Life and Games of Akiba Rubinstein

Tr > ae eat x ‘, The Life & nr of ‘Akiva GUE a ER ie “rt@ EA SOO Nyaa ys wy eee ee 44 4 ‘e PS (Bye Si = Ee ~ Pre a7 in) PPI or eye os 4 Pee ea wes 4: ead eee OFF Fp - Lb pa a Miz bach a Ts be ae bp) UThe Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein Volume 1: Uncrowned King IM John Donaldson IM Nikolay Minev a 2006 Russell Enterprises, Inc. Milford, CT USAThe 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 Published by: Russell Enterprises, Inc. P.O. Box 5460 Milford, CT 06460 USA http://www.chesscafe.com info@chesscafe.com Cover design by Janel Lowrance Printed 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 1882-1904: The Young Rubinstein 1905 St. Petersburg 1906 Lodz 1906 Ostende 1906 1907 1907-08 Vienna 1908 Prague 1908 Lodz 1908 Rubinstein-Marshall Match 1908 St. Petersburg 1909 Rubinstein-Mieses 1909 Vilna 1909 Warsaw 1909 1910 San Sebastian 1911 Carlsbad 1911 Warsaw City Championship 1911 San Sebastian 1912 Pistyan 1912 Breslau 1912 Vilna 1912 The Years of World War I 1919 1920 Non-Tournament Games 1906-1920 Addendum Bibliography Players Index Openings Index ECO Codes Index Annotator Index Index of Illustrations General Index 10 12 33 43 51 58 76 117 126 140 153 166 175 198 203 209 210 217 244 246 259 268 281 296 323 336 354 377 387 389 392 393 395 396 397Introduction to the Second Edition This year marks the one hundred and first anniversary of Akiva Rubinstein’s re- ceiving the master title at Barmen. 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 answer, we believe, is that in many ways Rubinstein was a truly modern player and his games are still 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 Mihail Marin both devote chapters to Rubinstein. Among today’s top players Boris Gelfand has mentioned on more 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 Glatman’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 information. Nick Pope deserves credit for the biggest find, unearthing five new games of Rubinstein’s from the mammoth Ostende 1906 tournament. There are several events from Rubinstein’s early career, where quite a few games are missing, but Ostende 1906 is the only one played in Western Europe. Thanks to Nick’s find we now have 19 games and fragments of the 30 Rubinstein played in the Belgian port. It’s likely that this is how things will stand as Tony Gillam has spent many years researching Ostende 1906 and recently published a book on the event. Alan Smith has found the remaining moves of Rubinstein-Nimzovitch, San Sebastian 1912, and Per Skjoldager has discovered the actual position of the adjourned game Rubinstein-Nimzovitch, Vilna 1912, along with comments about the game from Nimzo’s column in the Rigaer Rundschau. These comments from the original German have been translated by Hans Baruch and give a good idea of what happened in the game (we have no actual moves). It’s likely that scraps of information like these are precisely the new discoveries researchers will make in the future. Most primary source material has been thoroughly 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 mine of material regarding Rubinstein’s early career. In theory libraries in Poland plus those in major cities of the Russian empire like Helsinki, Riga. Moscow and St. Petersburg would all be likely repositories but one hundred years and many upheavals have made it a hard to find item. One bright spot for Rubinstein fans looking for new material comes from the generosity of Simon Constam. Several decades ago Simon did a tremendous amount of research on Rubinstein. He spent time in Holland and Belgian at various libraries and befriended Rubinstein’s sons Jonas and Sammy. In this book you will find some of his discoveries from Akiva’s tour of Holland in 1920 in- 4cluding a fragment from the Rotterdam Quadrangular and some very interesting non-tournament efforts. A curiosity from the early 20" century was the practice of strong local players taking every chance they had to play a visiting hero. This might mean 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- men Samuel Factor, would soon move to the United States where he won several Western Chess Association championships. Volume 2 will have many more of Simon’s finds including over a dozen pictures from the Rubinstein family ar- chives and numerous training games between Akiva and his younger son Sammy. Note that we have changed the spelling of Rubinstein’s name for this volume from Akiba to Akiva, as it appears in Jewish sources. We are currently working on the second edition of volume two, which will cover the remainder of Rubinstein’s life (1921-1961) and would love to hear from readers who might have any of the following games: Gothenburg 1920/21: Appelberg. Triberg 1921: Selezniev-R (rd 1), Selezniev-R (rd 4) and Spielmann-R (rd 6) Hastings 1922/23: Yates and E.G. Sergeant. . Southport 1924: Wright. London 1925: both games with Thomas. Lodz 1927: Kohn, Blass and Friedman. Warsaw 1927: Makarczyk Chicago 1928: any from the simul R most likely gave in mid-March. Rogaska Slatina 1929: Maréczy, and Honlinger. Prague Olympiad 1931: Erdelyi, E. Steiner, and Grunfeld. Antwerp 1931: Baert, De Mey, and Perquin. Warsaw (?) 1931: match with H. Friedman ??? Please contact us at imwjd@aol.com or John Donaldson - Mechanics’ Chess Di- rector, 57 Post Street, Room 408, San Francisco, CA 94104. We would like tothank 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 Smith and Edward Winter for this volume. This book is fondly dedicated to Holly Lee and Elena Minev. John Donaldson Nikolay Minev August 2006Introduction to the First Edition The name Akiva Rubinstein is certainly familiar to chess players around the world, but one might still wonder why the authors have spent so much time and energy on a player whose career ended over 60 years ago and who never even played, much 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 remembered for his great sporting results — especially 1912, the magic year when he won four big toumaments ~ his contributions to the game 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 modern opening, middlegame, and endgame is immense. Today, systems in the Nimzo- Indian, French, and Four Knights Game bear his name and these represent but a fraction of his contributions to opening theory. As one of the pioneers in the treatment of positions with an isolated queen pawn or hanging pawns, Rubinstein was not averse to taking either side of these thematic middlegames. While he is well-known for his opening and middlegame play, it was in the ending, particularly rook endings, that Rubinstein’s genius was made manifest. Not so much in technical endings of R + P versus R — though he knew his basic theory well — but in strategic endings of the sort dealt with at length in Mikhail Shereshevsky’s Endgame Strategy.It’sno accident that the Encyclopedia Of Chess Endings chose many of his rook endings as examples of model play. Rubinstein’s life away from the chess board is equally fascinating. A life difficult to sum up in a few words, it seems more fiction than fact. Raised according to family tradition to be a rabbi, Akiva’s life was transformed when he was intro- duced to chess. Rising through the ranks, he went from rank beginner to coming within a hair’s breadth of Caissa’s throne. The authors have spent much of their time in the last three years trying to do justice to this great player. Rubinstein does have books written about him — in fact we know of at least eight — but none comes close to being complete. There are several good samplers, but they leave the reader wishing for more. 6Early on, we hoped our planned work, incorporating all of Rubinstein’s games, annotations, crosstables, pictures, and all the biographical material 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 Cleveland yielded such material that the planned single volume expanded to two books. We hope you enjoy reading this book as much as we did writing it. A few technical notes: Chess nomenclature tends to be confusing and inconsistent. It’s not uncommon to find several different sources all spelling the same player’s name a different way. In the interests of consistency we have with very few exceptions used Jer- emy Gaige’s Chess Personalia and four volume Chess Tournament Crosstables as our standard for the spelling of player and place names - with the more 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 makes 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 masters — we have used Wladyslaw Litmanowicz and Jerzy Gizycki’s Szachy od A do Z as our guide. This mammoth (1,438 pages) two- volume set is one of the best and most complete works of its kind. It proved invaluable in offering much otherwise unobtainable material about little-known Polish players. Today Poland is a very respectable chess country with a few GMs and a large number of IMs, but in the past it was a great power in the chess world. During the period 1928-1939, the Poles won a gold, two silvers, and three bronze medals in chess olympiads. Only in 1933, when the Poles were fourth, were they shut out of the medals. Rubinstein, Tartakover, and Najdorf are names known