a5+ �h6 45.E!f5 �g6 46.E!f2 E!d2 47.Af4 E!c2 48.Ad6 �f7 4 9 . A a 3 �e6 5 0 . Af8 g6 5 1 . ,1lg7 f5 5 2.Ah6 �f6 53.-'lfs g5 54.Ad6 �e6

(S) If 26 . . . aS 27.bS followed by .§ a6. 27.E! xa6 E! xg4 28.E!a7 E!g1 29.b5 §b1 30.a4 g5 31.E!b7 E!a1 32.b6 § x a4 3 3 . E! a 7 E!b4 3 4 . b7 g4 3 5 . E!a8+ �f7 3 6 . b8 = � E! x b8 37. E! x b8 �e6 3 8 . §e8+ �f5 39.�fl, 1-0

( 1 59) Alapin - Rubinstein Vienna (2) 1 908 Alapin [C20] Notes by Marco (M) and Authors (A). 1.e4 e5 2.�e2 �f6 3.f4 � xe4 4.d3 .£lc5 5.fxe5 d5 6.d4 �e6 7.�f4 c5 8 . � c3 c x d4 9 . � c x d 5 � c 6 10.,1ld2?

(A) This game is still an important part of recent theory. According to Fine and ECO, White should play lO.�bS with an equal game. 1 0 . . . � x f4 1 l . � x f4 � x e5 12.Ab5+ Ad7 13.�e2 Ad6 14.c3 0-0 15.Axd7 �xd7 16.cxd4 �c6 1 7 . 0 - 0 � x d4 1 8 . �d3 A x f4 19 . .1l x f4 E! ad8 2 0 . E! a d 1 �g4 2 l . E!de1 �e6 2 2.�e3 b6 23.h3 �h5 2 4 . ,1l e 5 E!fe8 2 5 . � a 3 f6 26 . .11, d 6 �d5 2 7 . Ag3 � c 5 +

55.Ab8?

(M) According to the opinion of all authorities, White can save the game by playing SS . .Ilc7!. 5 5 . . . E!d211

(M) The point of this excellent move is so paradoxical - here Black's rook is protected, a necessity for the success­ ful advance of . . . gS-g4. (A) What Marco is saying is that the rook on d2 is protected against White's attempts to simplifY with g3 . See the note after White 's 5 7th move. 56.,1lc7 g4 57.hxg4

(M) If S7.g3 Black wins by S7 . . . hxg3+ S8.�xg3 4Jxg3!! S9 . .§ xd2 4Jfl + 60.'it>g2 4Jxd2, etc. 1 27

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Vienna 1 908 57 ... fxg4 58.g3 h3 59.,1lb8 Cjfjld5 60.Jtf4 Elc2 61.Ae3 Cjfjle4 62.Jtg5 Cjfjld3 63.Ah6 .fld4 64.E! xc2 .fl xc2 65.Af4 Cjfjle2 66 ..1}.b8 .fle3 67.Cjfjlg1 Cjfjlf3 68.,1lc7 .flflt 69.Jtb8 .fl xg3 70 .,1lc7 .f} e 2 + 7 1 . Cjfjl h 2 .fl f4 72.,1lb6 g3+ 73.Cjfjlh1 .fld3 74.Cjfjlg1 h2+ 75.Cjfjlh1 .flf2+ 76 . .1}.xf2 gxf2 77. Cjfjl x h 2 f 1 = El 78.Cjfjlh3 E! h l + mate, 0-1

( 1 60) Rubinstein - Reti Vienna (3) 1 908 Queen's Pawn [DOO] Notes by Schlechter from Deutsche Schachzeitung 1 908 (S), and Authors (A).

Schlechter is right and that 3 . . . .£Jc6 should be not recommended. 7 . . . Jte7 8 . 0 - 0 0 - 0 9 . A d 2 b6 10 . .fle5 Ab7 l l . Elf3 Jtd6

(S) The idea behind this move ( . . . .llx e5) is the decisive mi stake. B etter was l l . . . .£Jd7 . 12.Elh3 Ele8 13.Ae1 ,1l xe5

(S) Now it's too late for 13 . . . .£ld7 be­ cause of 1 4.�h5 . Deserving of atten­ tion is 14 . . . g6. 1 4 . f x e 5 .fld7 16.ttg4, 1-0

1 5 .Ah4

ttc8

1.d4 d5 2.e3 .f}f6 3.Ad3 .f}c6

(S) Many authorities consider this con­ tinuation as best. Black ignores his de­ velopment, wastes time, only to ex­ change White's king's bishop. This can­ not be good ! Correct is 3 . . . c5 4.c3 .£Jc6 5.f4 .llg4! , etc. 4.f4 .flb4 5 . .flf3 .fl xd3 6.cxd3 e6 7. .flc3

(A) ECO considers the whole variation as in Black's favor, on the basis of the game Tarrasch-Chigorin, Hastings 1 895 : 7 . 0-0 .lle 7 8 . .£Jbd2 0-0 9.'i�k2 .lld7 1 0 . .£lb3 .lla4 l l .�c3 b6 1 2 .�e l c5 with the slightly better game. This is misleading. Pillsbury, in his notes in the tournament book, clearly shows that the plan used by Tarrasch (8 . .£Jbd2) is not the best and leads only to an equal game . He recommends the develop­ ment of White 's queen 's knight at c3. Rubinstein uses this idea here in a game overlooked by ECO. We think that the opinion of Pillsbury, Rubinstein, and

(S) Black has no defense. In case of 16 . . . 'it>h8 White wins by 1 7 . .llf6! gxf6 18.�h4 .£Jf8 19.exf6 e5 20.'�h6 �g4 2 1 .l"lg3, etc. ( 1 6 1 ) Rubinstein E. Cohn Vienna (4) 1 908 Queen 's Pawn [D02] -

1 .d4 d5 2.Af4 c5 3.e3 e6 4.c3 .f}f6 5 . .fld2 .1}.d6 6 . .flgf3 .f}c6 7.Jtd3 0 - 0 8 . 0 - 0 E!e8 9 . .fl e 5 Jt x e 5 10.dxe5 .fld7 1 l . .flf3 .f}f8 12. ttc2 Ad7 1 3 . Elad1 c4 14 . .1}.e2 tt a 5 15.e4 .fl e 7 16 . .f}d4 E!ac8 17.Ela1 .flfg6 18.Jtg3 dxe4 19.tt xe4 .flf5

1 29

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 20.f4 �b6 21.Af2 � xb2 22.§ab1 � x e3 23. § x b7 � x d4 24. A x d4 Ae6 25.Axe3 Axe4 26. § x a7 §aS 27. § xaS § x aS 2S.§d1 Ad5 29.g3 h6?

10.Ab2 b5 1 1.Ad3 Ab7 12.�bd2 �bd7 13.�e2 §eS 14. §acl �e7 1 5 . § x eS § x eS 1 6 . § e 1 § x e 1 1 7 . A x e 1 � e 5 1 S . A b 2 � x d3 19.� xd3 �g4 20.�e2 f6 2 1 .h3 �h6 2 2 .g3 �f7 23.e4 e5 24.h4 AeS 2 5 . � e 1 �dS 26.�e2 Ae6 2 7 . Ae3 �d7 2 S . � e 3 � e6 29.�d3 Ae7 30.�e3 AbS, Draw

( 1 63) Rubinstein - Teichmann Vienna (6) 1 908 Queen 's Gambit Declined [040]

After 29 . . . .§ x a 2 3 0 . Axc4 .§ c2 (not 30 . . . Axc4? 3 l . .§ d8 + .:£lf8 3 2 . Ab4) 3 l .Axd5 .§ xc3 32 . .lle4 .:£lf8 33 . .§ d8 g6, and the position is equal . 30.§d4 !!a4 31.§d2 !!a3 32.Ab4 § a S 3 3 . a 3 � fS 3 4 . § e 2 §eS 3 5 . � f2 � d7 3 6 . �e 3 � bS 37.�d4 �e6+ 3S.�e3 �a7 39.a4 �e6 40.§b2 §aS 41 .Ad1 � a 5 4 2 . A x a 5 § x a 5 4 3 . §bS+ � h 7 44.!!b5 §a7 45.a5 �g6 46.g4 f6 47.h4 fxe5 4S.fxe5 �f7 49.Ae2 !!e7 5 0 . a 6 g 5 5 1 . h x g 5 h x g 5 5 2 . § a 5 !! a 7 5 3 . A x e4 Af3 5 4 . A d 3 A x g4 5 5 . Ae4 Jl, e 2 56.Ab7 �e7 57.§a2 Aft 5S.�b4 g4 5 9 . � e 5 A x a6 60 . A x a6 g3 61.�b6 §aS 62.§g2 §gS 63.Ab7 §g5 64.§e2, 1-0

( 1 62)

1 .d4 d5 2.�f3 e6 3.e4 e5 4.e3 �f6 5 . �e3 a6 6.a3 d x e4 7 . A x e4 b5 S.Ad3 Ab7 9.dxe5 Axe5 10.b4 Ad6 l l . A b 2 �e7 1 2 . 0 - 0 0 - 0 1 3 . § e 1 � bd7 1 4 . � e 2 §fdS 1 5 . !! fd 1 § aeS 1 6 . � b 1 § x e 1 1 7 . § x e 1 §eS 1 S . § x e S + A x eS 19.�bd2, Draw

( 1 64) Schlechter - Rubinstein Vienna (7) 1 908 Ruy Lopez [C90] l . e4 e5 2 . � f3 � e 6 3 . A b5 a6 4.Aa4 �f6 5.0-0 Ae7 6.§e1 b5 7.Ab3 d6 S.a4 Ag4 9.e3 b4 10.d3 b x e3 l l . b x e 3 0 - 0 1 2 . h3 A h 5 1 3 . Ag 5 h6 1 4 . A x f6 A x f6 1 5 . A d 5 A x f3 1 6 . � x f3 �eS 1 7 . � d 2 §bS 1 S . Ae4 � a 5 1 9 . A x a 6 � e 6 2 0 . Ae4 Ag 5 2 1 . § ed 1 § b 2 2 2 . A d 5 � x e3 2 3 . � e4 � x e4 24 . � x e4 �d4 25.§e1 Ad2 26.§eb1 Aa5, Draw

Berger - Rubinstein Vienna (5) 1 908 Queen 's Gambit Accepted [026]

( 1 65) Rubinstein - Siichting Vienna (8) 1 908 Queen 's Pawn [004]

1 .d4 d5 2.e3 �f6 3.e4 e6 4.�f3 e5 5.a3 d x e4 6.A xe4 a6 7.dxe5 �xd 1 + S.�xd 1 Jl,xe5 9.b4 Jl,d6

1 .d4 d5 2.�f3 e5 3.e3 �f6 4.dxe5 e6 5.a3 A x e 5 6.b4 Ab6 7.Ab2 �e6 S.� bd 2 0-0 9.e4 dxe4

J.