to all chess players, but Poland had other good players: Flamberg, Salwe, Rotlewi, Przepiorka, and Lowcki- from the pre-World War One period alone. We have made a special effort to pro- vide some details of these players’ lives and to give some idea of what chess life was like then. The most 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 1918, 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 from the rare books Pierwyj almanach Lodzinskogo obszcezestwa liubitiele) szachmatnoj igry (1907), edited by Daniuszewski and 7Mundt, and Ksiega Jubileuszowa Lodzkiego Towarzystwa Zwolennikow Gry Szachowej 1903-1938, edited by Daniuszewski. The authors had just a glimpse of what must be a large amount of material in the newspaper Neue Lodzer Zeitung. This paper, which started a chess column in 1902, 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 judging from the fact that the daily paper gave round-by-round scores of the 1903/04 Handicap Tournament, the details of several Salwe-Rubinstein matches, and lots of information on the formation of the Lodz Chess Society, it must be a gold mine. One imagines that more than a few Salwe-Rubinstein games might be hidden there. Our policy in offering annotations to games has been to combine the comments of great masters of the past with our own notes to give some 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 tournament books of events Rubinstein played in. As a space saving measure we have confined our- selves to citing sources only for games 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. Alice Loranth and Dr. Motoko Reece at the John G. White Collection of the Cleveland Public Library were extremely helpful, as were Christian Bijl and Rob Verhoeven at the Royal Dutch Library in the Hague. Edward Winter (Trelex, Switzerland) generously supplied us with some nice archival photos and was an invaluable resource person. Eric Woro, books editor at ICE, deserves our thanks for transforming a mountain of rough text into a beautifully edited book with crosstables, diagrams and photos. Yvette Nagel was most generous in translating indecipherable xeroxes of Dutch newspapers into English, and her proofreading skills were very welcome. The authors would also like to thank Hans Baruch (Berkeley), Are 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 Preziuso (Aarau, Switzerland), Sammy Rubinstein (Brussels), Yasser Seirawan (Seattle), Ken Whyld (Caistor, England), Dr. Tadeusz Wolsza (War- saw) and Ton Sibbing of the Max Euwe Center in Amsterdam. We apologize ifwe have inadvertently left anyone out. It goes without saying that any errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the authors. This book is fondly dedicated to Elena Minev. John Donaldson Nikolay Minev August 1994 A Rubinstein Primer Players looking to improve their positional understanding and endgame skills will find studying the games of Rubinstein most 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) Salwe-Rubinstein, Carlsbad 1907 (#131) Mardczy-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 1916/17 (#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-Alekhine, Carlsbad 1911 (#302) Schlechter-Rubinstein, San Sebastian 1912 (#307) Lasker-Rubinstein, St. Petersburg 1914 (#373) Rubinstein-Selezniev, Gothenburg 1920 (#442)Tournament Record 1903-1920 Ww D L Score Place 1903 Kiev 2 3 5 10% 6% Sth 1905 Barmen in 2 2 12-3 =Ist Lodz 4 ? ? 2% -1% =Ist 1906 — St. Petersburg 8 8 0 12-4 =2nd Ostende 13 12 5 19-11 3rd Lodz 5 3 1 6% -2% Ist Lodz 7 4 1 9-3 Ist 1907 Ostende 14 ll 3 19% -8% =Ist Carlsbad 12 6 2 15-5 Ist Lodz a 2 1 8-2 Ist 1907-8 Lodz 9 2 1 10-2 Ist 1908 = Vienna 10 6 3 13-6 4th Prague 8 9 Z| 12% -6% 4th Lodz 6 a 3) 9% 6% Ist 1909 = St. Petersburg = 12 5 1 14% -3% =lst Vilna 8 5 2 10% -4% Ist 1910 Warsaw 8 1 1 8%-1% 2nd Warsaw 13 il 1 13% -1% =Ist 1911 San Sebastian 4 10 0 9-5 =2nd Carlsbad 12 10 3 17-8 =2nd Warsaw 12 2 0 13-1 Ist 1912 San Sebastian 8 9. 2 12% 6% Ist Pistyan 12 4 1 14-3 Ist Breslau 2 6 2 12-5 =Ist Vilna 9 6 3) 12-6 Ist 1914 St. Petersburg. 2 6 2 5-5 =6th 1916 Warsaw 8 2 2 9-3 =lIst 1916-7 Lodz i 0 3 124-1% Ist 1917 Warsaw 8 0 2 9-1 Ist 1918 Berlin 0 2 4 1-5 4th Berlin 2 4 0 4-2 2nd 1919 Warsaw 7 3 4 8h Si 3rd Stockholm 4 4 4 6-6 2nd 1920 Rotterdam 2 i 0 Ist Gothenburg 7 4 2 9-4 2nd Note: Wins or losses by forfeit have been excluded from this list. Handicap Tournaments 1903-4 Lodz 16 2 2 17-3 2nd 1909 Warsaw 7 1 0 Th Ist 1919-20 Stockholm 18 1 2 5%-7 2nd1903 1904 1905 1907 1908 1908 1909 1910 1916 1918 1920 1909 1911 1912 1919 1920 1920 Salwe (Lodz) Salwe (Lodz) Mieses (Lodz) Duras (Barmen) Salwe (Lodz) Teichmann (Vienna) Marshall (Warsaw) Mieses Match Record 1903-1920 Ww UBwUnbowau (Berlin-Hannover-Frankfurt) Flamberg (Warsaw) Lowcki (Warsaw) Schlechter (Berlin) Bogoljubow Sees (Gothenburg-Stockholm) Warsaw Warsaw Moscow Moscow Frankfurt Paris Berlin Nuremberg Munich Budapest Berlin Lund Scheveningen Rotterdam Scheveningen Rotterdam Amsterdam The Hague Haarlem Nijmegen Gorinchem Deventer Enschede Trollhattan Ru H-wNnowad WRRNOOwWUN wenn Bo-OO Simul Record October 15 November 5 December 27 December 31 January 30 March 19 March 27 April 30 May 1 May 6 January 19 February 8 February 26 March | March 4 March 15 March 17 March 20 March 22 March 27 March 29 April ? April ? October 22 (+16,=2,-4) 21 418,=2,-1) 35 (+26,=5,-4) 38 (+26,=5,-7) 15 (+13,=1,-1) 18 (+14,=2,-2) 40 (+36,=3,-1) 29 (422,-2,=5) 40 (428,=9,-3) 5 (43,=0,-2) 25 (+24,=0,-1) 25 (+19,=5,-1) 26 (+21,=3,-2) 28 (+25,=3,-0) 22 (+21,=1,-0) 28 (+24=1,-0) 26 (+26,=0,-0) 46 (+36,=9,-1) Score 7-1 5% -4% 3-0 1-1 16-6 3% -2% 4% 3% 6-4 4a 2% 3% -2% 6% Si1882-1904: 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 mythologizing 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] 12, 1882, 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 behind a wife and 12 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 instruction. The prescribed languages were Hebrew and Yiddish; Rubinstein understood no other, and had no desire for any other.” We now look at afew other accounts of Rubinstein’s first years. Gerald Abrahams, in Chess Treasury of the Air (pp. 48-49), has this to say about Rubinstein’s early life: “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, anda fine analytic discrimination. Those who met him in England in the 1920’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 Israel. “It is told of him that, in his teens, he found the only available Hebrew chess book, and learned it by heart with all its illustrative games. The subject captured him, and afforded him, eventually, an escape — if that is the proper word — from a career that might have ended in a Rabbinate. How he came to Lodz, measured his1882-1904: The Young Rubinstein strength against the master Salwe, and ultimately conquered the latter is too well known to need recapitulation. Suffice it to say that, in a very short period, from Kiev 1904 [1903], when he was fifth in the Russian Championship, to 1912, when he won no fewer than five international tournaments (San Sebastian, Pistyan, Breslau, Warsaw, and St. Petersburg [Vi/na] — 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, April 2, 1909. Prefacing the piece, the columnist C.T. Blanchard thanked E. Znosko-Borovsky, chess editor of Novoe Vremya, for specially contributing the article. The article appears to be an expanded version of what Znosko had written about Rubinstein for the St. Petersburg 1906 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 style], 1882. Soon after, all his family moved to Bialystok, where he learned chess at the age of 18. 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 wentto Stein’s Café, where he met the strong first-class player GG. 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 1903 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 tour- 13Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King ney, the Lodz C.C. got up a second match between them, best out of 10 games. This he won by 612-3! [the score was actually 5%-4%). In the first-class tourney, Barmen 1905, he won the title of master by dividing first 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 1907 (pp. 244-45): Our 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 jottings about the first-prize winner, which I trust will be news to many of them. Akiva Kiwelowicz Rubinstein was born on October 30 [/2], 1882, at Stawiski, a townlet in the government of Lomza, in Russian Poland. Soon after, his relatives removed to Bialystok. At the age of 18 he learned the rudiments of chess and soon became deeply interested in the game. By chance he ran across achess instructor in Yiddish, and went swimmingly along in its perusal until he reached a part therein containing games from the first Parisian tournament of 1876, which baffled him completely. 