1 30

Vienna 1 908 10. 4) x c4 � x d 1 + 1 1 . f! x d 1 Jl,c7 1 2.Jl,e2 f!d8 1 3 .0-0 4Jd5 14.b5 4) ce7 1 5 . 4) fe 5 f6 1 6 . 4J d 3 a6 17.b xa6 f! x a6 18.e4 b5 19.4)d2 4)f4 20.4) xf4 Axf4 21 .4)b3 f! xd1 2 2 . f! x d 1 f!b6 2 3 . Ad4 f!b8 24.Aa7 f!b7 2 5 . f!d8+ rtlf7 26.Ac5 Ad7 27.g3 Jl.e5 28.Ab4 .lle8 29.4Jc5 f!b8 30. f! x b8 Axb8 31.4)b7, Draw

( 1 66) Tartakover - Rubinstein Vienna (9) 1 908 Sicilian [B44] 1.c4 e6 2.e4 c5 3.4Jf3 4)c6 4.d4 cxd4 5 . 4) x d4 4J f6 6 . 4J c 3 Ab4 7.4) xc6 bxc6 8.Ad3 d5

This continuation of Rubinstein 's is not mentioned in ECO. 9.exd5 exd5 10.cxd5

Perhaps 1 0.0-0 0-0 l l .i.tg5 is a better idea. 10 . . . 4) x d 5 1 1 . 0 - 0 0 - 0 1 2 . �f3 .lld6 13.Jl,e4 Jl,e6 14.f!d1 4) xc3 15.bxc3 �c7

1 7 . . . A e 7 1 8 . Af4 � a 5 1 9 . f! e 1 f!fd8 20.f!e5 � x a2 21.�e4+ rtfg8 22.h3 f! x d4 23.cxd4 f!d8 24.f!h5 f5 2 5 . � x c6 Af7 2 6 . E!g5 A x g5 27.Axg5 f!e8, 0-1

( 1 67) Rubinstein - Leonhardt Vienna ( I 0) 1 908 Colle System [D05] 1.d4 d5 2.4)f3 e6 3.e3 4Jf6 4.Jl.d3 c5 5 .c3 Ae7 6.4) bd2 0-0 7.0-0 4) c 6 8.�e2 f!e8 9 . f! d l ? l �b6 10.dxc5 A xc5 l l .b4 Ad6 1 2 .e4 �c7 1 3 . Ab 5 .ilf4 1 4 . e 5 4) d 7 1 5 . f! e 1 4) c x e 5 1 6 . 4) x e 5 .il x e5 17.,il xd7 ,il x h2+ 18.rtfh1 A x d7 19.g3 Axg3 20.fxg3 � xg3 21.4Jf3 e5 2 2 . �g2 � x g2 + 2 3 . rtf x g2 f6 24.Ae3 fleeS 25.f!ec1 E!c7 26.a4 f!ac8 2 7 . Jl, d 2 a6 2 8 . rtf f 2 E!c4 29.4Je1 Af5 30.4)g2 Ad3 31.4)e3 E!f4+ 3 2 . rtfg 1 Ae4 3 3 .c4 d4 3 4 . 4) d 5 E! g4+ 3 5 . rtf f 1 f! x c4 3 6 . f! x c4 Jl. d 3 + 3 7 . rtf f 2 A x c4 38.4)b6 Ad3 39.f!c1 e4 40.f!c8+ rtlf7 4 1 . f!c7+ rtfg6 42. f! x b7 e3+ 43 . .il x e3 d x e 3 + 44. rtf x e3 Af1 45.4Jd7 h5 46.E!b6 rtlf5 47.4Jc5 h4 48.b5 axb5 49.a5 h3 50.a6 h2 51 .a7 h1 = �, 0-1

( 1 68) Swiderski - Rubinstein Vienna ( I I ) 1 908 Queen's Pawn [D04] 1 . d4 d5 2 . e3 4J f6 3. 4)d2 .ilf5 4 . 4) gf3 e6 5 . Ae2 Jl,d6 6 .c4 c6 7.�b3 �c7 8.Ad3 4Jbd7 9.A xf5 e x f5 10.�c2 g6 1 l .c x d 5 4) x d5 1 2 .0-0 0-0 1 3 . 4Jc4 E!fe8 14.a3 E!e7 1 5.Ad2 f!ae8 16.f!fe1 4J7f6 17.g3 4)e4 18.�b3 rtlg7 19.Aa5 �b8 2 0 . E! a c 1 f6 2 1 . rtl g 2 Ac7 2 2 . � d 3 ? b5 2 3 . ,il x c 7 b x c4

16.Jl, xh7+ rtf x h7 17.f!d4

White has obviously overlooked that 17:�d3+ g8 18.'liYxd6 loses immedi­ ately after 18 .. J:'!. ad8! . 131

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 24 . j}. x b8 c x d3 2 5 . A x a7 § x a7 2 6 . § x c 6 §b8 2 7 . § b 1 § x a3 28.4)e1 §ab3 29.f3 § xb2+, 0-1

( 1 69) Rubinstein - Maroczy Vienna ( 1 2) 1 908 Queen 's Gambit Declined [040] 1.d4 d5 2.4)f3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.e3 4)f6 5.4)c3 a6 6.dxc5 j}.xc5 7.a3 dxc4 8 . � x d8+ 'it' x d8 9 . Jl x c4 b5 10.Jld3 .Q.b7 u.b4 Ad6 12.Jlb2 'it'e7 13.'it'e2 4)bd7 14.§ac1 §ac8 1 5 . § h d 1 §hd8 1 6 . g3 Jl x f3 + 1 7 . 'it' x f3 4) e 5 + 1 8 . 'it' e 2 4) x d 3 1 9 . § x d 3 Jlb8 20 . § x d8 'itl x d8 2 1 . 4) a 2 Ad6 2 2 . Jld4 § x c 1 23. 4) xc1 e5 24.j}.b2 4) d7 25.e4 4) b6 2 6 . 4) b3 4) c4 2 7 . Jl c 1 f6 28.4)d2 4) xd2 29.Jl xd2, Draw

( 1 70) Sa/we - Rubinstein Vienna ( 1 3 ) 1 908 Giuoco Piano Meller [C54] l .e4 e5 2.4)f3 4)c6 3. Ac4 Jlc5 4.c3 4)f6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Ab4+ 7 . 4) c3 4) x e4 8 . 0 - 0 Jl x c3 9 . d 5 Jlf6 1 0 . § e 1 4) e7 l l . § x e4 0 - 0 12.d6 cxd6 13.Jlf4

favor after 15 . .llg 5!. The best try for an advantage is 1 3 . .llg5 .tlg6 1 4.'�d5! with a small advantage to White, according to Unzicker in the second edition of the C volume of ECO. 13 ... d5 14.j}. xd5 4) xd5 15.� xd5 d6 16.§ae1 Ae6 17.� xb7 A x a2 1 8 . § a 4 j}.e6 1 9 . § x a 7 § x a 7 2 0 . � x a7 j}. x b 2 2 9 . 4) g 5 �f6 ! , 0- 1

( 1 7 1 ) Rubinstein - Bardeleben Vienna ( 1 4) 1 908 Queen's Pawn [005] 1 .d4 d5 2.4)f3 c5 3.e3 e6 4.b3 4)f6 5 . Ad3 b6 6.Ab2 Ae7 7 . 4) bd2 Ab7 8.0-0 0 - 0 9 . � e 2 4) e4 10.§fd1 4)d7 ll.§ac1 Jlf6 12.c4 �e7 13.4)e5 Jlxe5 14.dxe5 4) xd2 1 5 . § xd2 f6 16.�h5 f5 17. §cd1 g6 1 8 . � h 6 § fd8 1 9 .h4 4) f8 2 0 . j}. e 2 d x c4 2 1 . A x c4 § x d 2 2 2 . § x d 2 §d8 2 3 . § d 6 ! § d 7 24.Ab5 §c7 25.�f4 j}.c8 26.'it'fl Ad7 27.Ae2 Ae8 28.'it'e1 Ad7 29.Ac3 j}.e8 30.g3 Ac6 3 1 . Ac4 b5 3 2 . Ae2 g 5 3 3 . � x g 5 � x g5 34.hxg5 'it'f7 35.Aa5 §c8 36.g4 fx g4 37. Jl x g4 c4 38.bxc4 b x c4 39.'it'd2 Ab5 40.'it'c3 §b8 41 .f4 §c8 4 2 . f 5 e x f5 43 . .Q. x f5 §e8 44.§f6+ 'it'g7 45.e6 h5 46.Ac7 h4 47.Ae5, 1-0

( 1 72) Per/is - Rubinstein Vienna ( 1 5) 1 908 Sicilian A1apin [822]

In case of 1 3 .'�xd6 .tlf5 14 :�d5 Black can force a draw by 14 . . . -tle7! 1 5 :�d6 .tlf5, etc. while 14 . . . d6?! is in White's

1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 't'l:\'xd5 4.d4 c x d4 5 . c x d4 4) c 6 6 . 4) f3 Ag4 7.Ae2 e6 8.4)c3 �d7 9.Ae3 Ad6 10.0-0 4)f6 1 1 . �d2 0-0 12.§ad1 §fd8 13.h3 Ah5 14.Ag5 A x f3 1 5 . A x f3 Ae7 1 6 . Ae3 4) b4

132

Vienna 1 908 17 . .1lf4 §. aeS 1S . .1le5 4) fd 5 1 9 . §. e 1 h 6 2 0 . 4) x d 5 4) x d 5 2 1 . §. x eS §. x eS 2 2 . §.e 1 -'l.g 5 23. §. x eS + � x eS 2 4 . � d 1 �e4 25.�fll �b4 26. �b1 f6

(174) Marshall - Rubinstein Vienna (1 7) 1908 Queen's Pawn [DOO] Notes by Marshall from My Fifty Years of Chess (M), and Schlechter from Deutsche Schachzeitung 1 908 (S). 1.d4 d5 2.e3 4)f6 3 . .1ld3 e5 4.e3 e6

( S ) C o m i n g into c o n s i derat i o n i s 4 . . . 4Jc6, and if 5 . f4 o r 5 . 4Jf3 , then 5 . . . .1lg4. 5.4)d2 4)e6 6.f4 .1ld6 27.�g6 ! � e l + 2 S . � h 2 f x e 5 2 9 . � x e6+ � h 7 3 0 . � f 5 + �hS 31 .�fS+, Draw

(1 73) Rubinstein - P. Johner Vienna ( 1 6) 1908 Queen 's Gambit Declined [D30] l.d4 d5 2.4)f3 e6 3.e4 e5 4.e3 4)f6 5.dxe5 .1l xe5 6.a3 0-0 7.b4 .1ld6 8. .1lb2 �e7 9.4)bd2 §.dS 10.§.e1 4)bd7 l l .exd5 exd5 12.4)b3 4)fS 13 . .1le2 .1ld7 14.0-0 4)g6 1 5.4)e5 .ileS 1 6 . � d4 b6 1 7 . 4) d3 §.eS 1 S . 4) h4 4) e 5 1 9 . 4) x e 5 .1l x e 5 20 . � x e 5 � x e 5 2 1 . .1l x e 5 §. x e 5 22.4)f3 §.e7 23.4)d4 .1le6 2 4. .1la6 4)e4 25.§.e6 4)d2 26.§.fd 1 4)e4 27 . .1l x e4 d x e4 2 S . 4) x e6 f x e 6 29.§.xe4 �f7 30.�fl §.bS 31.�e2 h6 3 2 . � f3 �f6 3 3 . �e4 h 5 34.§.e6 g 6 35.f4 §.bb7 36.g3 §.bc7 37.§.de1 §.ed7 3S.h3 §.d2 39.g4 §h2 40.g5+ �f7 4 1 . §.e7 §. x h3 42 . §. x e7+ � x e7 43. §.e7+ �d6 44. §. x a7 e5 4 5 . §. g7 e x f4 46 . §. x g6 + �e7 4 7 . e x f4 §. x a 3 4S.§.h6, 1-0

(M) Now 6 . . . .1le7 was much better, as thi s move later exposes B lack to a strong attack by e4-e5 . The text threat­ ens 7 . . . cxd4, compelling White to re­ capture with the c-pawn. But White's next move takes care of the threat.

(S) If 8 . . . 0-0, then White can begin a sharp attack by 9.4Jg5 (9 . . . h6 1 0.h4!) as in Lipke-Schiffers, Leipzig 1 894. (M) Rightly feari ng the attack that would come after 9 . . . 0-0. But the text is no improvement in this respect. 9.4)f2 0-0-0 10.0-0 �bS

(S) Now, advancing with the e-pawn White achieves an advantage . More cautious was 1 0 . . . cxd4. l l .e4! d x e4 1 2 . 4) d x e4 4) x e4 1 3 . 4) x e4 .1le7 1 4 . d x e 5 .1l x e 5 + 1 5 . 4) x e 5 � x e 5 + 1 6 . .1le3 � a 5 17.a41

(S) Premature would be 1 7.b4, because of 1 7 . . . 'ih3. 1 33

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King (M) As a result of the thrust with the e­ pawn White has developed with gain of time, obtained the two bishops, and has a lasting attack. The text prepares for b2-b4, which, if played at once, could be answered by 1 7 .. :�a4. 17 . . . 4)e7 1S.b4 'l!/c7 19 . .1ld4 f6 20. 'l!/f2 4)cS 21.§fe1

(M) To prevent . . . e5. Black is now sub­ jected to so much pressure that it is only a matter of moves until some material is gained. 2 1 . . . §heS 2 2 . '1!/g3 .1lc6 2 3 . b 5 Ad5 24.a5 Ac4

(S) Perhaps 24 . . . E! d7 was a better de­ fense. After the text, it seems that Black's position cannot be saved. 25.b6 'l!/c6

(M) 25 . . . axb6 26.�xc4 'ifl'xc4 27.axb6 would only hasten the end because of the opening of the a-file. 2 6 . Jl x c4 'l!/ x c4 2 7 . '1!/ x g7 4) e 7 2S.'I!/xf6 .£lf5 29.a6!