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 1903 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 offhand 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 Lodz, which the two represented as delegates at the Kiev Congress. R.’s de- but was a splendid one. He obtained fifth prize with 11% points1882-1904: The Young Rubinstein of a possible 19, those preceding him being Chigorin, Bernstein, Yurevich, and Salwe. Returning to Lodz, where the newly founded club was prospering, he and Salwe contested a series of 10 games, R. winning 614-314 [actually 54-41). In the handicap tourney he took second place after Salwe. In the club tournament on even terms he divided first and second prizes with Salwe. Encouraged by his success at home he attended in 1905 the German Congress at Barmen, where he divided first and second prizes with O. Duras, and gained the coveted title of “Meister” and thereby the entry to all the future masters’ tournaments. In September 1903 [/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 further exploits are well known: third prize at Ostende 1906; first and second with Mieses [Bernstein], Ostende 1907; 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 competitors. 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 modern, aiming instinctively rather at correctness than at brilliancy. His 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 12, 1882, in the small town of Stawiski, not far from Bialystok. That he was the last of 12 children and that he was raised by his grandparents to follow in the family tradition of being a rabbi. That some time between Rubinstein’s 14th and 18th birthdays he became acquainted and quickly fascinated with chess. That it was the Bialystok first-category player Bartoszkiewicz who was his first nemesis and not Salwe. When one substitutes the name of the former for the latter 15Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King the legend of Rubinstein meeting a strong master in the local café comes a lot closer to reality. Winkelman and Hannak wrote: “At 19 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 Salwe 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 playedand won. The whole club wentintoa huddle. Without delay, a match between Salwe and Rubinstein 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 54-4]. The old champion was dethroned, and the dreamy youth from the Polish village reigned in his stead.” Anice story but nothing more. The odds that someone whohad only been playing a short while could best Salwe — who won the 4th All-Russian Championship in 1906 — 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 300,000 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 1903 and continued up until the German invasion of Poland in 1939. 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 Chigorin, Frank Marshall, and Jacques Mieses played in events there while Capablanca, Alekhine, and Lasker gave simuls. Sponsorship was provided for the best players to travel outside and serve as the club’s standard bearers in important international events. Salwe and Rubinstein represented the club at Kiev 1903 while Akiva (Barmen 1905) and Georg Rotlewi 161882-1904: The Young Rubinstein (Ostende 1907) 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 Igry, by Mundt and Daniuszewski, which covers the period 1903-1907, and Ksiega Jubileuszowa Lodzkiego Towarzystwa Zwolennikow Gry Szachowej 1903-1938, by Daniuszewski, chronicle some of the more important events held by the Society. Frank Marshall, writing about the 1908 Lodz triangular in My Fifty Years of Chess, 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 1909 (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 (210 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 players 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 1903, he has had no lack of the very best practice. The club has arranged a long series of matches between him and the redoubtable Salwe. The first of these, in 1903, when Rubinstein was not yet 21 — he was born at Stawiski, in the North of Poland, on October 12 (n.s.), 1882 - ended in a draw. The second was won by Rubinstein, 52-41%, 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 religious 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 #735, 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 Nimzo. Various Russian sources concur on Kivelevich, 17Akiba 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 example 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 1897. (1) Rubinstein - Bartoszkiewicz Correspondence 1897 (?) Two Knights [C55] 1.€4 e5 2.2)f3 Ac6 3.4c4 D6 4.44 exd4 5.0-0 Ac5 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Hel+ @f8 9.025 gxf6 10.0h6+ Sgs8 11.4xd4 Axd4 12.c3 AF5 13.cxd4 Qxd4 14.4)c3 Qg6 15.He8+! Yxe8 16.uyxd4 Wes 17.4451, 1-0 The Neue Lodz Zeitung offers some early details of Rubinstein’s career. On March 19-20, 1903, it was reported that Langleben, Salwe, Rubinstein and Goldfarb played a pair of consultation games. The paper doesn’t indicate who partnered whom, but just notes that Langleben was on the winning side in both games. The next game was published in Pierwyj Almanach Lodzinskogo Obszczestwa Liubitielej Szachmatnoj Igry, Lodz 1907, edited by the Polish masters Dawid Daniuszewski and A. Mundt. That book offers a large number 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 likely that it was played in 1902 or 1903. It’s placed here, rather than in the non-tournament games section, because it might be from a handicap tournament. (2) Rubinstein - Amateur Lodz 1902 or 1903 (?) (without Nb1) 1.e4 €5 2.4c4 Of6 3.d4 exd4 4.2£3 2xe4 5.0-0 Ne7 6.yxd4 }f6 7.Qg5 0-0 8.2d3 Dc6 9.%9h4 g6 10.Kfe1 \d51882-1904: The Young Rubinstein 11.Hxe7! Qdxe7 12.8f6 d5 13.Hel Me6 14.4e5 4xe5 15.Bxe5 Wd6 16.Yxh7+! &xh7 17.Bh5+ gs 18.4h8+ mate, 1-0 The following game may also be from the same handicap event. (3) Rubinstein - Amateur Lodz , 1903 (without Ral, with pawn on a3) 1.e4 e5 2.4)f3 Dc6 3.4.c4 Acs 4.03 £6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Qe7 7.45 4)b8 8.e5 g4 9.h3 DH 10.d6 cxd6 11.exd6 Af6 12.ye2+ BB 13.23 Axc3+ 14.bxc3 Hc6 15.0-0 We8 16.¥d2 Aes 17.He1 xf3+ 18.gxf3 Wd8 YG a ae t Y a 19.Yxh6! gxh6 20..4.xh6+ Hes 21.@h2 ¥wyf8 22.Hg1+, 1-0 [Szachista, issue 3, 1995] Rubinstein’s great rival for much of his early career was Georg Henryk Solomonowicz Salwe (1862-1920). Salwe was born on October 24, 1862 (Gaige; Szachy od A do Z gives Dec. 12) 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 players by 1882, it wasn’t until Salwe moved to Lodz in 1894 that he found real opportunities to test his skills. There, in 1899, he split a pair of games against Dawid Janowsky, during the latter’s visit to Lodz that year. When the Lodz Chess Society was formed in 1903, he and Rubinstein benefited enormously. Salwe didn’t play his first real tournament until he was 40 (Kiev 1903) but this late start didn’t prevent him from achieving some excellent results, including a victory in the fourth All-Rus- sian tournament at Saint Petersburg in 1906. Salwe played three matches against Rubinstein, drawing in 1903 (7- 7), losing in 1904 (4-6), and getting shellacked in 1907 (6-16). A businessman by profession, Salwe found time to edit the short-lived Yid- dish language chess magazine Shakh— Zaytung (1913), which numbered Rubinstein among its contributors. During a brief career, which for all in- tents and purposes lasted from 1903 to 1914, Salwe was Poland’s number-two player, reaching a five-year peak average rating of 2500, according to the Elo system. The Neue Lodzer Zeitung of 1903 provides some critical details about the first match between Rubinstein and Salwe.Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King It was held from April 26 to June 7 and the winner was the first 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. Adjourned 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, The following two games are all that have been preserved from their first match. The first game was drawn, and then Salwe drew blood with the following sharp attack. (4) Salwe - Rubinstein Lodz (2) April 15, 1903 Sicilian Sozin [B57] Notes by Daniuszewski (D) from Ksiega Jubileuszowa Lodzkiego Towarzystwa Zwolennikow Gry Szachowej 1903-1938, and Authors (A). 1.e4 c5 2.4f3 Dc6 3.c3 AL 4.44 cxd4 5.2)xd4 d6 6.4.c4 (A) “The Sozin Attack” claims almost all recent books. Only for the record, the Russian master Veniamin Sozin was bor in 1896. This game shows that the variation 6.£.c4, and the ideas behind it, were known quite a while before Sozin’s discovery. 6...86? (A) Later in his career Rubinstein was to acquire a justly deserved reputation 20 as a great opening theoretician but here his lack of experience tells as he com- mits an elementary blunder. 7.4)xc6 bxc6 8.e5 2)d7 (A) Today theory deals only with 8...0g4. Rubinstein’s forgotten continuation 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 Qe7 11.Q.h6! Qb6 12.2b3 d5 13.Hel Neb 14.%4d2 Qf6 15.Had1 We7 16.2)a41 4)d7 17.c4 d4 (D) If 17...dxc4 18.fixc4 De5 19.Axe6 fxe6 20.We2!. 18.51 2)xc5 (D) Or 18...0-0 19.¥a5 Sb8 20,S.f4!. 19.4)xc5 Wxe5 20.Q4xe6 fxe6 21.Hxe6+ @f7 22.Hde1 Hhds8 (D) In case of 22...Rhe8 White wins spectacularly by 23.Bxf6+ &xf6 24.89f4+ WES 25.8xd4+ Hed 26.Exe5 Yxe5 27.Ag7+. 23.9f4 WES 24.Wc7+ 25.89 xc6 5 Ses1882-1904: The Young Rubinstein 26.¥49c4! Qxh6 There is nothing better. If 26...t7d5 27.He8+!, or 26...8h8 27.86e5!, but not 27.