(M) The valuable bishop is to be pre­ served. 29 . . . axb6

( M ) I f 29 . . . 4J x d4 3 0 . 'ifl'e 5 + ! w i n s quickly. 30.'1!/e5+ �aS 3 1 . a x b7+ � x b7 32.-'tf2

(S) Not 32 .�xb6 because of 32 . . . E!d5. 3 2 ... §d5 33. 'l!/f6 'l!/c6 34.§eb1 §b5 35.§ xb5 'l!/ xb5 36.'1!/f7+ §e7 37.'1!/fS '1!/eS

(S) Or 37 . . . E! e8 38.'ifl'a3 'ifl'a5 39.'ifl'b2 and White wins. 3 S . 'I!/ x eS § x eS 3 9 . § b 1 �c6 40. § x b6+ �d5 4 l .g3 §cS 4 2 . § b 5 + �e4 4 3 . �g 2 §c6 44. §e5+ �d3 45.g4 4) e7 46.f5 .£ld5

(M) If 46 . . . 'it'xc3 then 47.fxe6 followed by �h4. 47. -'td4 �c4 4 S . �g3 e x f5 49.§ xf5 §g6 50.§f7 h5 5 1 . §g7 § x g7 5 2 . Jl x g7 h x g4 5 3 . � x g4 4) xc3 54.Axc3, 1-0

( 1 75 ) Rubinstein - Spielmann Vienna ( 1 8) 1 908 French [COO]

( S ) Threate n i n g 3 0 . b x a 7 + 'i!ta8 3 l . a x b 7 + 'it' x b 7 3 2 . a8=Q+ E! x a 8 33.E!ebl + , etc.

l . c4 e6 2 . e4 d5 3 . c x d 5 e x d 5 4.exd5 4)f6 5 . .£lc3 4) xd5 6 . .1lc4 4)b6 7 . Ab3 4)c6 S . 4) ge 2 .1lc5 9.4)e4 -'td4 10.0-0 0-0 l l .d3 Ag4 1 2 . Ag 5 'l!/d7 1 3 . 'l!/ d 2 A x e 2 1 4 . 'l!/ x e 2 �hS 1 5 . Ae3 § aeS 16.'1!/h5 f6 17.§ad1 §e5 1S.'I!/h4

1 34

Vienna 1 908 A x b2 19 . .£Jc5 �e8 20.d4 §. h 5 2 1 . �g3 .£l d 5 2 2 . §. fe l � c 8 2 3 . �f3 §. f 5 2 4 .� h 3 Ac3 25.g4 A x e l 2 6 .g x f5 .£j x e3 27 . §. x e l .£! xf5 28.j';te6 �e8 29. �xf5 .£! xd4 3 0 . � d 5 .£l x e6 3 1 . .£l x e6 "titg6+ 3 2 . � h l §.e8 3 3 . � x b7 h5 34.� xc7 h4 35.h3 f5 36.§.gl titf6 37. � x g7+ "tit x g7 38 . .£j x g7 §.e5 39.§.g5, 1-0

( 1 76) Mieses - Rubinstein Vienna ( 1 9) 1 908 Vienna [C28] Notes by Schlechter, from Deutsche Schachzeitung 1 908 (S), and Tarrasch, from Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger 1 908 (T). l .e4 e5 2 . .£lc3 .£! f6 3.Ac4 .£!c6 4.d3 Ab4

(T) There is no reason for the bishop to be developed at b4. Its natural square is c5. 5.Ag5 h6 6 . .il,xf6 Axc3+ 7.bxc3 �xf6 8 . .£je2 d6 9.0-0 .£Ja5

(S) If 9 . . . 0-0, then 1 0.f4 exf4 1 U !. xf4 �g5 1 2 .�fl with the better game for White. 10.Ab3 .£l x b3 l l .axb3 g5?

(S) Better is 1 1 . . . 0-0. After the ex­ change ofWhite's king's bishop, Black should not fear the opening of the f­ file by 1 2.f4.

(S) If 14 . . . "itl'g6 1 5 .d4!, and if 1 5 .. .f5 16.dxe5 dxe5 17.4Ja4! with the better game for White. 15.§.fdl "tit xd2 16.§.xd2 f6 17.d4! �f7 1 8 . d 5 1 c5 19 . .£J b 5 �e7 20 . .£j xa7 Ad7 2l.c3 f5 22.exf5

(S) Stronger was 22.§da2! (threaten­ ing 4Jc6+) 22 . . . § ae8 2 3 . e xf5 .ilxf5 24.4Jb5, etc. 22 ... Axf5 23.b4?!

(S) This weakens White 's pawn struc­ ture, giving B lack drawing chances. With 23.1:'.ida2 followed by 4Jb5 White could win the endgame slowly but surely. 23 . . . �d7 24.b x c 5 d x c 5 2 5 . §.b2 §.fb8 26.§.ba2 §.f8 27.§.b2 §.fb8 28.h3

(T) The threat was 28 . . . .ild3 29.1:'.ia4 .ilxc4 30.§ xc4 § xa7 and White cannot play 3 l . l:'.i xc5 because of 3 l . . . l:'.i a 1 + mate. Therefore, White opens a win­ dow, but the wrong one ! Much better was 28.f3!, opening a route for the king. 28 ... Ad3 29.§.a4 b6

( S ) lf 29 . . . .il x c 4 3 0 . § x c 4 § x a 7 3 1 .1:'.i xc5 and wins. 30.§.ba2 §.f8

( S ) H ere 3 0 . . . 1:'.i b7 ! ? 3 1 . 4Jc6 l:'.i x a4 32.1:'.i xa4 'i!td6 was worthy of consider­ ation.

12.c4 0-0 13 . .£Jc3 c6?!

(S) Weakens the d-pawn. Better was 1 3 . . . Ae6.

3 1 .g3 e4 32 . .£Jb5 §. x a4 33. §. x a4 §.f6 34.d6 §.f71 3 5 . §. a7 + �e6 36.§.a4 Ae2 37.§.a6 §.f3

135

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King (S) Now Black mistakenly begins to play for a win. After 37 . . . 1"lb7 White has nothing better than to repeat the position with 38.1"la4.

the match that the player of the white pieces did not win. Rubinstein was finally able to take the lead in game four.

38.Eta71 Axc4?

( 1 77) Rubinstein - Teichmann Game fragment (2) Queen 's Gambit Declined [D32]

(S) After 38 . . . 1"lf7 the game is still a draw. 39.Ete7+ f7 48 . .1le3 !it>e6 49.E!b5 E!h7 50.a6 E!a4 51 .E!b7 E! x b7 52.axb7 E!b4 53 . .1l x a7 E! x b7 54 . .1le3 h5 55.!it>g3 E!f7 56 . .1lf4 E!f8 57.f3

Black can win more quickly by 57 . . . g5! 58 . ..1lxg5 ( 5 8 . hxg5 h4 + ) 58 . . . § xf3 + 59.d3 61 ...1lf4 h1 Cjfj>hS 29 . .§g1 .§.gS 30.�fl

23 0

Carlsbad 1 9 1 1 .§ g f8 3 1 .h4 -'l_ x d6 3 2 . c x d6 g 5 3 3 . f x g 5 .§ x f2 34." � x f2 � x h4+ 3 5 . g x h4 .§ x f2 36 . .§ d 1 � g 7 37.�g 1 , 1-0

(285) Nimzovitch - Rubinstein Carlsbad ( 6) 1 9 1 1 French [C02] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 4)c6 5 . 4) f3 �b6 6.-'l_d3 c x d4 7.cxd4 -'t d 7 8 . -'l_e 2 4) g e7 9 . b3 4) f 5 10.-'l_b2 -'tb4+ l l .�fl h5 1 2 . g3 .§ c 8 1 3 . � g 2 g 6 1 4 . h 3 -'te7 1 5 . �d2 a5 16 . .§c1 -'tf8 17.�d1 -'t h6 18 . .§c3 0-0 1 9 . g 4 4) fe7 2 0 . 4) a 3 4) b4 2 1 . 4) c 2 .§ x c3 2 2 . -'l_ x c 3 4) x c 2 2 3 . � x c 2 .§ c 8 2 4 . � b 2 -'t b 5 2 5 . .1}. x b 5 � x b5 26 . -'l_ d 2 -'l_f8 27 . .§ c 1 h x g 4 2 8 . h x g 4 .§ c6 2 9 . � a 3 .§ x c 1 3 0 . � x c 1 4) c6 3 1 . -'th6 -'l_e7 3 2 . -'l_ g 5 � e 2 3 3 . A x e7 4) x e7 3 4 . � f4 �e4 3 5 . � x e4 d x e4 36 . 4) d 2 4) c6 37 . 4) x e4 4) x d4

38.f4 b5 39.�f2 a4 40.bxa4 bxa4 41.4)c3 g5 42.�e3 4)c2+ 43.�d3 4) b4 + 44.�c4 4) x a 2 4 5 . 4) x a 2 g x f4 46. 4) c3 � g7 47. 4) e4 �g6 48.�b4 f3 49.� x a4 f2 50. 4) x f2 � g 5 5 1 . 4) d3 f6 5 2 . e x f6 � x f6 53.4)f2 � g 5 54.�b4 e5 55.�c4 e4, Draw

(286) Rubinstein - Vidmar Carlsbad (7) 1 9 1 1 Queen's Gambit Tarrasch [D34] 1 .d4 d5 2.4)f3 c5 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.4)c3 4)c6 6.g3 4) f6 7.-'l_g 2 .1}. e6 8 . 0 - 0 -'te7 9 . d x c 5 -'l_ x c 5 10.a3 0-0 l l .b4 -'l_d6 12.-'l_g 5 -'l_e7 1 3 . 4) d4 .§ c 8 1 4 . 4) x e6 f x e6 1 5.-'th3 �d6 16 . .1}.f4 �d7 17.e4 d4 1 8 . e 5 4) d 5 1 9 . 4) x d 5 � x d 5 2 0 . -'l_ g 2 � d 7 2 1 . � b3 -'l_d8 2 2 . -'t h 3 .§ e8 2 3 . .§ad1 �f7 24 . .§ fe1 .1}. b6 2 5 . .§ d 3 4) d8 26.-'l_d2 � g6 27. � g 2 .§f8 28.f3 �h8 29 . .§ e4 �e8 3 0 . b 5 .§f7

Amos Burn and unidentified player with dogs

23 1

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 3l.� f4 � x f4 32.A xf4 h6 33.Ag4 Ac5 34.h4 a6 35.bxa6 bxa6 36.h5 Aa7 37.Ad2 �c6 38.Ab4 �bs 39. �a2 �b5 40. �e2 �c8 41.§d2 �c6 42.�e4 � x e4 43.fxe4 'it>h7 44.§f2 d3 45.§f8 §c2+ 46. 'it>h3 Ag t 47.Adt §h2+ 48.'it>g4 .£lc6 4 9 . A c 3 Ad4 50 . A x d4 4) x d4 51.Aa4 §e2 52.Ae8 g5 53.hxg6+ 'it>g7 54.§f7+ 'it>g8 55.§d7 § x e4+ 56.'it>h3 d2

Ab4 5 .g3 o-o 6.Ag2 d6 1.0-o A x c 3 8 . b x c 3 �e7 9 . �b3 c 5 10.4)d2 4)c6 ll.d5 4)d8 12.dxe6 4) x e6 13.4)f3 §b8 14.Ad2 4)e4 15.§adl b6 16.Acl Ab7 17.§d3 f4 18.4)d2 4) xd2 19.Axd2 A x g2 20. 'ifjl xg2 §f6 21.�dl §bf8 22.f3 § g6 23.e3 �h4 24.e x f4 4) x f4+ 25.A xf4 � x f4 26.§f2 h5 27.§e2 h4 28.§e4 § xg3+ 29.hxg3 � xg3+ 3 0 . 'it> f l h3 3 1 . � e 2 § f6 3 2 . f4 �h4 33. �h2 �h7 34.§de3 §h6 35.�g3??

5 7 . § d 8 'it>f8 5 8 . A c 6 + 'it>g7 5 9 . § d 7 + 'it>g8 6 0 . § d 8 + 'it>g7 61.�d7+, Draw

35 ... � x e41 36. § x e4 h2 37.§e8+ 'it>h71

(287) Marshall - Rubinstein Carlsbad (8) 1 9 1 1 Queen 's Gambit Tarrasch [034]

But not 37 .. .'�>f7? 38 .§ e7+! and White wins. .

38. � d 3 + g6 3 9 . § e 7 + 'ifjlh8 40.§e8+ 'it>h7 4 1 . § e 7 + 'ifjlh8, Draw

l.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.4)c3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.4)f3 4)c6 6.g3 4)f6 7.Ag2 Ae7 8 . 0 - 0 Ae6 9 . d x c 5 A x e S 10.Ag5 0-0 l l .�cl Ae7 12.4)d4 4) x d4 13.�xd4 h6 14.Axf6 Axf6 1 5 . �d 3 � a 5 1 6 . 4) x d 5 A x b 2 1 7 . § b l �adS 18. §fd l � x a 2 ? ? 19.�d2 A x d5 20.A xd5, 1-0

(288) Rubinstein - Tartakover Carlsbad (9) 1 9 1 1 Dutch [A85] l .d4 f5 2.c4 e6 3.4)c3 4)f6 4.4)f3

(289) Burn - Rubinstein Carlsbad ( 1 0) 1 9 1 1 Ruy Lopez [C79] l .e4 e 5 2 . 4) f3 4)c6 3 . A b 5 a6 4 . A a4 4) f6 5 . 0 - 0 d6 6 . d4 b5 7 . d x e 5 d x e 5 8 . � x d8 + 4) x d8 9.Ab3 4) d7 t0.4)c3 Ad6 l l.Ae3 f6 1 2 . � ad l 4) c 5 1 3 . A d 5 � bS 14.4)h4 'ifjl e7 15. b4 4)cb7 16.a3 c6

23 2

Carlsbad 1 9 1 1 17.Aa2 g6 18 . .£je2 Ae6 19.Axe6 .£! xe6 20.g3 .£lg5 2 1 .f3 a5 22.c3 Ac7 23 . .£Jc1 .£jd6 24 . .£Jd3 .£je6 2 5 . � h 1 §hd8 2 6 . .£j b 2 §a8 2 7 . § a 1 § a 6 28 . .£l d3 .£! x e4 29 . .£J x e 5 A x e 5 3 0 . f x e4 A x c3 3 1 . § a c 1 a x b4 3 2 . a x b4 A x b4 33.e5 f xe5 34 . .£lf3 Ad6 35 . .£J g5 §f8 3 6 . § fd 1 .£l x g 5 37 . .Q. x g 5 + �e6 38.Ae3 §f3 39.§c3 b4 , 0-1

(290) Rubinstein - Schlechter Carlsbad ( 1 1 ) 1 9 1 1 Queen 's Pawn [D02] t . d4 d5 2 . Af4 .£J f6 3 . e 3 Ag4 4 . .£Jf3 e6 5.c3 .£lbd7 6 . .£Jbd2 Ae7 7.h3 Ah5 8.�b3 �c8 9.Ae2 a6 10.g4 Ag6 11 . .£Jh4 .£Je4 12 . .£1 xg6 .£j xd2 13.�c2 hxg6 14. � x d2 g5 15.Ag3 .£Jf6 16.f3 �d7 17.0-o-o 0-0-0 18.h4 gxh4 19.A xh4 §df8 20.Ag3 .£Je8 21 .Ad3 Ad6 22.Af2 f5 23.gxf5 exf5 24. �c2 g6 25.c4 d x c4 26. � x c4 Ae7 27.§dg1 g5 2 8 . � c 2 .£l d 6 2 9 . § x h8 § x h8 30 . .Q.g3 �b8 3 1 . A x d6 � x d6 3 2 . .Q. x f5 § h 2 3 3 . �c4 § x b 2 34 . � x b 2 � h 2 + 3 5 . A c 2 � x g 1 3 6 . � b 3 � e 1 3 7 . Ae4 � d 2 + 38.�b1 �e1+ 39.�c2 �e2+, Draw

f5 2 3 . § e 2 §ae8 2 4 . § a e 1 �f7 25.Ac1 f4 26 . .£jfl h5 27.g3 �f6 2 s . � g 2 § h 8 29 . .£J h 2 Ad3 30.§d2 Ah1 31.g4 h4 32.h3 Ag6 33.§de2 §he8 34.Ab2 b5 35.§cl Ad3 3 6 . § d 2 Ae4 3 7 . § e 1 .£l f8 38.§c1 §b8 39.§dd1 �f7 40 . .£jfl .£J d 7 4 t . .£l d 2 .£j f6 4 2 . § e 1 a 5 43.§a1 a 4 44.b4 §be8 45.a3 �g6 4 6 . § a c 1 §e6 4 7 . �g 1 Ab8 4 8 . �g 2 § 8e7 49 . �g 1 �h6 50.�g2 .£je8 51.�g1 Ac7 52.Ag2 .£J f6 5 3 . f3 Ad3 54. § x e6 § x e6 55.Afl Ac4 56.�f2 .£Jd7 57.§e1 §e3 58.Ae2 .£! b6 59 . .£lfl §e8 60 . .£jd2 §e3 61.Axc4, Draw

(292) Rubinstein - Sa/we Carlsbad ( 1 3) 1 9 1 1 King's Gambit [C30] 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Ac5 3 . .£J f3 d6 4.c3 .£Jc6 5 . .Q.b5 Ad7 6.d4 Ab6 7.fxe5 d x e 5 8 . d 5 .£l b8 9 . A d 3 �e7 1 0 . .£J a 3 .£j f6 1 1 . .£l c4 .£l g4 12 . .£J xb6 axb6 13.h3 .£jf6 14.0-0 0-0 1 5 . Ag5 �d6 1 6 . � e 1 .£j e8 1 7.Ae3 f6 18.c4 c5 1 9 .a3 .£l a6 20 . .£J h4 �e7 2 1 .§c1 .£jd6 22.g4 §ac8 23 . .£Jf5 Axf5 24.gxf5 .£lb8 25.a4 .£ld7 26.§c2 §aS 27.b3 §f7 2 8 . § g 2 �h8 2 9 . � h 2 .£l f8

(29 1 ) Siichting - Rubinstein Carlsbad ( 1 2) 1 9 1 1 French Exchange [CO l ] 1 .e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4 . .£Jf3 Ad6 5.Ad3 Ag4 6.0-o .£Je7 7.§e1 .£J d7 s . .Q. g 5 o - o 9 . .£J bd 2 f6 10.Ae3 c6 l l .c3 §f7 12. �c2 .£jf8 13.h3 Ah5 14 . .£Jh4 �d7 1 5 . .£Jf1 g5 16 .£J f5 .£l x f5 1 7 . .Q. x f5 .Q.g6 1 8 . Jt x d7 A x c 2 1 9 . Ag4 Ag6 20.A f3 Ete7 2 1 . Ad2 .£je6 22 . .£lg3 .

23 3

30.�h4 h6 3l.§fgl .£l h7 32.§g6

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King .§af8 3 3 . � g 4 .£l g 5 34.h4 �dB 3 5 .h x g 5 h x g 5 36 . � g 2 � g 8 37 . .§h1 .§e8 38.�h5, 1-0

1 3 ... �b6 14 . .§fe1 .§adS 15.Jl.g 5 .§feB 16.Jl,xf6?

(K) An error ! In the after-play the bishop exhibits all the advantages of a far-reaching piece, and is thereby su­ perior to the knight.

(293) Alapin - Rubinstein Carlsbad ( 1 4) 1 9 1 1 Queen's Pawn [DOO] Notes by Kmoch (K) and Authors (A).

16 . . . Jl, x f6 1 7 . .§ad1 .§ d 5 18.h3 .§ed8 1 9 . .§d2 g6 20 . .§ed 1 Jl, g 7 2 1 . .§d3 �c7 22 . .£)h2?

1.d4 d5 2.lU4 .£)f6 3.e3 Jl,g4

4.Jl,e2

(K) White tries to understand what his opponent is aiming at. Hence his ner­ vousness: with the following moves of his knight he damages his position. The knight stood best at f3. (A) Black already stands slightly bet­ ter. I f, for examp l e , 2 2 . i!i'e 2 , then 22 . . .i!i'd7 (or 22 . . . b5 first) threatening . . . c6-c5 .

(K) If 4 . f3 Af5 and White could hardly avoid the exchange ofhis king's bishop on d3 .

22 . . . b5 23 . .£lfl h5 24 . .£) g 3 �d7 25 . .£) e4 e5 26 . .£lc5 �e7 27.�e2 �f8 28 . .£) b7?

4 ... Jl, x e2

(A) The decisive mistake ! Better defen­ sive chances were offered by 28.4Jb3.

(K) Rubinstein, too, can play psycho­ logical chess: to the great theorist he presents something entirely new ! In recent time, moreover, the opinion pre­ vails that in this opening it is necessary for Black to hem in his queen 's bishop. 3 . . .Af5 is recommended.

(K) Usually it is more than a moral vic­ tory for B lack in a Queen's Pawn open­ ing, to be able to exchange his queen's bishop for the white king's bishop at an early stage. 5.�xe2 c6 6 . .£)d2 e6 7.c3 .£lbd7 8.e4 .£) xe4 9 . .£) xe4 dxe4 10.�xe4

(A) ECO, volume D, first edition, stops here assessing the position as slightly better for White.

28 ... .§e8 29.d xe5 .§exe5! 30. �f3 �e7 31 . .§ xd5 cxd5 32 . .£)a5

(K) 3 2 .l'h d5? would lead to an imme­ diate loss: 32 . . . E!. xd5 33.i!i'xd5 i!i'e l + 34.�h2 Ae5+ 3 5 .g3 i!:rxf2 + 36.i!i'g 2 Axg3+, etc. But even after the move actually made, Black obtains a decisive advantage in fine style.

10 ... Jl,e7 1 1 . .£lf3 0-0 1 2.0-0 .£)f6 13.�c2?!

� xe1+ 32 . . . .§ e 1 + 3 3 . .§ x e 1 34.�h2 d41 35 . .£)c6 dxc3 36.bx c3 Jl,xc3 37.g3

(K) If 37.L�:Jxa7 then 37 . . . i.td4 wins as fo l l o w s : 3 8 . g 3 i.t x f2 ! 3 9 . i!i' g 2 h4 !

(A) Better is 1 3 .i!i'e2. 234

Carlsbad 1 9 1 1 40.gxh4 �eS+ 4 1 .'c7 38. El c6+ 'it>b7 39.'it>d2 a4 40.'it>c2 E\ e8 4 1 . El c3 'it'b6 draws (Marin).

8 . j}.f4 e6 9 . Ad3 � a 5 1 0 . 0 - 0 � xc3 l l .bxc3 Axf3 1 2 .gxf3 dxc4 13.Axc4 �b6

37.�d3 .§.e7 38.g4 .§.e6 39 . .§.cll

Now it is apparent that Black has been following a definite obj ective during

Now 39 . El x e6 would be insufficient because after 39 . . . . 'it>xe6 40.e4 Black

240

b>

Original signatures from the back of the photo : Teichmann, Nimzovitch, Tartakover, Leonhardt, Burn, Siichting, Perlis, Vidmar, Leonhardt, Fahrni, Spielmann, Duras, Alekhine, Rotlewi, Alapin, Kostic, Dus-Chotimirsky, and Marshall (on the side)

IF I.

� f z,_ t'-

Teichmann is missing from the photo while Tietz, von Gottschall, Havasi, Hoffer, Fahndrich and Marco who didn't play are included.