¥xd4+? Hxd4 28,He8+ ws 29.4xf8 Hxe8! and it is Black who wins. 27.He8+ Og7 28.g8+ OF6 29.8ixd8 Q.d2 30.8xa8, 1-0 (5) Rubinstein - Salwe Lodz (3) April 17, 1903 Queen’s Pawn Zukertort [D05] 1.44 d5 2.e3 e6 3.4.d3 DF6 4.D£3 c5 5.b3 2)\c6 6..b2 2.d6 7.2)bd2 0-0 8.0-0 This unpretentious system of develop- ment, associated with the world championship challenger Johannes Zukertort, served Rubinstein well throughout his career. 8...cxd4 9.exd4 h5?7! Black’s best try, 9...4%c7, to meet 10.a3?! with 10...e5!, would be an- swered by 10.c4! when White has slightly better chances. 10.g3 g6 11.2)e5 Ad7 12.f4 4g7 13.a3 £5 14.We2 Qe8 15.Ddf3 21 Hc8 16.h1 h6?! 17.Y%e3 2e7 18.Hg1 g5 19.g4! gxf4 If 19...fxg4 then 20.fxg5! gxf3 21.gxh6, etc. 20.%9xf4 Qg5 21.2xg5 hxgs 22.v¥g3 £4 23.9h3 Axes 24.h7+ G7 25.dxe5 Hes 26.a4! b6 27.243 Hc5 28.e¥g6+ BLS 29. F6+ Yxf6 30.exf6 Ac6 31.A.xc5+ bxc5 32.fxg7+, 1-0 Rubinstein’s first major tournament was the Third All-Russian Champion- ship, held September 1-26, 1903, in Kiev. Representing the Lodz Chess Club along with Salwe, the 20-year-old Akiva scored a creditable 11'4-6% 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 Bemstein as well. Bachmann’s Almanach for 1903 re- ports the following conditions for the tournament: The playing schedule was five days a week with Thursdays and Sundays set aside for adjournments. The games were held from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. and the time control was 30 moves in two hours followed by 15 moves inAkiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King one hour. Chigorin won 500 rubles for his victory, with Rubinstein collecting 125 for his fifth-place finish. (6) Rubinstein - A. Rabinovich Kiev (1) 1903 Dutch [A85] 1.44 £5 2.c4 e6 3.4)£3 DFE 4.e3 Ke7 5.2)c3 b6 6.4.d3 Ab7 7.0-0 0-0 8.b3 d6 9. b2 h6 10.8¥e2 g5 11.e4 g4 12.4)e1 4)c6 13.exf5? White should play 13.2c2 with the better game. 13...4)xd4 14.tye3 €5 15.¥¥xh6 Bf7 16.22 Bh7 17.we3?! Perhaps 17.¥g5+ is preferable. 17...c5 18.4)g3 @F7! 19.f4 gxf3 20.gxf3 Wh8 21.8f2 Hg8 22.82 22... xh2! 24.8 g2 23.Bxh2 Bxg3+ As 24.@h1 would be met by 24...h3!. 24..0¢41 25.axd4 Hxg2+ 26.8xg2 h2+ 27.9f1 xe3+ 28.Qxe3 Qh4 29.0g1 Wh3t+ 30.Me2 Axel 31.Hxel Qxf3+ 32.92 tyg2+ 33.83 e4 34.0.c2 22 We7+ 35.hd2 West 36.23 Wxf5 37.Bf1 d5 38.cxd5 byxd5+ 39.8cl1 c4 40.b1 Ye8 41.8e1 Wa5 42.8g1 c3 43.Q4cl 3 44.Qb2 Wd2 45.Bg8+ d7 46.Q.£5+ Yc6 47.Bc8+ Hb7 48.5 Ned+ 49.Q.xe4+ Hxc8, 0-1 (7) Kalinsky - Rubinstein Kiev (2) 1903 Center Game [C22] 1.€4 €5 2.44 exd4 3.xd4 Ac6 4.4a4 4)£6 5.2.f4 Xc5 6.4)d2 0-0 7.£3 d5 8.0-0-0 We7 9.b5 2)d4 10.4)b3 4)xb3+ 11.Yyxb3 dxe4 12.4)e2? c6 13.Qd3 exd3 14.4xd3 2d5 15.Qd2 Leb 16.23 Had8 17.e4 |f6 18.a4 b5 19.%4¥a5 Q.b6 20.¥4c3 2.04 21.4 f4 Qd5 22.4xd5 Axd5 23.khel WYF6 24.9xf6 gxf6 25.0.c3 Hde8 26.2xf6 He6 27.A.c3 Hfe8 28.b4 Bxel 29.8 xel Hxel+ 30.Qxe1 £5 31.A.d2 O.c4 32.94 Ne2 33.gxf5 Axf3 34.0f4 Ned 35.6 G7 36.Ne5 Qd8 37.4.d4 a6 38.c3 Axf6 39.2xf6 Yxf6, 0-1 (8) Rubinstein - Benko Kiev (3) 1903 Dutch [A84] 1.d4 £5 2.c4 DF6 3.e3 e6 4.4.43 b6 5.4)e2 2b7 6.0-0 Ne7 7.Abc3 0-0 8.%c2 4\c6 9.a3 Nh5 10.f4 AFG? 11.g4! fxg4 12.4xh7+ Oh8 13.296 xf4 14.Axf4 e5 15.u9f5 Ngs 16.Yxf8+ Wxf8 17.8xf8+ Axf8 18.2e4 ... 1-0 [In 35 moves. The rest of the game is not available.] Moishe Leopoldowicz Lowcki (1881- 1940), although not a star of the first order, was one of Poland’s better play-1882-1904: The Young Rubinstein ers for more than a quarter century. Lowcki (sometimes spelled Lowtzky) was equal first in the 1916 Warsaw Championship with Rubinstein and second the following year. Professor Elo has his best five year average at 2440. Lowcki was arrested by the Ge- stapo in 1940 and perished in a con- centration camp later that year. Lowcki played Rubinstein many times, including a match in 1916. While Akiva had much the better score, occasionally Lowcki won, as in the following game and another at Breslau 1912. (9) Lowcki - Rubinstein Kiev (4) 1903 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D31] Notes from the tournament book. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.4)\c3 b6 4.4£3 Mb7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.0f4 Ad6 7.2)e5 £6 8.€3 0-0 9.2.23 \bd7 10.f4 Bc8 11.4.d3 c5 12. 0-0 c4? 13.2.5 Ha8 14.¥¥a4 4)b8 15.44 a6 16.¥9c2 g6 17.Hf3! Se7 1f17...gxf5 then 18.%9xf5 Se7 19.2g3+ Hh8 20.995 De8 21.wg8t! Bxgs 22.27 mate! 23 18.4xf6 Xxf6 19.4h3 227 20.Haf1 f5 21.84 Ac8 22.gxf5 SLxf5 23.4.xf5 Hxf5 24.€4? With 24.%g2! White achieves a clear advantage. 24...dxe4 25.4)xe4? 26.@h1 b5?? Wxd4+ After 26....xe5! 27.fxe5 Exf3 28, xf3 c6 Black should win. 27.Hd1 Wb6 28.%¥d2 wWb7 29.4)d6, 1-0 (10) Rubinstein - Dus-Chotimirsky Kiev (5) 1903 Dutch Stonewall [A84] 1.44 d5 2.Af3 Df6 3.€3 e6 4.8.43 A.d6 5.0-0 Ded 6.c4 c6 7.4)c3 £5 8.t¥c2 4)d7 9.b3 g5 10..Qb2 wf6 11.)e2 Hg8 12.Had1 Hg6 13.Qe1 Wf7 14.f4 Ddf6 15.4f3 4)g4 16.4.c1 Qd7 17.Q.xe4 dxe4 18.2)e5 As 18.4)xg5 loses to 18... xg5! 19.fxg5 Sixh2+ 20.@h1 whs. 18...4.xe5 19.fxe5 h5 20.4c3 Wye7 21.b4 h4 22.%e2 Hh6 23.Q.b2 £7 24.f2 Hh6 25.4d2“Woydoy Aq 180] 10 om sauren, “uraysuiqny, Aejd 01 sem 9Y 94039q MOIPY uot) “woureumno) ay) U1 soured |] ASH} SHY ISO] ADDI “Ab ”9 “AL AS +1 “BR al eee ee “AOL I ae “ll +1 el +l aces bl ost Stee: TOL 6 xo x oo XN x coo°o - errr ee Hrs e- oH Ho we ce a a” al s -—xorocoo +0 * entree ee +0 xooooe ” a” xoor orn oo oe See aA aA eoce 1 1 -ecooo oH ooo ” a” aw a a” a” ” a 06824 97-1 taquiajdag, £061 AEM mon Aaa 61 unueis’g | ASIORN LT ou '91 ANS MANO -SN"S | ANSULEY PL URLIONY EL YpAoULgAL “V'Z1 SEMPS IL AASUGZT'OT ASpOQeT *6 AYSMATT “8 PPMOT"L AfsA0I0g-OYSOUZ “9 uraysuIgny *¢ MRS “b Tpaam, *£ urpisusog *Z 089 "11882-1904: The Young Rubinstein g4 26.t¥e1 2)g5 27.Hh1 h3 28.93 4)E3 29.XY£2 £)xd2 30.%yxd2 we7 31.£)e2 a5 32.bxa5 Wd8 33.4.3 b6 34.axb6 Yyxb6 35.2.b4 a6 36.a3 Wxc4 37.Hcl Wb3 38.Hc3 Wad 39.881 Of7 40.Hf4 Hhhs 41.Acl Hhb8 42.8f2 Hb6 43.%9¢3 Wb5 44.8c2 Ha4 45.8b2 Qc8 46.%b3 Ha8 47.Hc2 Md7 48.Hb2 Wad 49.Wxa4 Hxa4 50.%e2 Ac&8 51.d2 Hbab 52.Hc2 He8 53.1 53...Hxa3 54. X.xa3 Hxa3 55.8d2 @d7 56.8c3 Ha4 57.Hc2 Qaé 58.Hcl 2c4 59.Ac2 Ad5 60.8c3 Bc7 61.4)xd5 exd5 62.Hc2 Od7 63.Me2 Hal 64.82 Hg1 65.3 Hg2 66.Hd2 f4 67.exf4 e3 68.Hd3 e2 69.He3 Hxg3! 70.hxg3 h2 71.9d2 h1=wW 72.@xe2 tyg2+ 73.9d3 Wh2 74.e6+ Be7 75.f5 Whbi+, 0-1 (11) Stamm - Rubinstein Kiev (6) 1903 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D40] 1.d4 d5 2.4)f3 c5 3.e3 e6 4.c4 D6 5.4)c3 4)c6 6.a3 cxd4 7.exd4 2e7 8.cxd5 exd5 9.4.d3 0-0 10.0-0 A g4 11.2e2 Wh 12.4e5 Axe2 13.Qxe2 2d6 14.0f4? Hfes 15.447 4xd7 16.4xd6 Qxd4 25 17.4)xd4 Wxd6 18.4b5 Wb6 19.xd5 Af6 20.%c4 Hac8 21.4b4 He4 22.Hacl He6 23.%b3 a6 24.4)d4 Yyxd4 25.9xb7 Hxcl 26.Hxcl g6 27.h3 He2 ... 0-1 [In 44 moves. The rest of the game score is not available.] (12) Rubinstein - Nikolaev Kiev (7) 1903 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D31] Notes by Razuvaev (R) and Authors (A). 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.2)c3 |f6 4.£3 b6 5.2.25 2b7 (A) More exact is 5...£e7, and if 6.cxd5 Dxd5. 6.cxd5 exd5 7.e3 2.e7 8.2.b5+ c6 9.8.43 4)bd7 10.4.£4 2)f8?7! 11.0-0 4)g6 12.8.3 0-0 13.5 Hd771 (R) Necessary was 13...c5. Black ob- viously misjudged Rubinstein’s next move. 14.64! (R) The idea was often used by Pillsbury. Here this method for occu- pying the center is very effective. The position is already critical and Black's best is 14...c5, after which White has many tempting continuations and there- fore more possibilities for a mistake. For example, 15.axd7 Wxd7 16.f5 ®Dh8 looks good for the first player, but neither 17.f6?! Qxf6 18.Exf6 gxf6 19.8hS 4g6 nor 17.4h5 f6 18.8f4 £7 leads to a decisive attack. White’s best seems to be 17.¥%f3, gradually in- creasing the pressure. Black’s nextAkiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King move is a strategic mistake. The exchange of the strong knight on e5 does not improve Black’s position. White obtains pressure along the f-file, and his e-pawn restricts Black’s pieces. 14... Q\)dxe5? 15.fxe5 Ac8 16.kyh5 Re6 17.421 ({R) A wonderful idea. White prepares the exchange of the main defender — the bishop on e6 — after which the f7- pawn will be very weak. 17...%d7 18.h3 2d8? 19.2f4 Re7 20.Hacl c5 21.8f3 c4 22.2b1 Hae8 23.Kcfl Ads 24.4)xe6 Wyxe6 (R) Perhaps the pawn sacrifice by 24...fxe6 is better. 25.S.£5 We7 26.h4 a5 27.e41 Yb7 28.%9g4 dxe4 (A) If 28...e7 then 29.2xh7+! &xh7 30.8xf7 and White wins. 29.Q.xe4 te7 30.8d5 Dhs 31.2xc4 tyb4 32.b3 b5 33.2e1 Wa3 34.4xb5 He7 35.204 Q2b6 36.Qh1 Yxa2 37.6 £6 38.45 Ac5 39.2.c3 )g6 40.h5, 1-0 (13) Yurevich - Rubinstein Kiev (8) 1903 Bird [A03] Notes from the tournament book. 1.£4.d5 2.4)f3 Df6 3.b3 €6 4.2.b2 5 5.€3 Ac6 6.2b5 d7 7.0-0 Se7 8.8h1 Hc8 9.4c3 0-0 10.42 a6 11.2.xc6 Axc6 12.4g3 bS 13.2€5 Ab7 14.4)h5 )xh5 26 15.%9xh5 Qf6 16.Hf3 g6 17.8g3 d4! 18.Hel Xg7 19.We2 Wd5 20.c4 bxc4 21.bxc4 Yyd6? 22.exd4 cxd4 23.243 We7 24.8.xf8 Qxf8 25.43? Wa5 26.8b1 Qa8 27.h4? Wd8 28.4h3 h5 29.5)f3 2d6 30.g3 Wf6 31.Hg2 e5 32.fxe5 AxeS 33.Ahh1 Qc7 34.8hf1 ys 35.Bbel Wes 36.Wf2 g5 37.He4 If 37.hxgs then 37...h4 wins. 37...ALxe4 38.dxe4 gxh4 39.4) xh4 Wxe4+ 40.0g1 Wes 41.5f5 Wxf2+ 42.8xf2 Hd8 43.h6+ Bg7 44.0£5+ Here if 44.2xf7 Bd7 45.5 2xg3 and Black wins. 44... Of8 45.0f1 d3 46.Hd2 2a5 47.8d1 d2 48.He2 He8+ 49.043 Hel 50.