Top row : Chajes, E.Cohn, Leonhardt, Alekhine, Fahrni, Jaffe, Rotlewi and Marco; Third row : Tartakover, Johner, Perlis, Hoffer, Fahndrich, von Gottschall, Spielmann, Siichting, Rabinovich and Salwe; Second Row (sitting) Vidmar, Burn, Rubinstein, Tieitz, Schlechter, Duras, Marshall, Nimzovitch and Alapin; First Row (sitting on the ground) : Kostic, Levinfish, Dus-Chotimirsky and Havasi

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King plays 40 . . . dxe4+ 4 l .fxe4 fxg4, etc., and if White continues 40.g5 his king can no longer break through. 39. 1"1 xe6 'it'xe6 40.gxf5 + gxf5 4 l .e4 'it'e7 42.e5 'it>e6 43.'it>e3 'it>f7 44.'it'f2 'it'g7 45.'it'g3 'it'f7 46.'it'h4 'it'g6 47.e6 �f6 4 8 . 'it' h 5 'it' x e 6 4 9 . 'it'g 5 h 5 50.'it'xh5 'it>d6 5 1 .'it'g5 a 5 52.bxa6 'it'c6 53.'it'xf5 wins, according to Marin, who gives 39.l"1 c l as dubious. 3 9 . . . .§. e 7 40 . .§. h 1 'it' e 6 4 t . .§.c 1 'ifld7 42 . .§. e 1 .§.f7 4 3 . .§. a 1 'it'd6 44 . .§.c1 'ifld7 45 . .§.c6 .§.f8 46.'ifle2 .§.f7 47.'it'f2 .§.f8 48.'iflg31

51 ... h5 52.'if7h4 .§.h7 53.'iflg5 fxg4 5 4 . f x g4 h x g4 5 5 . 'ifl x g4 .§. h 1 56.'iflg5 .§.b1 56 . . . l"1 gl + 57.'it'f6 'it'd6 58.l"1c6+ 'it'd7 59.'it>e5 is also hopeless (Marin). 5 7 . .§. a 3 .§. x b 5 58 . .§. x a7 + 'it'd6 59. 'ifl x g6 .§.b3 60.f5 .§. x e3 61 .f6 .§. g3 + 6 2 . 'if7 h7 .§.f3 63 .f7 .§. f4 64. 'it'g7 .§.g4+ 65. 'it'f6

Ever cautious ! First the rook is forced away from the pawn at d4. 65 . . . .§.f4+ 66.'it'g5 .§.fl 67.'it'g6 .§.g1+ 68.'it'f6 .§.fl+ 69.'iflg7 .§.gl+ 7 0 . 'it'f8 .§.d1 7 1 . 'it'e8 .§. e 1 + 7 2 . 'it'd8 .§. f 1 7 3 . .§. d 7 + 'it'c6 74.'ifle8 .§.f4 75 . .§.e7 'it'b5 76. .§.c71, 1-0

(3 0 3) Fahrni - Rubinstein Carlsbad (24) 1 9 1 1 English [A 1 3]

Finally the right idea: the king should cross over via g5. 48....§.e8 49 ..§.c3 .§.e7 50.'it'h4 h6 5 1 . 'it'g3

The king has performed his service ! A bad weakening of the 6th rank was brought about, and thereby l"1 c6 has become a permanent grave threat; e.g., 5 1 . . . l"1 e8 5 2 . 'it>f2 l"1 e7 5 3 . 'it>e 2 l"1 e8 54.'it'd3 l"1 e7 5 5 . l"1 c6 l"1 e6 56.gxf5 ! ! . T h i s i s t h e p o i nt ! After 5 6 . . . g x f5 5 7 . l"1 xe6 'it' x e 6 5 8 . e4 fo l l owed by 59.e5 wins, as Black cannot exchange on e4.

242

1 .c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Ag2 d4 4.d3 c5 5.e4 e5 6.f4 exf4 7.A xf4?1

Better is 7.gxf4 and if 7 .. .'l£i'h4+ then 8.'it'fl followed by 9 . .£Jf3. 7 . . . .£)c6 8 . .£) f3 .£)ge71 9.Ag5 f6 1 0 . Af4 .£) g6 1 1 . .£) h4 .£! x h4 1 2 . g x h4 Ae6 1 3 . Af3 Ad6 1 4 . Ag4 A x g4 1 5 . "� x g 4 A x f4 1 6 . � x f4 .£l e 5 1 7 . �g 3 � a 5 + 18 . .£)d2 0-0 19 . .§.g1 .§.f7 20.'ifle2 b5 2 1 . b 3 b x c4 22 . .£) x c 4 .£! x c4 23.bxc4 f51 24. �e5 .§.af8 25.exf5 �a4 26.'it'd2 �b4+ 27.'if7d1 �c3 28 . .§. c 1 � x d 3 + 2 9 . 'ifl e 1 �h 3 30 . .§.c2 � x h4+ 3Vifld1 g6!, 0- 1

Carlsbad 1 9 1 1 (304) Rubinstein - A. Rabinovich Carlsbad (25) 1 9 1 1 Dutch [A85 ] l .c4 f 5 2 .d4 e 6 3.4)c3 4) f6 4.4)f3 b6 5 . g 3 Ab7 6 . Ag 2 g6 7 . 0 - o Ag7 8.d5 e x d 5 9 . c x d 5 0-0 1 0 . Af4 4) a 6 l l . § c l h6 1 2 .d6 c x d6 1 3 . A x d6 §e8 14. �b3+ Cit' h 7 1 5 . 4) g 5 + h x g 5 1 6 . A x b7 4) c 5 1 7 . A x c 5 E! b8 1 8 . A x b 6 a x b6 1 9 . Ag 2 �e7 2 0 . e 3 E! h 8

243

2 l . §fdl 4)g4 22.4)d5 �e6 23.h3 4) e 5 2 4 . f4 4) f7 2 5 . E! c7 E!hd8 2 6 . Cit' h 2 Af8 2 7 . f x g 5 4) x g 5 28.4)f4 �e7 29.h4 4) f7 30.�d5 4)e5 31.4)e6 4)g4+ 32.Cit'gl dxe6 33.§ x e7+ A x e7 34.�b3 E! x dl+ 35.�xdl E!d8 36. �b3 Ac5 37.Af3 4) xe3 38.� xe6 E!d2 39.b4 Ad4 40. � e7 + Cit'h6 4 1 . Cit' h l 4) f l 4 2 . �g 5 + Cit'g7 4 3 . Ag 2 4) e 3 44. � e 7 + Cit' h 6 4 5 . �g 5 + Cit'g7, Draw

Warsaw City Championship 1911 Little information is available on this event. According to the Polish chess historian Dr. Tadeusz Wolsza, this was the e i ghth tournament of the Warszawskie Towarzystwo Zwo/en­ nikow Gry Szachowej (Warsaw Asso­ ciation of Chess Players). It was held in December 1 9 1 1 and served as the 1 9 1 2 Warsaw City Championship (like the 1 9 1 1 event that was held in Novem­ ber 1 9 1 0, this tournament was held the preceding year) . The doub le round robin event included the top players of Warsaw and special guest Georg Salwe ofLodz. According to the January 1 9 1 2 issue o f Casopis Ceskoslovenskych Sachistu (p. 1 6), Rubinstein's first prize was worth 1 00 rubles. Confusion arises because some sources have the event extending into the next year, which doesn 't seem to be the case. The significance of this is identifying the year 1 9 1 2 with Rubinstein's five tournament victories. San Sebastion, Vilna, Breslau, and Pistyan are all well chronicled, but win number five was supposed to be an event in Warsaw.

Considering that the next WTZGZs event that Dr. Wolsza found Rubinstein playing in was 1 9 1 6, we would presume that Akiva did not play another tourna­ ment in Warsaw in the second half of 1 9 1 2. So this event, held in December of the preceding year, was Rubinstein's fifth tournament win for 1 9 1 2 ! Rubinstein's performance was almost perfect, yielding only two draws in fourteen games - no small feat when at least three of the other competitors (Salwe, Flamberg and Langleben) were strong masters. Regrettably only one game is available, if major discoveries of Rubinstein games are to be made in the future they are likely to come from Polish newspapers covering his domestic tournaments before 1 9 1 4 . This i s truly the dark area o f his career. (305) Flamberg - Rubinstein Warsaw (2) 1 9 1 1 French Rubinstein [C l l ] l.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.4)c3 4)f6 4.Ag5 d x e4 5 . 4) x e4 4) bd7 6.4)f3 Jl,e7

1912 Warsaw City Championship (December 19 11) 2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Total

11

11

11

11

11

13

1.

Rubinstein

XX

Y, i

Y2 l

2.

Salwe

Y20

XX

y2 y,

Y,O

11

11

11

11

10

3.

Flamberg

Y20 y2 y,

XX

O Y2

11

11

11

11

10

4.

Langleben

00

Y, i

I V>

XX

10

y,y,

Y,O

Y, i

7

5.

Kulm

00

00

00

01

XX

1 y2

Y, i

11

6

6.

Kleczynski

00

00

00

y,y, O Y:z

XX

II

Y2 l

5

7.

Rosenthal

00

00

00

Y, l

Y20

00

XX

Y,O

2 Y,

8.

Hartmanis

00

00

00

Y:zO

00

Y20

Y2 l

XX

2 Y:z

Source: Konstanty Wroblewski

Warsaw City Championship 1 9 1 1 7.� x f6+ � xf6 8.Ad3 b6 9.�e2 -'1_b7 1 0 . -'1_ b 5 + c6 l l . A d 3 0·0 12.-'1_xf6 -'1_ x f6 13.0·0·0 c5!

If 1 4 . dxc5?! then 1 4 . . . �c7 with more

245

than enough compensation for the pawn. 14.h4 �d5 15.�bl �h5 16.Ae4 A x e4 1 7. � x e4 c x d4 1 8 . � x d4 § adS 1 9 . f3 § d 6 2 0 . g4 �g6 2 l . � b 5 � x e4 2 2 . f x e4 § x d l + 2 3 . § x d l -'1_ x h4 2 4 . � x a7 f5 2 5 . e x f5 e x f5 2 6 . g x f5 § x f 5 27.�c8 h 5 ! 28.� xb6 -'1_f2 29.�d5 �h7 30.c4 g5 3 1.�c2 g4 32.�d3 � h 6 3 3 . �e 2 h4 3 4 . � c 3 g3 35.�e4 h3 36.§d6+ �h5 37.§d8 §e5 38. �{3 §f5+ 3 9 . �e2 §e5 40. �{3 § x e4 4 1 . � x e4 h2 42.§h8+ �g4, 0·1

San Sebastian 1912 This tournament marked the start of Rubinstein 's magic year. Between Feb­ ruary 1 9 and September 1 7 he played in and won four strong tournaments. His complete record was 39 wins, 24 draws, and 8 losses (72 percent) against strong opposition. All the leading mas­ ters of the day played with the excep­ tion of Lasker and Capablanca. (306) Rubinstein - Marshall San Sebastian ( I ) February 1 9, 1 9 1 2 Slav [D l 3]

But not 17.'li'rxb7? because of 17 . . . 'li'rb4 ! . 1 7 . . . A x b3 1 8. § x c 5 Ae6 1 9 .e4 §feB 2 0 . Ae3 b6 2 1 . Et c 3 Et x c3 22.bxc3 §c8 23.Ad4 b5 24.a3 g6 25.Etb1 a6 26.f4 Etc4 27.r:t;f2 �f8 28.�e3 �e8 29.Etfl Eta4 30.Ac5 Ad7 3 1 . § d 1 Etc4 3 2 . Ab4 Etc6 33.h3 h5 34.�f3 h4?

Trying to avoid the opening of the h­ file, B lack creates new and decisive weaknesses - the pawn h4 will be lost, and with it also the game.

Notes by Mieses. l .d4 d5 Vilf3 4)f6 3.c4 c6 4.4)c3 4)bd7?1

A dubious continuation. B lack should play 4 . . . dxc4 or 4 . . . e6. 5.cxd5! cxd5 6.Af4 e6 7.e3 Ab4

Necessary, because of the threat 8..£\bS. 8.Ad3 4)e4 9 :�b3 �a5 10.Axe4 dxe4 1 1 .4)d2 0-0

Black cannot defend the pawn because of the threat .£Jc4 followed by .£Jd6+.

3 5 . Et d 5 Ae6 3 6 . § d 6 Et x d6 3 7 . A x d6 ! �d7 3 8 . A c 5 �c6 39.Af2 a5 40.Axh4 �c5 4t.Ad8 �c4 42.�e31

After 42 . .1lxa5 '

01

11

y,y,

Y, 1

Y>F

II

Y2F

12

1 Y>

IF

12

Total

1 . Rubinstein

XX

Y, 1

2 . N imzovitch

Y>O

XX

01

I Y,

O Y>

II

II

3 . Spielmann

10

10

XX

10

I Y,

Y2 l

Y2 Y2

4 . Tarrasch

Y20

O Y2

01

XX

II

01

Y20 y, y,

11

IF

I I Y,

5. Perlis

Y2 Y2

I Y2

O Y>

00

XX

I Y,

Y2 l

y,y, y,y,

I Y2

Y,F

10

6.

Marshall

O Y,

00

Y,O

10

O Y,

XX

Y2 1

I y,

11

IF

9 Y,

7.

Duras

10

00

y,y,

Y, l

Y,O

Y,O

XX

Y2 Y>

Y, l

01

Y,F

8 Y,

00

Y2 Y>

y, y,

XX

y2 y2

1 Y> Y, F

XX

8 . Schlechter Teichmann

Y,O y,y, y,y, O Y>

y, y, y,y,

Y, 1

y,y,

11 y,y,

1 2 Y,

8

y,y, y, y2 y, y,

0 0 y,y, y2 y, Y20 y2 y2

y,y,

Y,F

8

I 0. Leonhardt

Y>O

00

O Y,

00

OY>

00

10

0 Y2 y,y,

XX

IF

5

I I . Fleischmann

Y>O

Y>O

00

00

Y20

00

Y20

Y,O

00

XX

3

9.

Y>O

Note: Fleischmann only played the first half tournament and forfeited his last I 0 games. 247

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 22 13, xc6 23.13.d3 13.d5 24.13.h3 hS 25.13.f3

Schlechter's move is not to be censured. That it offers no salvation is due to the position.

..•

25 ... e5t 26.d xe5

(A) lf 26.§. gS, then according to analy­ sis by I. Zaitsev, Black wins by 26 . . . §.f6 27.§. xf6 �xf6 28.f4 (the pawn endgame after 28. §. xeS § xeS 29.dxeS+ �xeS is lost for White) 28 . . . exf4 ! ! 29.13. xdS f3 and the f-pawn is unstoppable. 26

•••

(M) The decisive mistake. White must play 2 S . §. e3, preventing the advance of Black's e-pawn. (K) Various commentators have noted this move as an error and have recom­ mended §. e l or §.e3 as preventing eS. This view is not convincing as it over­ looks the fact that Black's chief threat is 2S . . . §. fS ! ; e.g., 2 S . i3. e3 §. fS 26.13.e2 §.d6 27.13.dl (threatening c4) 27 . . . §. f4! 28.§. ed2 §. dS 29.c4 §. dfS , etc ., with practically a winning game . Hence

13, xe5 27.13.e3?

(K) 27.§. c l in order to continue with c4 was possibly somewhat better. (A) The decisive mistake. In this ob­ jectively very difficult endgame, White has more practical chances with both rooks on the board. 28 13, x e3 28.fxe3 13.e6 2 9 . 13. e l 13.f6 3 0 . 13, e 2 � e 6 3 1 . �c2 �e5 32 .c4 �e4 33.b4 g5 34. �c3 g4 35.c5 h4 36.13,g2 13.g6 37.�c4 g3 •. .

San Sebastian 19 12 : Seated L-R Nimzovitch, H allgarten, Hoffer, Spielmann, Tarrasch, Leonhardt, and Marshall. Standing from left to right: M ieses, Duras, Perlis, Schlechter, Rubinstein and Forgacs

248

San Sebastian I 9 1 2 3 8 . h x g3 h x g3 3 9 . � b 5 b x c 5 40.bxc5 �f3 41.§g1 a6+, 0- 1

(308) Rubinstein - Per/is San Sebastian (3) February 22, 1 9 1 2 French [C I O] l . d4 e6 2 . e4 d 5 3 . � c3 d x e4 4 . � x e4 � f6 ? ! 5 . � x f6 + � x f6 6.�f3 h6 7.h4 -'td6 8.-'1_g51 �f5 9.-'te3 Af4 10.�d2 Jl x e3 1 1 .fxe3 �c6 12.-'1_d3 �a5 13.�xa5 � xa5 1 4 . � e 5 � c 6 1 5 . � x c 6 b x c6 1 6 . Ae4 Ad7 1 7 . 0 - 0 - 0 �e7 18.§d3 §hb8 19.§c3 §b6 20.a4

h6 1 2 . � f3 b6 1 3 . A b 5 + Ad7 14.-'1_xd7+ � xd7 1 5.0-0-0 0-0-0 1 6 . § h e 1 c6 1 7 . � e 5 � x e5 18. § xe5 §d6 19.c3 �d7 20.f4, Draw

(3 I 0) Rubinstein - Tarrasch San Sebastian (5) February 24, I 9 I 2 Queen 's Gambit Tarrasch [D33] 1 .d4 d5 2.�f3 c5 3.c4 e 6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.�c3 �c6 6.g3 �f6 7.-'lg2 cxd4 8.� xd4 �b6 9.� xc6 bxc6 10.0-0 Ae6

ECO deals only with 1 0 . . . 1.ta6 and According to Tarrasch, a more promis­ ing plan i s .§ hd l , with the idea of .§dd3, .§ c4 and .§dc3.

1 0 . . . Ae7.

20 ... �d6 2 1 .b3 §e8 2 2 . Af3 e5 2 3 . a 5 §b5 2 4 . d x e 5 + § e x e 5 2 5 . § d 1 + � e 7 2 6 . -'1_ x c6 -'1_ x c6 27 . § x c 6 §ec5 2 8 . § x c 5 § x c 5 29.b4 § e 5 30.§d3 §e4 3 l . §c3 �d7 32.§d3+ �e7 33.§d4 § xe3 34.§c4 �d6 35.§g4 g6 36.�d2 §a3 37.§d4+ �c6 38.§f4 §g3 3 9 . § x f7 § x g 2 + 40 . � c 3 §g3 + 41.�c4 §g4+ 42.�b3 § x h4 43.c4 a6 44.§f6+ �b7 45.§ xg6 §h3+ 46.�a4 h 5 47.§h6 § h 1 48.b5 a x b 5 + 49 . � x b 5 § b 1 + 5 0 . � c 5 § a 1 51 .�b4 §b1+ 52.�c3 §c1+ 53.�b3 §h1 54.a6+ �a7 55.�b4 §a1 56.§c6 �b8, Draw

According to Tarrasch, White 's best continuation is l l .e4!, as was played for t h e fi rst t i m e in M a r s h a i i ­ Fleischmann, two rounds later.

(309) Fleischmann - Rubinstein San Sebastian ( 4) February 2 3 , 1 9 I 2 French Rubinstein [C I I ] 1 .e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.�c3 �f6 4.Ag5 d x e4 5.1£) xe4 l£) bd7 6.�f3 Ae7 7 . 1£) x f6 + .Q. x f6 8 . � d 2 -'1_ x g 5 9.�xg 5 � xg5 10. 1£) x g5 1£)f6 1 1.g3

249

l l . . . �a5 1 2 . Ae3 §c8 1 3 .a3 c5 1 4 . � x c 5 A x c 5 1 5 . b4 A x b4 1 6 . a x b4 � x b4 1 7 . Ad4 0 - 0 1 18.A xf6 gxf6 19.§ xa7 §c41 20.e3 §fc8 2 1 .§7a1 d4 22.exd4 § xd4 23.�f3 �g7 24.§fb1 �d6 25.h3 §c2 26.§d1 §a2 27.§ac1, Draw

(3 I I ) Duras - Rubinstein San Sebastian (6) February 26, 1 9 1 2 Ruy Lopez [C79] l . e4 e 5 2 . � f3 �c6 3 . A b 5 a6 4. Aa4 � f6 5 . 0 - 0 d 6 6.d4 b5 7 . d x e 5 d x e 5 8 . � x d8 + � x d8 9.Ab3 � d7 10.a4 §b8 l l .a x b5 a x b 5 1 2 . -'te3 f6 1 3 . A a 7 §b7 1 4 . § d 1 �c5 1 5 . A x c 5 A x c 5 16.§a8 Ad7 17.1£)h4 §a7 18.§b8 §f8 19 . .£J f5 g6 2 0 . � h 6 § a l

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King Eta7 19.Aa4 '(fjeS 20.-'l_ x d7 '(fJJ xd7 21 .c:;ftfl c5 22.dxc6 '(fj xc6 23.tfJJ d 5 tfJJ d 7 24. 4)b5 Eib7 2 5 . c:;ftg2 ladS 2 6 . Et gd 1 4) e 6 2 7 . 'it'g3 '(fJJ c S 2 S . A e 3 4) ec7 2 9 . 4) xc7 '(fJJ x c7 30.E!d2 EtaS 31.Etd3 '(fJJ bS 32.Etc3 Eiba7 3 3 . h4 4) c7 34. '(fJJ c 6 Eib7 35.Etcc1 4)a6 36.h5 '(fJJcS 37.tfJJd 5 4)c7 3S. '(fjd2 4)e6 39.hxg6 h x g6 40. '(fJJ d 5 Et a 3 4 t . Ei a 1 Eiba7 4 2 . Et x a3 Et x a 3 4 3 . Et h 1 Etc3 44 . 4) x e 5 d x e5 4 5 . '(fJJ x e 5 Et x e3 46.fxe3, Draw

2 1 . -'l. gS ,1la7 2 2 . Et x dS + c:;ft x dS 2 3 . A x h7 c:;ftcS 24 . A x g6 Ei a 2 25.Af7 Et xb2 26.Etc1 Ac6 27.4)c3 b4?? 2S.4)d1 Et xf7 29.l�� xb2 Eld7 30.4)g4 Eld2 31.4)c4 E!d4 32.4)a5 Axe4 33.4) xf6 AaS?

H ere, a c c o r d i n g to M i e s e s , after 33 . . �xc2! B lack has at least a draw. .

34.h3 Ei d 2 3 5 . 4) g4 Ae4 36.c3 ,1lf5 3 7 . 4) c6 A x g4 3 S . 4) x a7 + c:;ftb7 3 9 . h x g4 b3 40. 4) b5 E! a 2 4 t . Ei b 1 b 2 4 2 . c:;ft h 2 c:;ftb6 43.c4 c:;ftc5 44. 4) c3 Eta3 4 5 . 4) d 1 Ei a 1 46 . Et x b 2 E! x d 1 47 . Et e 2 E!d4 4S . Et x e 5 + c:;ft x c4 49 . c:;ftg3 la d S 50.g5 c5 51 .f4 c:;ftd4 5 2 . la e 1 lacS 53.g6 c4 54.f5 c3 55.g7 c2 56.f6, 1-0

Rubinstein had the bye for round nine. (3 1 4) Rubinstein - Spielmann San Sebastian ( 1 0) March 2, 1 9 1 2 Dutch [A85] Notes by Mieses (M), and Tartakover (T).

(3 1 2) Rubinstein - Teichmann San Sebastian (7) February 27, 1 9 1 2 Queen 's Gambit Declined [D6 1 ] 1 .d4 d5 2.4)f3 4)f6 3.c4 e6 4.4)c3 Ae7 5 . .1lg5 4)bd7 6.e3 0-0 7.'(fJJc 2 c5 S . E! d 1 tfJJ a 5 9 . c x d 5 e x d 5 1 0 . -'l_ e 2 c x d4 1 1 . e x d4 ,1lb4 1 2 . A d 2 4) e 4 1 3 . 4) x e4 d x e4 1 4 . '(fJJ x e4 A x d 2 + 1 5 . Et x d2 4) f6 16.tfJJ b 1 Af5 17.b4 tfJJ d 5 1S.tfJJ b 2 Et acS 1 9 .0-0 4) e4 2 0 . Et d 3 4) f6 2 1 .lad2 4)e4 22.Etd3, Draw

1 .d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.4)c3 .1lb4 4.,1ld2 4)f6 5.g3 0-0 6.,1lg2 d6 7.a3 ,1l xc3 S.A xc3 4)bd7 9.'(fJJ c 2 c5 10.dxc5 4) xc5 1 1 .4)f3 4)ce4 1 2 .0-0 Ad7 13.Etfd l ?

(M) White should play 14.Eladl . As the game shows, the f2-pawn must be pro­ tected.

(3 1 3 ) Leonhardt - Rubinstein San Sebastian (8) February 29, 1 9 1 2 Hungarian [C50]

13 . . . EtcS 14. A x f6 '(fj x f6 1 5 .tfJJ b 3 Etc7 16.4)e1?1

(M) Better was 1 6.4Jd4 . (T) If 1 6. 4Jd4, then, as in the text, 1 6 . . . 4Jc5 17.�b4 f4, etc. If 1 6.e3 eS.