@c2 f6 51.43 He5 52.2)d4 He3 53.Qb3 Qc7 54.04 Xxg3 55.4)xd2 h4 56.Bh1 e7 57.H)f1 Bes 58.8d3 £5 59.53 f4 60.2d5+ Heb 61.4)xf4 Qxf4 62.8xh4 Qg5 63.8h1 od6 64.83 Bc5, 0-1 (14) Rubinstein - Lebedev Kiev (9) 1903 French Rubinstein [C10] 1.4 e6 2.44 d5 3.2)c3 dxe4 Here Sergey Lebedev (historical Elo 2440) plays the Rubinstein French against Akiva himself. Later in the tournament (vs. Schiffers, game #19), the master from Lodz gets a chance to use the system that has become synony- mous with his name. 4.2)xe4 2d7 5.4)f3 Aco 6.0.d3 46 7.X¥e2 2)bd7 8.0-0 Axed1882-1904: The Young Rubinstein Lebedev’s opening treatment is very modern and could easily pass for a game played today. 9.4.xe4 c6 10.843 Qd6 11.c3 We7 12.4d2 4d5 13.g3 De7 14.c4 b6 15.Had1 0-0 16.4)g5 h6 17.)e4 e€5 18.4)xd6 Wxd6 19.Hfel 4g6 20.Qxg6 wyxg6 21.dxe5 Hfe8 22.f4 £6 23.43 He7 24.Hd6 Wf5 25.we4 Wxe4 26.Bxe4 fxe5 27.Axc6 Hae8s 28.Qxe5 Dxe5 29.fxe5 Hxe5 30.Bxe5 Hxe5 31.f2 He7 32.Hd6 Wf7 33.Hd3 Be7 34.Bc3 Heb 35.He3 Ye5 36.b4 a5 37.bxa5 bxa5 38.8a3 Bxc4 39.8xa5+ OF6 40.4d5 g5 41.82 BFS 42.4d3 Hel 43.Ac2 Adi+ 44.8c3 h5 45.a4 Hal 46.b3 4 47.Ha2 Hel 48.25 Bh3 49.8b4 Hb1+ 50.83 g4 51.a6 bs 52.27 Ha8 53.8b4 53...h4 Or 53...8xa7 54.Bxa7 @xh2 55.8a3 ®h3 56.8c4 h4 57.gxh4+ gxh4 58.thd4 g3 59.%e3 and White wins. 54.gxh4 Qxh4 55.9b5 Oh3 56.@b6 Bh8 57.8c5 Hc8+ 58.Qb6 Hf8 59. c2, 1-0 27 (15) Izbinsky - Rubinstein Kiev (10) 1903 Ruy Lopez Open [C83] 1.e4 e5 2.4)f3 Dc6 3.4b5 a6 4.Q.a4 4)f6 5.0-0 2xe4 Already at Kiev, the dawn of Rubinstein’s career, he was playing some of the systems (Rubinstein French and Open Ruy Lopez) that were to serve him throughout his career. 6.44 b5 7.2.b3 d5 8.dxe5 Me6 9.%e2 Me7 10.c3 0-0 11.24 A forgotten continuation probably wor- thy of reexamination. 11...8b8 12.axb5 axb5 13.4)a3? A better and more consistent try is 13.8d1. 13...b4 14.cxb4 Hxb4 15.Qa2 Ac5 16.4)c2 Bb8 17.4)d2? 4)xd2 18.%xd2 4xe5 19.b4 Qb6 20.8h1 Wh4 21.f4 Dg4 22.93 Wh3 23.t¥g2 Wxg2+ 24.Hxg2 AS 25.Qb3 Hfe8 26.Hel De4+ 27.@h3 |f2+ 28.Hh4 Axc2 29.Axe8+ Hxe8 30.4xc2 Ad4 31.8a6 Qf6+ 32.8xf6 gxf6 33.25 d4 34.Qh5 He2 35.b5 a7 36.94 De4, 0-1 (16) Rubinstein - Kulomzin Kiev (11) 1903 Queen’s Gambit Tarrasch [D32] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.2)c3 5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.2)£3 Dc6 6.44 Rubinstein’s trademark 6.g3 had not yet been invented.Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 6...a6 7.dxc5 d4 8.4e4 Axc5 9.2)xc5 Wa5s+ 10.d2 xcs 11.Bacl Yyb6 12.e3 D|f6 13.8.d3 0-0 14.4)xd4 4)xd4 15.exd4 we6+ 16.2.3 Yyxa2 17.0-0 b5? 18.425 Ab7? 19.4.xf6 gxf6 20.h6, 1-0 The first meeting between these two great players sees Chigorin, who was in fantastic form in this event (15-3!), defeating the young Akiva with a model King’s Indian type attack. (17) Chigorin - Rubinstein Kiev (12) 1903 French Chigorin [C00] 1.e4 e6 2.Ye2 Chigorin’s patent. 2...2)06 3.£4 d4 4.¥9d3 c5 5.2£3, Nc6 6.¥¥e2 Le7 7.2\c3 d5 8.d3, £6 9.g3 a6?! 10.4.g2 0-0 11.0-0 Md7 12.4)€5! d4? 13.4) xd7 4)xd7 14.4)d1 €5 15.@h1 wyc7 16.4.3! Chigorin shows his mastery of closed positions. He transfers the bishop to hS prior to the kingside pawn storm. 16...Had8? Rubinstein continues to dither. Correct is 16...b7-b5 to get queen-side play. 28 17.b3 To discourage Black’s queenside break we C54, 17...8.d6 18.f5 £6 19.2.¢4! b5S 20.8h5 Hb8 21.94 Me7 22.h4 Hfc8 23.g5 Qd8 24.c4! |B 25.Hg1 )\b7 26.4 f2 )d6 27.Hg4 @h8 28.gxf6 gxf6 29.Hh6 Dg6 30.fxg6 Qf8 31.2f7+ 2)xf7 32.gxf7 Wd7 33.48, 1-0 A modern King’s Indian type attack played in 1903! (18) Rubinstein - Levitsky Kiev (13) 1903 French Exchange [C01] 1.d4 d5 2.4 e5 3.e3 Rubinstein avoids the Albin (3.dxe5 d4), and the play transposes into the Exchange French. 3..exd4 4.exd4 Neb 5.2)\c3 DF6 6.cxd5 4)xd5 7.4)f3 Me7 8.2.2 0-0 9.0-0 4)d7 10.4)xd5 Qxd5 11.Qf4 He8 12.¥¥c2 c6 13.Had1 |f8 14.b3 Heb 15.2e5 £6 16.283 &b4 17.443 Of8 18.2)h4 g6 19.f4 a5 20.f5 35 21.4)f3 2.b6 22.Hh1 h6 23.42 Wd7 24.Afel Qa5 25.2)d2 Wt7 26.8xe8 Hxe8 27.4e4 Qc7 28.Be1 g7 29.uyd1 h5 30.h4 94 31.23 b5 32.8 xe8 tyxe8 33.Wel Wxel+ 34.Qxe1 Qxg3 35.8xg3 G7 36.81 He7 37.Hf2 Hd7 38.8.c7 a6... Draw [In 52 moves. The rest of the game score is not available.] Past and future legends meet in the following game, which may be the first in1882-1904: The Young Rubinstein which Rubinstein played ...dxe4 in the French. Emanuel Schiffers (1850- 1904), long Russia’s second-best player after Chigorin, was near the end of his life when he participated at Kiev. (19) Schiffers - Rubinstein Kiev (14) 1903 French Rubinstein [C10] 1.e4 e6 2.44 d5 3.2)c3 Df6 4.085 dxe4 5.2)xe4 Dbd7 6.Hf3 Ne7 7.4)xf6+ 4)xf6 8.4.d3 0-0 9.0-0 b6 10.4e5 Qb7 11.c3 Hc8& 12.t¥e2 c5 13.Had1 cxd4 14.cxd4 Wyd5 15.5f3 Hfd8 16.b3? Was 17.e5 Y 17...8xd4! 18.Q.xh7+? 4xh7 19.Qxe7 He4 20.4c4 Hxe2 21.4)xa5 bxa5... 0-1 [In 44 moves. The rest of the game score is unavail- able.) Here the two young bucks, Rubinstein and Bernstein, who were both born in 1882, meet for the first time. (20) Rubinstein - Bernstein Kiev (15) 1903 Scotch [C45] Notes from the tournament book. 1.e4 €5 2.4£3 cb 3.d4 exd4 29 Emanuel Schiffers 4.4)xd4 Q£6 5.2)xc6 bxc6 6.2.43 d5 7.exd5 cxd5 8.0-0 Qe7 9.2.b5+ 2d7 10.2.xd7+ Yyxd7 11.4)d2 0-0 12.b3 WS 13.Qb2 Ad6 14.4f3 Had8 15.Bfel De4 16.t¥d3 Hfe8 17.He2 He6 18.Hael Hde8 19.444? Qxh2+? The right answer is 19...ths!. 20.8xh2 (A) White has to take, as 20.8172 Wxf2+ 21. Axf2 Dg3+ 22.9xg3 Bxel+ is mate! 20...Bh6+ 21.g1 Wes If 21...uhS 22.Wh3 Wes 23.2f5! and White wins. 22.Qf3 Wh5S 23.8f1 whit 24.4\g1 Hg6 If 24...&h2 25.44f3 HhS (threatening 26...Qd2+ 27.Exd2 Wxgl+ 28.8xgl &xel mate) then 26.g3! and White wins.Akiba Rubinstein: 25.42? After 25.h3 Ege6!? 26.Ad1! (but not 26.%¥xh1? Od2+ 27.Exd2 Bxel mate) 26...8%xh3 27.gxh3! White should win easily. 25....g3!, 0-1 For if 26.%d4 Bf3+! 27.gxf3 Dg3+ 28.8f2 Wh2+ mate! (21) Salwe - Rubinstein Kiev (16) 1903 Queen’s Pawn [D02] 1.d4 d5 2.4f3 D6 3.Af4 e6 4.e3 Xd6 5.225 Dbd7 6.243 fle7 7.4.f4 c5 8.c3 c4 9.4.c2 bS 10.4)bd2 .b7 11.0-0 0-0 12.h3 Hc8 13.8cl a5 14.Hel Wb6 15.Qf1 Hfe8 16.Qe5 Hcd8& 17.Qh2 Qd6 18.4)d2 We7 19.f4 Qe4 20.Hf1 £5 21.Adf3 Hdf6 22.el He7 23.083 a8 24.Qh4 Hf8 25.e2 Hees8 26.2e1 Qb7 27.Hh2 Mab 28.Hg1 Hb8 29.4d2 Hb6 30.g4 Qxd2 31.QNxd2 Hes 32.0.xe4 fxe4 33.Hb1 Qxe5 34.fxe5 b4 35.Hefl Axfl 36.xf1 bxc3 37.bxc3 Axb1 38.%yxb1 wb7 39.%9¥xb7 &xb7, Draw 30 Uncrowned King (22) Rubinstein - Znosko-Borovsky Kiev (17) 1903 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D55] Notes from the tournament book. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.2)c3 |f6 4.Ag5 Me7 5.e3 )bd7 6.24)f3 b6 7.cxd5 4xd5 8.4.xe7 2)xe7 9.2.d3 2b7 10.c1 a6 11.0-0 Ag6 12.44 Hc8 13.tve2 a5 14.Hc3 0-0 15.Hfcl |b 16.%yc2 c6 17.¥¥b3 ¥yc7? 18.2eg5 |d7 19.4)xe6! fxe6 20.¥¥xe6+? White wins with 20.2xg6 hxg6 21.¥4xe6+ Gh8 22.25 |f6 23.e4, ete. 20...Qh8 21.g¢5 If now 21.£xg6 then 21... f6!. 21...Bf6 22.£7+ @gs 23.h6+ @h8 24.5f7+, Draw According to Deutsche Schachzeitung, in the following event the scores of Salwe and Rubinstein came as no sur- prise as they were top-flight players, but the high placing of the third-category player Dylien was unexpected. His odds of pawn and two moves were probably useful!1882-1904: The Young Rubinstein Both Dylien (as “Alpha”) and “Vulcan” played under pseudonyms. Deutsche Schachzeitung 1904 (p. 142) gives the game below as having been played in December 1903 (round 4). (23) Chojnacki - Rubinstein Lodz 1903 (odds of two moves and the f7-pawn) 1.€4 ... 2.44 De6 3.c3 Here 3.d5 is more energetic. 3.05 4.dxe5 2)xe5 5.2Yh5+ Dee 6.e5 d6 7.2d3 Leb 8.2xg6+ hxg6 9.29xh8 dxe5 10.%Yh7? A rook up, thanks to Rubinstein’s speculative play, White should develop as quickly as possible. Hence 10.3 is in order. 10...%d3 11.%h4 Hd8 12.4d2 Dl6 13.agf3? But now developing the knight results only in more loss of time. Here 13.4425, planning to bring the queen back for defense by We3 or Yxe5-e2, has been suggested. 13...e4 14.He5 Wd5 15.Qec4 Wd3! 16.He3 Ac5 17.e4g3 SS 18.4d1 e3! 19.4xe3 Hes 20.8d1? 2 xe3 21.He1 Since 21.fxe3 2g4+ mates. 21...Q¢4+ 22.f3 Af5 23.He2 We2t 24.Hel 2d3, 0-1 The second match between the twostal- warts of the Lodz Chess Club saw Rubinstein win. The score of this match 31 is usually given as 5-414 (+4, =3, -3). We have also sometimes seen 6-4 (+5, -3, =2) and occasionally 62-3. If the latter is true the final result would likely have been +5, -2, =3. The match was held in March and April of 1904 at the Lodz Chess Club. Here are the two games that have been preserved. (24) Rubinstein - Salwe Lodz (1) 1904 Queen’s Gambit Declined (D55] 1.4 d5 2.c4.e6 3.2)c3 Df6 4.225 Re7 5.Df3 a6 6.e3 dxc4 7.4xc4 b5 8.2b3 Lb7 9.We2 Dbd7 10.Hd1 Des 11.Qxe4 Axed 12.L.f4 Ab4+ 13.Hf1 0-0 14.He5 Qxe5 15.dxe5 tye7 16.f3 Ab7 17.@f2 c5 18.4.c2 c4 19.4.b1 Ac5 20.%¥c2 Wh4+ 21.223 whs 22.Hd7 Qc6 23.Hc7 Hac8 24.8xc8 Hxc8 25.h4? Whé 26.%9d2 Qb6 27.h5 Hd8 28.el Mxe3+! 29.%yxe3 Hd2+ 30.xd2 Wyxd2+ 31.1 Yxb2, 0-1 (25) Rubinstein - Salwe Lodz (3) 1904 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D53] 1.44 d5 2.c4€6 3.23 Df6 4.0.85 Le7 5.€3 a6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.4963 c6 8.243 Dh5 9.Nxe7 Wxe7 10.£3 DF4 11.A.£1 Dd7 12.0-0-0 eG 13.443 0-0 14.2 D6 15.e4 dxe4 16.Qxe4 Qd7 17.Hhel Wd6 18.