1 .e4 e5 2 . 4) f3 4)c6 3 . Ac4 Ae7 4.d4 d6 5.d5 4)bS 6.Ad3 4)f6 7.c4 0-0 S.h3 4)eS 9.g4 4) a6 10.4)c3 4)c5 ll . .i}.c2 a5 12.Ae3 b6 13.a3 g6 1 4 . Et g 1 4) g7 1 5 . A h 6 Ad7 16.b4 axb4 17.axb4 .£)a6 1S.§b1

250

16 ... 4)c5 17.'(fJJ b4 f4! 1S.4)d3

(T) I f 1 8 . .§ x d6 fxg3 1 9 . fxg3 �f2 + 20 .'it'h l �xe2 2 1 .h3 ( 2 1 . .§ d2 .§ fl + followed by mate) 2 1 . . .4Je4 and wins.

San Sebastian 1 9 1 2 1 8... fxg3 19.fxg3 .£) xd3 20. E{ xd3 ttf2+ 2Vit>hl Jlc6! 2 2.e4 E!cf7 23.E!el

(T) If 30 . .§ f4 �xh2+ 3 l .�g4 �h5+ mate, and if 30 . .§ xe6 �xh2+ 3 l .�g4 �h3+, followed by 32 . . . �xe6.

(T) I f 2 3 . .§ xd6 �e2 2 4 .�e l (sti l l parrying the triple threat . . . .§ fl + or . . . �xe4 or . . .§ f2) 24 . . . �xb2 25 . .§ xe6 .§ f2, etc.

3 l . Ciflg4 tt h 5 + 30 . . . tt x h 2 + 32.cifj>f4 tth6+ 33.Ciflg4 g51

.

(T) A splendid point, establishing a mating net at one stroke.

23 ... a51 24. ttc3 ttc5 25.b4 34.E{ x e6

(T) I f 34 . .§ f8+ 'it> x f8 3 5 . �f3 a x b4 36.axb4 'f7 with 37 . . . �f6 to follow. 34... tt x e6+ 35.E!f5 h6

(M) Enough to win, but here was also a quicker solution : 35 . . . �e4+ 36.\t>xg5 h6+ 37.\t>f6 (37.�g6 �e8+) 37 . . . .§ e l ! 38.\t>g6 �g4 + . 3 6 . tt d 3 Ciflg7 3 7 . Ciflf3 E! f l + l 38.tt x fl tt x f5+ 39.Ciflg2 tt xfl+ 40 . cifj> x f l a x b4 4 1 . a x b4 cifj>f6 42. Ciflf2 h5, 0-1

2 5 . . . -'l. x e41

(M) Brilliant and correct! 26.E{ x e4

(M) The queen cannot be captured be­ cause of mate in two moves. After 26.�xe4 the fol lowing winning con­ tinuation for B lack is shown: 26 . . . .§ fl + 27 . .§ xfl .§ xfl + 28.�g2 .§ gl +! 29.�f3 � h 5 + 3 0 . �e 3 � x h 2 , etc . B u t , as pointed out in Deutsche Schachblatter, playing 26 . .§ f3! White has the oppor­ tunity for strong resistance with big draw i n g c h an c e s ; for examp l e : 2 6 . . . .§ xf3 27.�xf3! .§ xf3 28.bxc5, or 26 . . :�c6 27.b5! .§ xf3 28.�xf3 �xf3 2 9 . b x c6 �xc6 3 0 . � x c6 bxc6 3 l . .§ xe6, etc. 26 ... E!f l+ 27.-'l. xfl E! xfl+ 28.Ciflg2 ttf2+ 29 .Ciflh3 E!hl 30.E!f31

25 1

(3 1 5) Nimzovitch - Rubinstein San Sebastian ( 1 1 ) March 4, 1 9 1 2 Four Knights [C48] l .e4 e5 2 . .£) f3 .£)c6 3 . .£) c3 .£) f6 4 . -'l b 5 -'l c 5 5 . 0 - 0 0 - 0 6 . -'l x c6 dxc6 7.d3 Ag4 s.h3 Ah5 9.Ag5 h6 1 0 . Jl x f6 tt x f6 l l .g4 Jlg6 1 2 . Ciflg 2 E! ad8 1 3 . tt c l tte6 t 4 . .£) h4 Ae7 t5 . .£) f 5 Ag 5 16.ttdt c5 17.b3 E!d7 18.a4 c6 19.a5 Ads 20.ttf3 Ah7 2l.Ciflhl g6 22 . .£) a4 g x f 5 23 . .£) x c 5 f x e4 24 . d x e4 tte7 2 5 . .£) x d 7 tt x d7 2 6 . E{ fd l tte7 2 7 . tt e 3 tth4 2S.E!d7 Ag5 29.ttf3 Af4 30.Ciflg2 E!bS 3 l . E! adl a6 3 2 . �d3 Ciflg7 33.Ciflfl Ag6 34.Cifle2 Ag5 35.�c3

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King .Q. f6 36.�e3 x b7 28.�b3+??

After 28.§ xe7+ d7 30. 'IA'b5+ 'i;t>d6 31.�d3+ 'it>c7 32.'1A'a5+ 'i;t>b7 3 3 . � b 3 + 'i;t>c8 3 4 . 'IA' c 5 + 'i;t>d7 3 5 . 'IA' b 5 + 'i;t>d6 36. 'IA' b 7 'IA'd4 3 7 . � be3 'IA'd5 3 8 . E! d 3 � x d3

19 J;l x b41 20.�fc1 .£lf41 21 .Afl dl_d6 2 2 .£l x c4 A x c4 2 3 . A x c4 .£l e 2 + 24 . A x e 2 � x e 2 2 5 . A a3 A xa3 26. � x a3 �fe8 27.'i;t>fl �b2 28.�e1 'i;t>f8 •••

•

•••

270

According to Leonhardt, more exact is 28 . . . § xe l + 29.'it'xel aS! . 29.a5 f! x e l + 30.� x el a 6 3 l .c4

Breslau 1 9 1 2 ctle7 3 2 .§e3+ ctld7 33.E!f3 ctle7 3 4 . § e 3 + ct}f8 3 5 . § e 2 § b l + 36.ct}d2 § a 1 37.E!e5 f 6 38.§c5 ct}e7 39.h4 E!a3 40.§h5 h6 41.g3 ct}e6 42.§c5 g6 43.ct}e2?

Now the game transposes into a bad e d i t i on of the K i n g ' s Gamb i t . Leonhardt recommends in the tourna­ ment book 4 . . :�e7, followed by . . . g6 and . . .llg7.

L e o n h ardt re c o m m e n d s 4 3 . h 5 g 5 44.�e2 .

5 . -'l, x f4 .£! gf6 6 . .£J c 3 .£Jb6 7.a4 �e7? s.Ad3 h6 9.0-o Ag4 10.h3 Ah5 l l .a5 .£lbd7

43 ... h51 44.ct}d2?

White 's last chance was the immediate 44.f3 and 44.g4. 44 ... ct}d6 45. ct}e2 ctlc7 46.f3 b6 47 . a x b6 ct} x b6 4 8 . g4 h x g4 49.fxg4 f!g3 50.g5 fxg5 5 1 . § xg5

.

Black has played originally, but the re­ sulting position is clearly in White 's favor. 1 2.e51 dxe5 13.dxe5 �b4 14.�c1 -'l, x f3 1 5 . § x f3 � c 5 + 1 6 . ct} h 1 .£l d 5 1 7. .£J xd5 � xd5

Also hopeless is 5 1 .hxg5 a 5 . 5 1 ... § xg5 52.hxg5

5 2 . . . ct} a 5 1 5 3 . ctl d 3 ct}b4 5 4 . d 5 cxd5 55.cxd5 ctlc5 56.ct}e4 ct}d6 57. ct}d4 a5 58. ct}c4 a4 59. ct}b4 ct} x d5 60.ct}xa4 ct}e4 61.ct}b4 ct}f4 6 2 . ct}c4 ct} x g 5 6 3 . ctld 3 ct}f4 64. ct}e2 ctlg3, 0-1

(344) Rubinstein - Breyer Breslau (3) 1 9 1 2 King's Gambit (C34] 1 .d4 d6 2.e4 .£ld7 3.f4 e5 4 . .£Jf3 e x f4?

271

1 8 . e6 ! f x e 6 1 9 . -'l, x c7 4) e 5 2 0 . -'l, x e 5 � x e5 2 1 . -'l, g 6 + ct}d7 2 2 . § e3 � c 5 23. � d 2 + Ad6 24.§d1 §adS 25.b4 �c7 26.Af7

White wins more quickly with 26 . .§ xe6! � x e 6 2 7 . �d 5 + �d7 ( o r 27 . . . �f6 28.�f5+ �e7 29.�f7+ mate) 28.�f5+ 'c6 29.b5+ mate. 26 . . . § hf8 2 7 . -'l, x e6 + ct}e7 2 8 . A d 5 + ct}d7 2 9 . E! c 3 �b8 30. �d4 §f6 3 1 . �g4+ ct}e8 3 2 . � x g7 Ae5 3 3 . E! e 3 �d6 34. § x e 5 + 1 � x e5 3 5 . .ilf7+ ct}e7 36.Ah5+ �e6 37.-'l,g4+, 1-0

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King (345) Schlechter - Rubinstein Breslau (4) 1 9 1 2 Queen's Gambit Declined [037 ]

l .e4 e 5 2 . Ac4 4) f6 3 .d4 e x d4 4 . .£lf3 .£! xe4 5. �xd4 4)f6 6 . .1l,g5 Ae7 7 . .£lc3 4)c6

t .d4 d5 2.l�)f3 4)f6 3.c4 e6 4.4)c3 Ae7 5.Af4 0-0 6.e3 c5 7.E!ct .£!c6 8.Ad3 dxc4 9.Axc4 cxd4 10.exd4 b6 1 1 .0-0 .ll,b7 1 2.a3 E!c8 13.Aa2 �d7 14.Ae3 4)g4 1 5 . �e2 Ad6 t6.E!cd1 4) xe3 17.fxe3 4)e7 18.e4 .£Jg6 t9 . .£lg5 Af4 20. �h5 Ae3+ 2 1 . � h l A x g 5 2 2 . � x g 5 �e7 23. �xe7 .£! xe7 24.d5 exd5 25.exd5 4)g6 26.E!fel E!fd8 27.�gl �f8 28.E!d2 E!d7 29.E!e3 E!cd8 30.�f2 4) f4 3 1 . E! e 5 f6 3 2 . E! e4 4) g6 3 3 . E! a4 .ll, c 6 34. E! ad4 4) e7 35.E!dl Ab7 36.E!td2 g6 37.E!a4 Ac6 38.E!ad4 �g7 39.Ab3, Draw

(T) Another line of defense is 7 . . . c6 8 . 0-0-0 d5, or 7 . . . 0-0 8.0-0-0 c6, etc. 8. �h4 d6 9.0-0-0 Ae6 10 . .1l,d3

(T) If 1 o . ;g he 1 .ll x c4 1 1 ..1lxf6 .lle 6, again closing the e-file. to ... �d7 1 1.Ab5

(M) Preventing B lack from castling long and threatening 1 2 .4Je5. (T) Prevents 1 1 . . . 0-0-0, after which would fol low 1 2.

0

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Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King t6 ... f8 20.§c7 Ac6 21 .§el §ac8 22.§ xc8 § xeS 23.�e5 §e8 24.§e3 §d8 25.Cit>fl Ae8 2 6 . Cit> e l §d4 2 7 .g3 Aa4 28.b3 Ae8 29.f3 §d6 30.�d3 b6 3l.Cit>d2 Ab5 32.Cit>c3 Ad7 33.a4 g5 34.f4 f6 35.§el §e6 36. § x e6 A x e6 37.�b2 Cit>e7 38.�dl gxf4 39.gxf4 Cit>f7 40.�e3 Cit>g6 4t.Cit>d3 Cit>h5 42.Cit>e4 Ac8 43.Cit>d5 Cit>h4 44.Cit>d6 Cit>h3 4S.Cit>c7 Ae6 46.f5 Af7 47.Cit>b7 h5 48.Cit>xa7 Cit>xh2 49.Cit>xb6 Cit>g3 50.a5 Cit>f3

322

51 .a61, 1-0

For if 51. . . 'hl h7 66.h5 'it'g7 67 .h6+ �h7 draw.