%d2 Of4 19.)e5 H4d5 20.22 Axc3 21.bxc3 tya3+ 22.Hb1 Leb 23.c4 Hfd8 24.4e3 wd6 25.Hg3 Des 26.f4 £6 27.4d3 £5 28.d5 cxd5 29.cxd5 Wyxd5 30.263 Wxd3+ 31.Bgxd3 &xb3 32.8xd8 Qxd1 33.Hxa8 a4 34.8 b8 h6 35.8b2 Wh7 36.Axb7 Of6 37.23, 1-0Lodz 1903/04 Handicap December 6 - February 14 2 Total oo. 2 ee ee ee ee ee 1 19 18 15 14% 1. Salwe 0 2. Rubinstein *% 0 h Va A ’” x A” x 0 A 3. Janowsky 0 0 x 4. "Alpha" 5. Goldfarb 1 00 ‘A 0 0 A A U A» ” 12 ”% pe x 0 0 0 ee 6. Chojnacki 7. "Vulcan" ” 0 * 0 1 : 0 ” oe 0 0 0 oo ie A x %0 0 0 0 ”% 8. Gruenspan 9. Manakin 10.Friedman 11. Halpem 12.Chwat 13.Mazur ll 10% ” ot oo 0 % eo oO ee 0 ' ‘A 0 000 000 000 Source: Povarov, ” 0 Z 1 0 0 9 Neue Lodzer 10 NM a) A ooo oe * 1 1 Zeitung oa * * rx 0220221: VED Ha a oo ‘A x a. : ” 1 oo 2 oe 14.Granas * Win by Forfeit. ie / A” x 0 04 0 1 1 ” eo Oo 1 0%00 ‘A ‘A 1 1 15.Grave U Result Unknown. 0 oo% x x 1 1 Po tae 0 0 16,Stillerman 17.Aronson oo 7 0 1 A ee 0 U 0000 a * 1 0 * 0% % 0 0 oo 00% 4 0 0 0 ee 18.Rosenblatt 19 Segal 8% 0 5% *00% oe 0 0 : 1 1 <0 0.8 0 0 00000000000000000U0 ” 0000000 1 eee c eee aeee secre 20.Mueller 0 oa 21.Spreregen 22.Heller x1905 The following game, played on New Year’s Day, may be from a double round robin event held in Lodz. The Russian chess historian Wladyslaw Povarov givesthe following results: =1. Rubinstein & Salwe 2%; 3. Dus- Chotimirsky 1. The game comes from the Almanach. There is another possibility. Tony Gillam, one of the world’s great experts on Rubinstein, believes there may have been two tournaments, in different years: 1903: Lodz Training Tournament: 1/2 Rubinstein & Salwe 2%; Dus- Chotimirsky 1 (this first a 3-player, double-round tournament) 1905 (Jan?): Lodz Training Tourna- ment: 1 Dus-Chotimrsky 5%; 2 Salwe 5; 3 Rubinstein 4% Gillam theorizes that the latter was probably an eight-player round robin judging from the scores. He further notes “Looking at the sparse information again, and bearing in mind that this event would have had 3 players much better than the others, it could be 7 players with D-H beating R and S drawing with R and the 3 of them beating the rest. I suppose other combinations of results involving the lower players are possible, but less likely.” This theorizing is based on Dus- Chotimirsky’s reminiscences in his book of games, /zabranie Partie, published in Moscow in 1952. There on pages 15 and 16 he writes that in 1905 he traveled first to Warsaw, then Lodz, and finally Kiev While in Lodz he befriended Salwe and Rubinstein and played a training match with them. Dus- Chotimirsky mentions he was not in best form but did manage to beat both of them! This seems to be yet another episode in the early part of Rubinstein’s career that is still a mystery. (26) Dus-Chotimirsky - Rubinstein Lodz 1905 French [C11] 1.€4 e6 2.44 d5 3.2)c3 Df6 4.4.43 c5 5.dxc5 dxe4 6.0.b5+ Qd7 7.2.85 a5 8.a4 Axc5 9.2age2 a6 10.Qxf6 gxf6 11.8c4 Dc6 12.2)g3 £5 13.0-0 He5 14.4e2 0-0-0 15.4)a2 We7 16.b4 Qa7 17.4.b3 h5 18.Hfd1 g4 19.8d2 Axf2+ 20.Oh1 Axg3 21.hxg3 Wxg3 22.v¥c4+ Ac6, 0-1 Barmen Rubinstein made his international de- but at the Barmen Chess Congress in August of 1905. Playing in the Hauptturnier, which was comprised of aspiring masters, Akiva turned in an excellent result, scoring 12 points from 15 games to tie for first with Oldrich Duras. The ensuing playoff between the two up-and-comers ended inconclu- sively at 1-1. By virtue of his result in Barmen, Rubinstein was recognized as a master. GM William Lombardy and NM David Daniels, in their Chess Panorama, pp. 12-13, have this to say about the Hauptturnier system: “The elaborate German chess organization was a ca-Akiba Rubinstein: sualty of the First World War, and there existed nothing comparable until the Russians began to organize their own chess players on a grand scale in the 1920’s. An important difference between the two systems, however, was that the German one was European in scope — foreigners could, and often did, compete successfully in Hauptturniers — while the Russian was intended ex- clusively for home use.” The Hauptturnier was played at the rate of one game a day from August 14 to 30. Time control was 30 moves in two hours followed by 15 moves in one hour. (27) Englund - Rubinstein Barmen (1) 1905 French Exchange [C01] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.9.43 DF6 5.2\c3 2d6 6.2.85 c6 7.4)f3 0-0 8.0-0 294 9.h3 Ah5 10.He2 Axf3 11.gxf3 Dbd7 12.Qh1 YYyc7 13.%¥d2 Hh5 14.8g1 £5! 15.Qh6 f4 16.85 4)df6 17.Hagl Ph 18.2.xg7+ 4)xg7 19.Hixg7 wxg7 20.8xg7 QxQ7 21.Axf4 Axf4 22. x4 Bf7 23.4f5 He8 24.b3 Hfe7 25.4.3 Hel+ 26.8h2 H8e7 27.44 Uncrowned King Hdl 28.u¥g5+ @f7 29.9h6 Heb 30.Wf4 Heel 31.%c7+ He7 32.Wb8 a6 33.82 Hdel 34. f4 Gg7 35.4 g5+ SF7 36.vyh6 Bes 37.f4 Bf7 38.f3 @d7 39.Hf2 Hee7 40.c4 He8 41.c5 Hee7 42.b4 Ke8 43.b5 axb5 44.axb5 Ge7 45.bxc6 bxc6 46.f5 Ha8 47.We3+ HS 48.e6 Ha2+ 49.23 Hd2 50.92.46 Hxd4 51.¥¥xc6 g7 52.¥9d6 Hd2 53.c6? This loses immediately. Better is 53.Ac8. 53...)h5+ 54.Hh4 Hd4+ 55.085 |f6, 0-1 (28) Rubinstein - Heilmann Barmen (2) 1905 Queen’s Gambit Tarrasch [D40] 1.d4 d5 2.2)f3 e6 3.c4c5 4.e3 DFE 5.4)c3 4)c6 6.3 b6? 7.cxd5 exd5 Or 7...Axd5 8.2b5 &b7 9.He5 Bc8 10.¢¥a4 and White wins at least a pawn, Minev-Morcken, Moscow (Ol) 1956. 8.Q4.b5 Wyd6 9.e4! 2d7 10.e5 We7 11.0-O 4g8 12.4xd5 wWd8 13.%a4 Hc8 14.895 Age7 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.Had1 a6 17.xa6 Dd4 18.4)xd4 cxd4 19.Hxd4 1-0 (29) Middleton - Rubinstein Barmen (3) 1905 French Burn [C11] Notes by Bardeleben (B) and Authors (A). 1.e4 e6 2.d4d5 3.23 Of6 4.2.95 dxe4 5.4)xe4 f2e7 6.Axf6 gxf6 7.4)£3 £5 8.2)c3 Dd7 341905 (A) This forgotten continuation is one of many Rubinstein experiments in his favorite line of the French. 9.fe2 c5 10.d5 e5 11.d6 AF6 12.4)d5 0-0 13.Wyd2 e4 14.2)xf6+ Wxf6 15.4e5+ WE6 16.¥yx26+ hxg6 17.4g5 De5 18.0-0-0 £6 19.2Q)h3 Leb 20.Af4 Bf7 21.h3 Had8 22.b3 a6 23.Hd2 Hd7 24.Hell Beds (B) Better was 24...b5, defending the c4-square. Now White wins a piece. 25.2)xe6 @xe6 26.f41 Hxd6 (B) Forced. 26...exf3? 27..c4+ mate!. 27.Axd6+ Hxd6 28.fxe5 @xe5 29.8d1 Hd4 . Rubinstein . Lowy . Vidmar . E.Cohn . Bleijkmans /. Heilmann . Englund . Moewig 10.Middleton 11. Kieseritzky 12.Petzold 13.Gajdos 14.Benima 15.Sartori 16.Kunze (B) Perhaps 29...Exd1+ 30.&xd1 &f4 31.8e1 Ye offers more chances for Black. 30.8f1 g5 31.a4 a5 32.2c4 f4 33.c3 Hd6 34.Ad1 Axdi+ 35.Qxd1 £3 36.gxf3 exf3 37.Gel £5 38.h4 94 39.h5 G6 40.h6 Gg6 41.8f2 @xh6 42.8e3 &g5 43.Qf1 b6 44.c4 Bg6 45.f4 @h5 46.243 Oh4Akiba Rubinstein: 47.Qf1 (A) After 47.2xf5? £2 48.4d3 @h3! (48...932? 49.Qf1) 49.8f1+ Bh2 50.&xg4 Bgl 51.243 f1=Q 52.Axf1 Bxfl 53.813 Bel 54.8e4 Sd2 55.8d5 Bc3 56.86 Bxb3 $7.8xb6 4! it is Black who wins. 47...Qh5, Draw (30) Rubinstein - Lowy Barmen (4) 1905 Queen’s Pawn [D02] 1.d4 d5 2.4)f3 c5 3.c3 e6 4.0.4 E)c6 5.e3 Wh6 6.b3 4 7.¥c2 }f6 8.h3 Ad7 9.Qbd2 Hc8 10..e2 a5 11.0-0 b5 12.43 Le7 13.e4 Wa4 14.e¥b1! OF8 15.He5 Re8 16.Qf3 h6 17.exd5 exd5 18.He1 4d8 19.Hf1 Heb 20.95 Wa6 21.8d2 Hd8 22.He2 Hd6é 23.Hael g6 24.Y¥c2 &g7 25.3! Qd8 26.422 Dgs 27.f4 £6 28.43 £5 29.€3 Df6 30.4h4 Wh7 31.Hexf5 Abb 32.h2 AF7 33.3 DE7 34.f3 Dd7 35.He5 Dxe5 36.fxe5 Wb7 37.Hf2 Leb 38.Hefl DLS 39.Qxf5 Axf5 40.Kxf5 gxf5 41.xf5+ Bg6 42.e6 Qc7 43.4xd5 Axg3+ 44.9h1 We7 45.2e4 Khgs 46.Wf7+ Wxf7 47.exf7 Hfs 48.f6, 1-0 (31) Vidmar - Rubinstein Barmen (5) 1905 French Bum [C11] Notes by Vidmar (V) and Authors (A). 1,€4 €6 2.d4 d5 3.2)c3 D6 4.4.85 dxe4 5.4xe4 Qe7 6.4.d3!? (V) My gambit in this variation. Uncrowned King 6...) xe4 7..xe7 xf2 8.4xd8 4xd1 9.4.xc7 4)xb2 10.2.e2 c6 11.4f3 (A) According to ECO, White has com- pensation for the pawn. 11...4)a4 12.8.d6 2.47 13.c4 0-0-0 14.0-0 4)c3 15.4.d3 Le8 16.c5 £6 17.2.c4 Hd5 18.24 Ager (A) Perhaps the immediate 18...2.h5 is better. 19.a5 a6 20.8 fel Khe8 21.He2 Ah5 22.Eb2 De3 23.4d2 Ag6 (V) A good answer. If 23...0xd4 24,Babl Bd7 then 25.sxa6l, 24.Ha3 DF5 25.Hb6 a 25...4)xd6? (V) It is understandable that Black is anxious to eliminate the strong bishop. But stronger, much stronger, is the simple 25...fxd4!. In this case White should use heroic resources, probably 26.Bab3!?. 26..Q.xa6!! (V) The decisive blow! If now 26...bxa6 then 27.Rxc6+ &b7 (or 361905 27...-8@b8 28.cxd6) 28.2 b6+ Bc7 29.cxd6+ Hxd6 30.8c3+ Wd7 31,.8b7+ Sd8 32.8cc7 Bxd4 33.8 xg7 c8 34.8bc7+ Sb8 35.4b3! Bdi+ 36.8f2 Bed8 37.25 and White wins. 26...4)a7 27.cxd6 Hd7 28.8xb7 Exb7 29.8b3 2c6 30.Exb7 |b8 31.c7+ G8 32.2.b5 e5 33.d5e4 34.)b3 QAF5 35.0d4 Ac8 36.2.xe8, 1-0 (32) Rubinstein - E. Cohn Barmen (6) 1905 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D53] 1.04 d5 2.c4e6 3.23 Of6 4.0.85 Q)bd7 5.4) £3 Me7 6.e3 c6 7.443 dxc4 8..2.xc4 b5 9..0.d3 a6 10.0-0 Mb7 11.We2 c5 12.Kad1 c4 13.4.b1 Hc8 14.4e5 b4 15.4)a4 Qxe5 16.dxe5 Dd5 17.4.xe7 Wxe7 18.f4 We7 19.e4 Db 20.4)xb6 Yxb6+ 21.Yh1 0-0 22.Hd6 Wc5 23..0.c2 Ac6 24.4F2 Wxf2 25.Axf2 Qb5 26.Bfd2 Bes 27.981 g6 28.H2d4 Hg7 29.4 b6 Bfc8 30.a4 bxa3 31.bxa3 c3 32.a4 Sic4 33.f2 H8c7 34.He3 Af1 35.84 g5 36.fxg5 Hxe5 37.h4 Ac4 38.Hd8 £6 39.gxf6+ Gxf6 40.Bf8+ &g7 41. bbs Hec5 42.Bg8+ &f7 43.25 e5 44.A bes Hd7 45.Hef8+ We7 46.Hg7+ @xf8 47.Axd7 QF7 48.Ha7 Ac6 49.8d3 228 50.h5 OF7 51.26 hxg6 52.h6 g5 53.Ha8+ Des 54.h7 Hh6 55.8xc3 Hxh7 56.8xa6 g4 57.Hf6+ Hf7 58.Rxf7+ Bxf7 59.Hd2 Bf6 60.a5 Qc6 61.3 He7 62.a6 g3 63.0d3 Yd6 64.8f3 Bcd 65.8xg3 Yb6 66.Hf3 Mes 67.824 Qg6 68.8f3 Qh7 69.2.5 226 70.