1 920 61 . .§b8 C3)g7 62 . .§b6! f4 63. gxf4 .§ x f4 64 . .§a6 .§a4 6 5 . h4 .§ x h4 66 . .§ x a 5 .§ h 3 + 6 7 . ct;c4 .§h4+ 68.ct;c5 .§h5+ 6 9 . ct; b 6 .§h6+ 70.ct;a7, 1-0

2 5 . �g 7 + and 2 6 . � x b 7 , w i t h two pawns and attacking chances for the exchange.

2 2 . .§ g8+ ct;e7 2 3 . .§ g7 24. .Q.g81 'ltJe4 25 . .§d1!, 1-0

(443 ) Rubinstein- Kostic Gothenburg ( 4) 1 920 Queen's Pawn [D05]

The D a n i s h p l ayer J121rgen M 121 l ler ( 1 873- 1 944) was an interesting analyst who conceived the line l .e4 e5 2 .{)f3

1 .d4 e6 2./ilf3 /ilf6 3.e3 c5 4 . .Q.d3 d5 5.0-0 /ilc6 6.b3 .Q.d6 7. .Q.b2 0-0 8./ilbd2 'ltJe7 9.c4 b6 10 . .§e11 .Q.b7 l l . e 4 d x e4 1 2 . /il x e4 c x d4 1 3 . /il xd4 /il xd4 14. /il xd6 'ltJ x d6 1 5 . .Q. x d4 .§ fd8 1 6 . .Q. x f6 g x f6 17.'1tJg4+ C3)h8 18 . .Q. x h7 f5

{)c6 3.Ac4 Ac5 4.c3 {)f6 5 .d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Ab4+ 7.{)c3 {)xe4 8. 0-0 Axc3 9.d5, and revived l . e4 e5 2 .{)f3 {)c6 3.Ab5 a6 4.Aa4 {)f6 5 . 0-0 .ll c 5 - both

o f w h i c h bear h i s n a m e . Chess Personalia adds that his pseudonyms were Byssodomeno and Hodie-mihi .

If 1 8 . . . 'it'xh7 1 9 . .§ e3!.

(444) Meller- Rubinstein Gothenburg (5) 1 920 Ruy Lopez [C77]

19.'ftJh5 ct;g7 20..§e3 'ltJf4

2 1 . .§g3+ ct;f8?

This loses immediately. A better but still insufficient defense is 2 l . . . 'it'f6. Ac­ c o rd i n g to the tourn ame n t b o o k , White 's best response is 2 2 . .§ fl , and n o w 2 2 . . . .§ h8 23 . .§ g6 + ! 't;e7 ( o r 2 3 . . . fx g6 2 4 . �xg6+ 'it' e 7 2 5 . �g7+ 'it'd6 2 6 . � x b 7 , etc . ) 2 4 . 1"! g7 .§ af8 25 . .§ d l �e4 26. g 3 �f3 27 . .§ xf7+ .§ xf7 2 8 . 1"! d 7 + a n d w i n s , or 2 2 . . 1"! d 2 .

2 3 . 1"! g 6 +

fx g 6

2 4 . � x g6+

.§f8

'l:t e 7

t . e4 e5 2 . /il f3 /ilc6 3 . .Q.b5 a6 4 ..Q.a4 /ilf6 5./ilc3 b5 6 . .Q.b3 .Q.e7 7.0-0 0-0 8 . .Q.d5 b4 9 . .Q. xc6 dxc6 1 0 . /il e 2 Jil x e4 1 1 . /il x e s 'ltJ d 5 1 2.d4 c5 13./ilf4 'lt1d6 14 . .§ e 1 f5 1 5 . 'ltJ e 2 .Q.e6 1 6 . /il ed 3 .Q.f7 17.dxc5 'lt1d4 18 . .Q.e3 'lt1c4 19.f3 /il xc5 20.b3 'lt1b5 2 1 . /il xc5 .Q.xc5 2 2 . 'ft1 x b5 .Q. x e3+ 23 . .§ x e3 a x b5 2 4 . /il d 3 .§ fd8 2 5 . /il x b4 c 5 26./ild3 c4 27./ile5 .§d2 28./il xf7 C3} xf7 29.bxc4 bxc4 30 . .§c3 .§e8 3 l . .§ x c 4 .§ee2 3 2 . g4 .§g 2 + 3 3 . C3) h 1 .§ x h 2 + 3 4 . C3) g 1 C3)f6 3 5 .g x f 5 .§ dg 2 + 3 6 . C3) f 1 .§ f 2 + 3 7 . ct;g 1 .§ hg 2 + 3 8 . ct; h 1 .§ h 2 + 3 9 . ct;g 1 .§ fg 2 + 4 0 . ct; f l .§ d 2 4 t . ct;g 1 .§ hg 2 + 4 2 . ct; h 1 .§ h 2 + 43 . ct;g 1 .§ dg 2 + 4 4 . ct; f l .§ d 2 45.ct;g1 .§dg2+ 46.ct;fl h5 47.a4 .§d2 48.ct;g 1 ct;g5 49.a5 .§dg2+ 50.ct;fl h4 51 . .§aa4 .§d2 52.ct;g1 .§ hg 2 + 5 3 . Cit>h 1 .§ h 2 + 5 4 . Cit>g 1

347

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King §hg 2 + 5 5 . � h 1 § h 2 + § dg 2 + 5 7 . � f l § d 2 § dg 2 + 5 9 . �f l § f 2 + §hg 2 + 6 t . � h 1 § h 2 + § fg 2 + 6 3 . � f 1 § d 2 §hg 2 + 6 5 . � h 1 § h 2 + §he2 67.§g4+, Draw

56.�g1 5 8 . �g 1 6 0 . �g 1 6 2 . �g 1 64. �g 1 66.�g 1

(445) Rubinstein - Bogoljubow Gothenburg (6) 1 920 Queen's Indian [E l 8] 1 .d4 .£)f6 2 . .£lf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Ab7 5.Ag2 Ae7 6 . .£lc3 d5 7 . .£le5 0-0 8 . 0 - 0 c5 9 . d x c 5 A x c 5 1 0 . Af4? ! .£) e4 1 1 . .£) x e4 d x e4 1 2.�b3?!

(R) More active is 1 0.d4 . 1 0 . . . -'l.e7

(K) In order to play . . . Af6 if the op­ posing queen 's bishop occupies the long diagonal.

(R) A bad place for the queen. White should fight for the in itiative with 1 2 . fl b l . If 12 .. .'�c7, then 1 3 .Af4 e5? 1 4.4Jxe5! 4Jxe5 1 5 .fl xb7 ifl'd6 1 6.Axe5 ifl'xe5 1 7 . fl xd7. In case of 12 . . . b6 then 1 3 .d4 is good.

12 . . . �c7 13. E!fe1 §adS 14.Af4 Ad6 1 5.A xd6 � xd6 16.�e3

Better is 1 2 .4Jd3!? 12 ... �c8! 1 3.Ae3? j}. xe3 14.fxe3 .£) c 6 1 5 . .£) x c 6 � x c6 1 6 . § a d 1 §ac8 17.§d4 f 5 18.§fd 1? ! Aa6 19.c5 A x e 2 20.§d6 � x c5 2 1 . � x e6+ � h 8 2 2 . § 1 d4 � c 1 + 23.�f2 §c2, 0 - 1

(446) Reti - Rubinstein Gothenburg (7) 1 920 Sicilian Nimzo-Rubinstein [B29]

(R) The move 1 6.c4 deserves attention. 16 ... b6 17 . .£)d2 .£)e7 18 . .£)c4 �c7 19.�e5?

(K), (R) The endgame is unfavorable for White because of his inferior pawn position. He should try 1 9 .a4 with the idea of a5-a6. 19 ... � xe5 20 . .£) xe5 Aa4! 21 .§e2 .£ld5 22.Jlxd5

Notes by Kmoch (K), Bogoljubow (B), and Razuvaev (R).

(R) A critical moment. After the ex­ change of the bishop for the knight White's difficulties increase. Obviously he should seek refuge in the variation

l . e4 c 5 2 . .£l f3 .£) f6 3.e5 .£l d 5 4 . .£lc3 e 6 5.g3

(K) This setup is not justified here . Better is 5 . 4Jxd5 exd5 6.d4 . ( B ) Not the best. (R) In our opinion this move is perfectly playable.

2 2 . c4 4Jb4 2 3 . fl c l f6 ( 2 3 . . . 4J x a 2 24 . f! a l 4J c 3 2 5 . El ee l ) 2 4 . 4Jf3 'd4 b5 4 4 . 'it'e 3 a 5 4 5 . a3 (or 4 5 . 'it'f2 Ad5)

(K) Directed against g5. 35.�e3

(K) If 3 5 . g 5 A x h 3 3 6 . g x f6 + 'it' x f6 37 . .£\g5 Ad7! 38 . .£\xh7+ \t>f5 39.'it'e3 Aa4 and B lack wins.

35 ... h5 36 . .£lh2

(K) Or 36.gxh5 gxh5 37 .h4 'it'e6, and . . .\t>f5 wins.

4 5 . . . \t>d5 46.\t>e2 'it'd4 4 7 . \t>d2 a4 48.g5 f5 .

4 t . . . .Q. d 5 4 2 . a 3 b5 43 . .£l f l a S 44 . .£ld2 a4 45 . .£le4

(K) Or 45 .'it'dl g5!, etc. 4S . . . .Q. x e4 46.d x e4 b4 47.�d2 bxa3 48.�cl g5, 0-1

(447) Rubinstein- Mieses Gothenburg (8) 1 920 Dutch Staunton [A83] t . d4 f5 2 .e4 f x e4 4 . .Q.g5 .£lc6 5.f3 d5 7 . .£l x e4 d x e4 8.d5 .£l f7 10 . .Q.f4 ? 1 c 6 1 2 .d6?

3 . .£lc3 .£l f6 6.fxe4 .£l xe4 .£l e 5 9 . '/Wd4 l l . .Q.c4 e6

37 . . . d411

Better is 1 2 .�xe4 with approximately equal chances.

(K) Rubinstein conducts the ending bri l l iantly. White 's possible moves are reduced step by step.

1 2 . . . j}_ x d6 1 3 . A x d6 '/W x d6 14. '/W x g7 '/Wb4+ 1 5 .'/Wc3 '/W x c3+ t 6.bxc3 .£ld6 17.Ae2 e51

349

Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 1 8 . A h 5 + ? 1 ct;e7 1 9 . 4) e 2 .§.f8 20.4)g3 Ae6 2l.Ae2 .§.adS 22.a4 4) f5 2 3 . 4) f l 4) h4 24 . .£J e 3 .£lf5 25 . .£Jdl 4)h4 26 . .§.gl? .§.g8 27.g3 .£j f3+ 28. A x f3 e x f3 29 . .§.bl b6 30 . .§.fl e4 3 l . .§.b4 Af5 3 2 . 4) e3 ct;f6 33.a5 b5 34.a6 ct;e5 35 . .§.f2 h5 36.c4 .§.d4 37 . .§.b3 Ae6 38. .§.a3 A xc4 39 . .§.d2 .§.f8 40. 4) xc4 bxc4 41 . .§. xd4 ct; x d4 42.ct;f2 c5 43 . .§.e3 .§.f6 44 . .§.el .§. xa6 45 . .§.dl + ct;e5 46 . .§.d8 .§.f6 47 . .§.e8+ ct;d4 48.h3 a5 49.g4 h xg4 50.h xg4 a4 5 1 .g5 .§.g6 5 2 . .§. d 8 + ctlc3 5 3 . .§. d 5 a 3 54 . .§. xc5 a 2 5 5 . .§.a5 ct;b2 56 . .§.b5+ ct;xc2 57 . .§.a5 ct;b2 58 . .§.b5+ ctlc3 59 . .§.a5 .§. xg5, 0-1

or l l . . .iH5 'iti'g8 30:�d5+ �h8 3 l .�f5 'ifi'g8 and then

385

Addendum 32.-'tgS .§. e8 33.d5 .§.f7 34:i!j•g4 .§. g7 35 .�f5 .§.f7 36.'i'!'l'h3 .§. ef8 37.�e6 �h8 38.Ah4 1 -0. Since the time control at

that time was mostly at move 30 this seems plausible. Also note that some sources have the opening moves l .f4 e6 2 .