%e3 &h7, Draw 37 (33) Benima - Rubinstein Barmen (7) 1905 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D55] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 6 3.2\c3 Df6 4.0.85 Q)bd7 5.e3 Le7 6.43 0-0 7.2 b6 8.0-0-0 Qb7 9.cxd5 exd5 10.h4 c5 11.48.43 Hc8 12.05 exd4 13.4)xd4 g6 14.043 2c5 15.@b1 Afe4 16.Qxe7 wxe7 17.h5 4xd3 18.8xd3 He4 19.hxg6 hxg6 20.f3 c5 21.b3 4)xd3 22.%4xd3 Hc5 23.4)ce2 Hes 24.8h6 Wyg5 The immediate capture of the e-pawn by 24...Wxe3 allows 25.2xg6+. 25.Bh2 Wxe3 26.v¥d1 2a6 27.94 Qxe2 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 this book, neither player is likely to have missed 28.8xe2 when White wins. We theorize that the missing moves 27...Sd3+ and 28.8b2 were left out. With those inserted, the game continuation makes sense; 28...&xe2Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 29.@xe2 (29. xe2 tyxd4+ 30.Yixd4 Hxe2+ winning) 29...u~xf3 30.8al Wed 31.494 Ecl+. 28.4)xe2 Wxf3 29.Mal wed 30.%d4 Hel+, 0-1 Oldrich Duras (1882-1957), who was born the same year as Rubinstein, was among the top dozen players in the world from 1906 to 1912. 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 successfully renewed his interest in study com- posing, which he had pursued in his youth. He also composed problems at this time.” (34) Duras - Rubinstein Barmen (8) 1905 Ruy Lopez [C77] 1.e4 e€5 2.4)f3 Ac6 3.4b5 a6 4.La4 Df6 5.d3 d6 6.2)c3 d7 7.0-0 L.e7 8..b3 4)a5 9.d4 exd4 10.%xd4 xb3 11.axb3 0-0 12.Q8g5 He8 13.Had1 Qc6 14.8fel h6 15.Q.h4 wd7 16.245 Axd5 17.exd5 g5 18.823 DhS 19.443 26 20.c3 Wb5 21.%9xb5 axb5 22.b4 @f8 23.f1 Ha2 24.0b1 g4 25.4g1 Hxel+ 26.8xel 25 27. A.xe5 dxe5 28.f3 gxf3 29.2)xf3 £6 30.g3 Be7 31.Ah4 g7 32.282 AFS 33.84 2d6 34.23 Ac4 35.Af5+ G7 36.Sf2 Gg6 37.H£32? Hd2+, 0-1 (35) Rubinstein - Bleifkmans Barmen (9) 1905 Dutch (A84] 1.d4 £5 2.c4 e6 3.e3 Af6 4.0.d3 d6 5.4)c3 €5 6.2) ge2 c6 7.f3 26 38 8.e4 fxed 9.2)xe4 4)xe4 10.2 xe4 d5 11.Q.c2 dxc4 12.dxe5 Yxd1+ 13.Qxd1 Mc5 14.42 0-0 15.Qd2 4d7 16.f4 b6 17.b4 Se7 18.0-0 Hd8 19.Kfd1 Ag4 20.8f2 2d5 21.a3 Hf8 22.23 Hae8 23.2e4 Af6124.Hacl Axes 25.23 Axf3 26.8xf3 b5 27.Hc2 g5 28.h4 h6 29.hxg5 hxgs 30.8h1 27 31.Q.cl He7 32.8h5 4+ 33.0x94 D6+ 34.Hh4 xh5 35.8xh5 Hfe8 36.4c3 £d4 37.8¢4 Hel 38.f5 Xxc3 39.8xc3 H8e4+ 40.25 Hd4 41.4 Hee4 42.H¢3 OF7 43.Yh5 Hd3 44.Hg2 Hel 45.0f4 Hhi+ 46.25 3 47.He2 Hd8 48.2¢3 Hes, 0-1 (36) Moewig - Rubinstein Barmen (10) 1905 Queen’s Gambit Tarrasch [D40] 1.4 d5 2.c4 €6 3.23 DLE 4.Of3 5 5.€3 2c6 6.dxc5 Axc5 7.a3 0-0 8.b4 2e7 9.4.b2 a6 10.%c2 dxc4 11.Q4xc4 b5 12.Hd1 Wb6 13.243 £.b7 14.0-0 Hac8 15.¥yb1 He7 16.e4 )xe4 17.Qxe4 £6 18.h4 a5 19.h5 £5 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.4xc6 Qxc6 22.Wa2 Od5 23.xd5 exd5 24.xd5+ @h7 25.4d4 axb4 26.46 bxa3 27.4)xf8+ Qxf8 28.0d4 cb 29.%9d8 8 30.t¥h4 Bh7 31.4¥g3 b432.Rd1 tyd6 33.f4 Hd7 34.81 b3 35.8h4 Hh7 36.Wel b2 37.28 Hb7 38.b1 Web 39.Ha8 Wc4 40.Hh2 Hb3, 0-1 (37) Rubinstein - Gajdos Barmen (11) 1905 Queen’s Gambit Tarrasch (D32] 1.44 d5 2.4)f3 e6 3.c4 DF6 4.2\c3 5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.4.4 a6 7.3 Ac61905 8.2.e2 Be7 9.dxc5 &xc5 10.0-0 0-0 11.8c1 Qe7 12.444 xd4 13.¥xd4 Me6 14.8f3 Was 15.Hed1 More logical was the natural 15.Sfd1. 15...Hfd8 16.Qe5 Hac8 17.Qe2 Wb4 18.Yxb4 Qxb4 19.4f3 Mxc3 20.A.xc3 Des 21.404 £6 22,Q.e2 BF7 23.f3 d6 24.Kcl Hxcl 25.8xcl Hc8 26.8 xc8 A xc8 27.@f2 2d7 28.81 Abs Here 28,..S.b5 makes more sense. Now the young Rubinstein demonstrates his legendary endgame prowess. 29.2.c5 Heb 30.Hd2 £5 31.b3 Qd6 32.a4 D|c8B 33.Hc3 He7 34..d4 96 35.b4 Ac6 36.8c5 Yd7 37.25 4)c8 38.4.d1 Da7 39.h4 |b5 40.4.c2 Ac7 41.83 De8 42.2.5! Yeb 43.f4 @d7 44.b4 207? 45.4xc7 &xc7 46...b3 h5 47.42 Od7 48..Axd5, Qxd5 49.xd5 Gc7 50.85, 1-0 (38) Rubinstein - Sartori Barmen (12) 1905 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D37] 1.44 d5 2.4£3 £6 3.c4 e6 4.2\c3 Me7 5.2.£4 c6 6.e3 Abd7 7.2.43 39 dxc4 8.Qxc4 0-0 9.h3 wb6 10..b3 Hd8 11.0-0 4)f8 12.We2 4)g6 13.Qh2 Ad6 14.H)e5 Axes 15.dxe5 4d5 16.4e4 d7 17.4)d6 2.8 18.e4 Ade7 19.Hh1 Qc8B 20.f4 Yb4 21.f5 Axd6 22.exd6 4)f8 23.¥4g4, 1-0 (39) Kieseritzky - Rubinstein Barmen (13) 1905 Queen’s Gambit Cambridge Springs [D52] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.2)c3 f6 4.085 4)bd7 5.e3 c6 6.2)£3 Was The Cambridge Springs takes its name from the small town in eastern Penn- sylvania, where a big international tournament was held in 1904. The actual sequence of moves was first played back in 1892 in Hodges-Lasker. 7.Lxf6 gxf6 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.0.43 Me7 10.%c2 £5 11.0-0 0-0 12.Mh1 |f6 13.He5 Ad6 14.f4 a6 15.8 f3 De4 16.4h3 £6 17.)f3 bS 18.4)xe4 fxe4 19.4. xe4 dxe4 20.¥4xe4 Ha7 21.Hcl He7 22.Hg1 b4 23.84 Wd5 24.%¥d3 Qb7 25.Hf1 Hg7 26.b3 5 27.¥9c4 exf4 28.8h5 Yxc4 29.bxc4 fxe3 30.45 Hxg4 31.Hel f5 32.h3 Hxc4 33.Hd1 e2, 0-1 (40) Rubinstein - Petzold Barmen (14) 1905 Queen’s Gambit Semi-Slav (D46] 1.44 d5 2.2)f3 Df6 3.c4 €6 4.23 A)bd7 5.€3 c6 6..d3 2.d6 7.0-0 5 A forgotten “novelty.” 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.dxe5 4)xe5 10..Q.e2 Nc6 11.¥¥b3 0-0 12.Rd1 Da5s7tAkiba Rubinstein: Probably better is 12...Se6, and if 13.%%xb7 Db4! 14.43 (14.b5? Ld7 15.4b7 &c6) 14..8b8 15.vxa7 Bas with a draw, or 13.4d4?! Qxd4 14.Bxd4? 2e5. 13.Wa4 Qe6 14.b3 a6 15.Qb2 wyb6? 16.wh4 tyd8 17.4d3 h6 18.2)e2 2.e7 19.2)f4 He4 20.9h5 4)f6 21.4xf6 Qxf6 22.Hacl 4)c6 23.Qc4 WaS 24.Qxd5 Qxd5 25.4)xd5 Wyxa2 26.4)xf6+ gxf6 27.Q\h4 Bfd8 28.4f5, 1-0 (41) Kunze - Rubinstein Barmen (15) 1905 French Burn [C11] 1.€4 6 2.d4 d5 3.4)c3 DFE 4.285 dxe4 5.Qxf6 gxf6 6.2xe4 £5 7.4\C3 2B7 8.4)£3 0-0 9.)e5? c5 10.f4 cxd4 11.4)e2 4)c6 12.4)£3 Wb6 13.8b1 Wa5+ 14.4)d2 Qd7 15.4)cl We7 16.443 Hac8 17.Qe2 He7 18.Kcl d5 19.Af1 4)xf4 20.4) xf4 Wyxf4 21.2)d2 Qc6 22.g3 Wg5 23.0-0 Qh6 24.2)b3 We3+ 25.Hf2 e5 26.Wf1 £4 27.24 £3 28.Qxf3 Qxf3 29.Hel Axc2! 30.Hxe3 Qxe3 31.el Qxf2+ 32.YYxf2 Hxf2 33.Qxf2 Od5 34.4)cl Hc8 35.443 e4 36.4 e1 e3+ 37.Ye2 fe4, 0-1 The two winners of the Hauptturnier played a short match at the end of the tournament to try to find a clear winner but the matter remained unresolved when both games were drawn and Rubinstein had to leave. Curiously, in an appreciation of Duras in Ceskoslovensky Sach, 1931 (p. 163), his match record is given as Rubinstein (Barmen 1905) 2-2. The Field of 1905 (pp. 506-507) says Rubinstein had to Uncrowned King 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) 1905 French Exchange [C01] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.2.d3 Df6 5.2£3 2d6 6.0-0 0-0 7.285 Nes 8.4)c3 c6 9.u¥d2 4bd7 10.4e2 We7 11.g3 Haes 12.Bael1 He6 13.Qh4 Hfes 14.Q)hf5 Hxel 15.Axe1 Hxel+ 16.Yxel QF4 17.4«f4 Wxf4 18.We7 g6 19.Y¥d8+ AFB 20.uyxf6 Qxf5 21.4)xf5 Yelt 22.0f1 gxf5 23.4 eG 24.Yxf5 wWxb2 25.2.d3 Yycl+ 26.@h2 wra+ 27.WYxf4 2) xf4 28.4.1 Deb 29.c3 Bge7 30.883 c5 31.dxc5 AxcS 32.f4 Ded 33.c4 Hd2 34.cxd5! In a difficult position Duras finds an excellent idea, after which it is Rubinstein who must play carefully. 34...4)xf1 35.85 Dd2 36.86 Bf6 37.Hc7 Des 38.d6 Hc5 401905 39.d7 e6+ 40.xb7 41.88 h5! 42.63 Be7 Impossible is 42.24? hxg4 43.h5 f5! and Black wins. 42...f5 43.83 a5 44.a4 |d8 45.@c7 Df7 46.8c8 Hd6+ 47.87 DfT 48.8 )d8 49.87 S)e6+ 50.8c8, Draw The First Match With Mieses The 1909 match between Jacques Mieses (1865-1954) and Akiva Rubinstein is well known, but their earlier encounter, played in Lodz in the fall of 1905, has escaped much attention. The young Rubinstein had no problems dealing with his famous opponent’s attacking ability, winning 3-0. Two of the games have been preserved in Daniuszewski’s Ksiega Jubileyszowa Lodzkiego Towarzystwa Zwolennikow Gry Szachovey 1903-1938. (43) Rubinstein - Mieses Lodz (1) October 24, 1905 Queen’s Gambit Cambridge Springs [D52] 1.44 d5 2.c4 e6 3.2)c3 DF6 4.4.85 6 5.4)£3 4)bd7 6.e3 tas 7.2)d2 Ab4 8.t¥c2 e4? 9.4)dxe4 dxe4 10.Qh4! This continuation, played here for the first time, is still considered White’s best answer to 8...e4?. As often happens, this stem game is omitted in recent opening books. 10,..0-0 11.4.2 £5 12.0-0 e5 13.a3 ECO gives Kavalek-Janosevic, Netanya 1971: 13.c5 exd4 14.exd4 41 with advantage for White. Rubin- stein’s continuation also gives an edge. 13...A.xc3 14.xc3 tye7 15.c5 Be8 16.Had1 exd4 17.8xd4! wes 18.24.93! W6 If 18...¥xc5, 19.8c4+ Sh8 20.Ld6 Whb6 21.2f7 Bd8 22.2e7 wins. 19.8fd1 |)f8 20.%b3+ Phs8 21.2.04 Se6 22,.4xe6 White also wins with 22.8d6! &xc5 23.8xf6! Oxb3 24.fe5! Das 25.842 5 26.8f7 Le6 27.Axe6 Bxe6 28.fxg7+ Gg8 29.8dd7, etc., but Rubinstein, as usual, prefers the sim- plest and clearest path. 22... xe6 23.H.d8! h6 24.W4c3 we7 25.ah41, 1-0 (44) Mieses - Rubinstein Lodz (2) October 26, 1905 Danish Gambit [C21] 1.e4 €5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 We7 Three years later at Prague, against the same opponent (game #188), Rubinstein preferred 3...d5 and won in 16 moves!Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 4.cxd4 Wxe4+ 5.Q2e3 Qb4t+ 6.4)c3 d5! A major improvement over the example shown in ECO, where 6...0f6 7.O£3 Dd5 8.d2 Dxe3 9.fxe3 tre7 10.Sd3 d6 11.0-O Sxc3 12.bxc3 Dc6 13.e4, Romashkevich-Saburov, Russia 1889 (!), gave White good attacking chances. 7.2£3 Q£5 8.%¥b3 Ac6 9.0-0-0 &xc3 10.bxc3 0-0-0 11.2.d3 te 12.Bhel Qxd3 13.Hxd3 \ge7 14.¥a4 @b8 15.Hd2 £6 16.2 b2 \c8 17.464 If 17.4h6 Wd6! 18.8xg7 Bhg8 and 19...Bxg2. 17...¥9d7 18.47b5 4)b6 19.4)d2 If 19.a4 @c8! 20.a5? a6!, but not 19...8a8? 20.a5 a6 21.axb6!. 19...khe8 20.Hd1 Wg4 21.293 We2 22.e¥b3 Da5 23.t¥a3 Dac4 24.4)xc4 Wxe4 25.Hb4 wyc6 26.%¥b3 He2 27.2 b5 Hd7 28.Hb4 Qc4 29.Hg1 a5 30.Ha4 weé 31.%¥d1 He7 32.2e5 Bxf2 33.Wel Wf5 34.%4%d1 Hd2, 0-1 The following game may be from one of the many handicap tournaments 42 played at the Lodz Chess Club, but we have been unable to find any precise information about it. (45) Rubinstein - Granas Lodz December 6, 1905 (without Ng1) 1,e4€52...c4 Af6 3.0-0 Ac5 4.c3 d6 5.d4 Qb6 6.f4 4)xe4 7.4Yh5 g6 8.3 £5 9.fxe5 dxe5 10.@h1 Dd6 11.9.b3 e4 12.%g3 WEE 13.885 We7 14.Qah6! We7 15.095 Wg7 16.Qh6 e7 17.Q)d2 Qe6 18.225 tyd7 19.Wes 4)£7 20.87 Axb3 21.4 xe4l! fxe4 22.Hael Qc2 23.8f4 Wd5 24.Befl fs 25.8xf7! Wxf7 26.8xf7 Bxf7 27.8yg8+ Bd7 28.Yxf7+ Heb 29.c4 Axd4 30.%¥d5+ Wb6 31.4¥b5+ mateSt. Petersburg 1906 Rubinstein’s second appearance in the All-Russian Championship at St. Petersburg showed marked improvement as he goes from fifth at Kiev (1903) to equal second. The time control was 30 moves in two hours followed by 15 moves an hour. (46) Rubinstein - Omeliansky St. Petersburg (1) 1906 Dutch Stonewall [A84] 1.d4.d5 2.4)f3 e6 3.e3 c6.4.c4 Ad6 5.4)c3 £5 6.5e5 Wf 7.£4 Ad7 8.2d3 dxc4 9.4xc4 Qxed5 10.dxe5 4) xe5 11.2.b3 g4 12.0-0 e7 13.e40-0 14.h3 Hh6 15.2.e3 Bh8 16.%¥d2 b6 17.e5 wee 18.facl Qa6 19.8fd1 |d5 20.4) xd5 exd5 21.24 Bfd8 22.2 Ab7 23.Hd2 c5 24.3 Wc6 25.5 Wd7 26.Hh2 d4 27.d1 Od5 28.Af2 Qxb3 29.%xb3 Wd5 30.Y9b5 ted 31.93 Hab8 32.axb6 axb6 33.b4 Hdc8 34.4d7 Bd8 35.Wa7 cxb4 36.Hxd4 tye2 37.8g1 b3 38.Hel Wyc2 39.e6 Hes 40.8 b4 b5 41.%a3 Hge8 42.%4xb3 Wxb3 43.8xb3 Ags 44.He5 |F6 45.Hxf5 Hxe6 46.8 fxb5 Hbe8& 47.£5 He2 48.4b8 gs 49.8 xe8+ xe8 50.g2 Sf7 51.8f3 Haz 52.Ab7+ Bg8 53.4d4 Ha3+ 54.0f4 Ha4 55.8e5 Has+ 56.%e6 A xf5? (see diagram) 57.g4 Rubinstein takes Black at his word. After suffering much of the game, Akiva slips just when the win was near. As Jack O’Keefe points out, 57.&xf5 Dd6+ 58,.8e6 Axb7 59.2.b6 traps the knight. After 56... xf5? 57... f1 58.g5 Hel+ 59.2.e5 He2 60.h4 Hel 61.h5 He2 62.h6 gxh6 63.gxh6 Ha2 64.4b8 Hab6+ 65.%e7 Ha7+ 66.%xe8 Has! 67.%e7+ Hxb8 68.4xb8 Bhs 69.96 Sgs8 70.2e5 Hf8, Draw (47) Helbach - Rubinstein St. Petersburg (2) 1906 French Steinitz [C11] 1.4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.4\c3 DFE 4.€5 Sfd7 5.£4 c5 6.dxc5 )c6 7.2.63 4)xc5 8.4.xc5?! A dubious idea, not mentioned in ECO. 8...2.xc5 9.¥984 0-0 10.23? Consistent and better is 10.0-0-0. 10...Y9b6 11.2) ge2 kyxb2 12.8a2 Wb6 13.4c1 a5 14.%yh3 Od4 15.9d2 £6 16.4b3 xc3+ 17.¥yxc3 2xc3+ 18.Hxc3 fxe5 19.fxe5 2Qxe5 20.8d3 Qd7 21.Hel Hac8+ 22.d2 Hf2+ 23.He2 2xd3 24.cxd3 Hxe2+ 25.Qxe2 He3 26.4d4 Sf7 27.82 He7 28.4)£3 W£6 29.Halol ol “Ol “AU zl Zz £l TrIoL — mw x l t -e--- ert eoork “A ” 9061 Bungssaad 3S dooaod aod 40 td “4.0 1 00 TALK OR 10.0.0 0.4 0-0 0 0 0 0 001 0 0 4 00 0 0 4 oootto * {0 (0 0 Gt 0 0-4 0 11 <4 0 4 O14 es 1% (0 2 4 Ta 4 ae 2 tLorn~no 14 A 4 SLOSS PE €z-7 Auenuep cooonnm no x cocoon AOMYOYSUNGEL “L1 m8.) '91 YRqPeH "ST AxscRySUO "pL are EL RL ZI AYSIATT “U1 ZMRDUSSOY ‘OT AUR] 6 AysmUOY.D-SNC| *R Aysaoumusoy “1 AsqMAq “9 adyy ¢ ‘AySA0IG-O4SOUZ “p uoysugny "€ prguounyg °Z OARS “1St. Petersburg 1906 fa4 30.4e1 e5 31.Bb1 d4 32.Hb2 b6 33.f3 Hc3 34.Ha2 Mb3 35.Hb2 2.45 36.a4 Ha3, 0-1 (48) Rubinstein - Znosko-Borovsky St. Petersburg (3) 1906 Queen’s Pawn [DOS] 1.d4d5 2.2)f3 Df6 3.€3 €6 4.4.43 c5 5.b3 cxd4 6.exd4 c6 7.48.b2 Ad6 8.2)bd2 Yc7 9.a3 b6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Be1l He7 12.c4 Dgé 13.Hcl Wye7 14.b4 4) f4 15.Qf1 dxc4 16.4)xc4 Q&b7 17.H)fe5 Hfd8 18.8c3 Hac8 19.Yyd2 )g6 20.4)xg6 hxg6 21.2)xd6 Wxd6 22,8h3 Wyc6 23.09f4 Bd5 24.8c1 Wd6 25.8 xcB+ Axc8 26.vyxd6 Hxd6 27.Hc3 Qd7 28.4c7 Hc6 29.Hxc6 Qxc6 30.f3 bS 31.8f2 Sf8 32.Ac1 Hd5 33.4d3 He7 34.h4 Od6 35.He2 Les 36.24 Ad7 37.8d3 Qe8 38.48d2 Od7 39.2.e1 a6 40.2.93+ Be7 41.25 £6 42.Qb8 Sf7 43.84 Ac8 44.293 Qb7 45.%d2 Ac8 46.2b8 Qb7 47.f4 £5 48.4f3 26 49.85 4)xb4 50.axb4 Axf3 51.d5! exd5 52.He3 O94 53.04 Heb 54.2.€5 AF3 55.4xg7 db 56.2.£8+ Hc6 57.2.e7 Ah5, Draw (49) Rosenkrantz - Rubinstein St. Petersburg (4) 1906 French Burn [C11] 1.€4 e6 2.44 d5 3.2\c3 f6 4.2.85 dxe4 5.4)xe4 Le7 6.2)xf6+ Axf6 7.2.x£6 Yxf6 8.c3 2)d7 9.4)£3 0-0 10.8.d3 c5 11.2 cxd4 12.cxd4 26 13.0-0 Ab6 14.2e4 Hd8 15.¥4¥c7 d5 16.4xd5 Bxd5 17.4)€5 b6 18.¥¥c6 Bb8 19.¥¥c7 Kas 20.Y¥c6 Hb8s, Draw 45 (50) Rubinstein - Evtifeev St. Petersburg (5) 1906 Old Indian [A53] 1.d4 c6 2.c4 4)f6 3.2\c3 d6 4.e4 2bd7 5.f4 tas 6.e5 Ded 7.kc2 5 8.4.43 4)xc3 9.bxc3 e6 10.4)f3 Se7 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.0-0 HF8 13.8b1 ¥Yyc7 14.65 Ad7 15.8 f2 Active and perhaps stronger is 15.Sg5. 15...h6 16.4d2 a6 17.h3 b5 18.4)h2 Q.d8 19.4 h5 20.43 Wyc6 21.Abf1 Ha7 22.fxe6 Axe6 23.0f5 Axf5 24.Axf5 Deb 25.Wyd1 g6 26.85£2 wyb6 27.a3 Wyc6 28.Yyb1 Hb7 LR, 29.8 xf7 Criticized by the tournament book, which recommends 29,S.e2. 29...81x£7 30..xg6 0-0 31..xf7+ Bxf7 32. g6+ Bg7 33.uxhs Wd7 34.0h6 Hg3 35.eh2 87! 36.2.xg7 Hxg7 37.wWh6 a5 38.24 Le7 39.%¥b6 Wh7 40.8f5 Ads 41.8h5+ @g8 42.4h6 8h7 43.%4g6+ He7, DrawAkiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King (51) Romanovsky - Rubinstein St. Petersburg (6) 1906 Ruy Lopez [C84] 1.e4 e5 2.4f3 Dc6 3.4b5 a6 4.Q.a4 £6 5.0-0 2e7 6.d4 exd4 7.€5 £)e4 8.4)xd4 4)c5 9.)£5 0-0 10.484 g6 11.Qxc6 dxc6 12.4)xe7+ Wxe7 13.%%g3 Hes 14.f4 QF5 15.¥¥f2 Had8 16.4)c3 Deb 17.L.e3 c5 18.WF3 c6 19.8 F2 4)d4 20.4xd4cxd4 21.44 Axed 22.%9xe4 £6 23.Be1 Hd5 24.Afe2 fxe5 25.fxe5 Web 26.h3 c5 27.b3 bS 28.%d3 Hd7 29.c4 bxc4 30.bxc4 Hf7 31.4b3 Hfs 32.9d3 \ be S Zi “. \ VS Bef8 33.23 Wg7 34.He4 Abs 35.H4e2 a5 36.tyc2 Bd8 37.4yb3 37...a4! 38.Wxa4 d3 39.t¥a5 Hd4 40.8b2 Hxc4 41.8b7+ Hf7 42.9 x£7+ Wxf7 43.e6 tye7 44.He3 Hicl+ 45.0f2 Wf6+ 46.8 £3 tyd4+ 47.93 d2 48.%c7+ Gh6 49.e7 Hel 50.Hf4 d1=vy 51.8xd4 Uyxd4 52.24d8 We5+, 0-1 (52) Rubinstein - Blumenfeld St. Petersburg (7) 1906 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D06] 1.44 d5 2.43 £6 3.3 AF5 4.c4 e6 5.Y¥b3 Dc6 6.c5 Hb8 7.Ab5 Le7 8.De5 0-0 9.4xc6 bxc6 Peter Romanovsky 10.4)xc6 Hxb3 11.4)xd8 Abs 12.4)c6 Hbe8 13.4)c3 4)d7 14.b4 Af6 15.04 e5 16.4xd5 Nes 17.2)xf6+ gxf6 18.4)xa7 c6 19.£3 Ha8 20.fxe4 Axa7 21.b5 Hd8 22.0-0, 1-0 (53) Alapin - Rubinstein St. Petersburg (8) 1906 French Steinitz [C11] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.2)c3 Df6 4.€5 Dfd7 5.2\ce2 c5 6.c3 Ac6 7.£4 Re7 Recent theory prefers the immediate 7...£6. 8.)f3 £6 9.g3 cxd4 10.cxd4 |f8 This opening idea is not shown in ECO. 11.Q.g2 fxe5 12.fxe5 Qg6 13.0-0 0-0 14. f4 2)xf4 15.Q.xf4 Wb6 16.8f2 0.d7 17.Bcl Hac8 18.2.3 Wa6 19.Qf1 Yyb6 20.043 b4 21.8xc8 Hxc8 22.0b1 Hfs 23.225 Wd8 24.h4 Qe8 25.%b3 h6 26.98.d2 Qh5 27.2.xb4 Oxb4 28.%yxb4 Qxf3 29.v¥a3St. Petersburg 1906 Not 29.84xb7? Wa5 30.b4 (or 30.8xf3 Welt!) 30...¥a3 and Black wins. 29...Wc8 30.8f1 we4 31.d3 Wxd3 32.0xd3 g5 33.hxg5 hxgs 34.Hcl Hf7 35.Hc8+ @g7 36.81 MNS 37.Ac2 Ag6 38.2.xg6 Bxg6 39.Bf2 Bxf2 40.Qxf2 OF5 41.9f3 94+ 42.83 a5 43.04 b6, Draw (54) Rubinstein - Levitsky St. Petersburg (9) 1906 Queen’s Gambit Tarrasch [D40] 1.44 d5 2.24f3 c5 3.e3 Dc6 4.c4 e6 5.Ac3 Df6 6.a3 Des 7.%c2 4xc3 8.bxc3 2e7 9.4.d3 dxc4 10.4.xc4 0-0 11.0-0 We7 12.43 h6 13.e4 Qd7 ECO gives 13...a5 14.e5 as a little better for White, Vaiser-Gusev, USSR 1972. Rubinstein and Stepan Levitsky (historical Elo 2450) have done a good job of anticipating modem theory. 14.8b1 a6 15.d5 exd5 16.exd5 4d8 17.c4 Q2d6 18.h3 He8 19.Qd2 bS 20.Rfel Hxel+ 21.Bxe1 b4 22.Wcl Of8 23.4e5 a5 24.Qb1 Ba6 25.h4 Bf6 26.4)xd7 Yxd7 27.892 g6 28.h5 2b7 29.491 Bh7 30.He3 Hd6 31.Bh3 DFS 32.hxg6+ fxg6 33.Wd1 Hf7 34.We4 wd6 35.axb4 axb4 36.We4 WE6 37.8£3 He7 38.uyd3 Wyg7 39.2e3 Ha7 40.Q.c1 wes 41.f1 h5 42.g3 Bal 43.wc2 2g7 44.%g2 Ha6 45.D.e3 Q£8 46.Wyd3 Ha3 47.Wyd2 @Qxe3 48.8xe3 Hxe3 49.Wxe3 Wxe3 50.fxe3 2d6 51..c2 &g7 52.8f3 85 53.Ad1 Sf6 54.82 84 55.Hf2 g5 56.82, Draw 47 Rubinstein needs all his defensive skills to hang on in the following encounter. (55) Rubinstein - Salwe St. Petersburg (10) 1906 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D60} 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.2\c3 DFE 4.2.95 Me7 5.e3 |bd7 6.Af3 0-0 7.2.43 dxc4 8.2.xc4c5 9.0-0 a6 10.24 b6 11.We2 Qb7 12.8fd1 wyc7 13..2.d3 According to Griinfeld, White should play 13.d5 with the advantage. 13...8d6 14.Racl Rfc8 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.e4 Qf4 17.Qxf4 Wxf4 18. Y%yd2 Wb8 19.¥4e3 A.c6 20.Hd2 Ha7 21.h3 He8 22.4h2 Wb4 23.084 |g4 24.hxg4 Qxad 25.Hal Qc6 26.8xa6 Hxa6 27.2.xa6 He5 28.Ne2 £6 29.£3 }f7 30.4)a2 Was 31.4cl Bad 32.4)d3 Hd8 By _" 33.b4 cxb4 34.8b2 Qb5 35.095 Walt 36.1 Yxcl+ 37.4)xcl Bxe2 38.4)xe2 Hb8 39.Ad4 Hds8 40.8f1 Bf7 41.He2 e5 42.4)c2 Dc6 43.403 b3 44.Ha1 Dd4 45.£4 Heb 46.f5+ Bd6 47.c4 g5 48.4)xb3 Hb6 49.Rb1 de7 50.8b2 Rb8 51.4b1 4b5 52.He1Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 4)a3+ 53.83 Hc8+ 54.d3 Abs 55.8c3 AQ\b5+ 56.8d3 DAd6 57.4)d2 Sf7 58.Kh1 g7 59.1 Hb7 60.Bc5 h5 61.gxh5 94 62.Hd5 Df7 63.c5 Bh6 64.46 Hd7+ 65.3 2d6 66.93 Hxh5 67.\b3 Bh6 68.Ac5 Ac4+ 69.e2 Hd2+ 70.e1 Hd6 71.Ac8 @h7 72.Kc7+ Bhs 73.Ac8+ Bh7 74.kc7+ Bhs 75.8f7 Wg8 76.He7 Hd4 77.047 Hd6 78.4)c5 Hd4 79.Qd7 Hd6 80.4c5 Hd4 81.8d7 8xd7 82.4xd7 Qd6 83.4c5 Des 84.Be2 Yg7 85.Hd3 Hho 86.5f2 &g5 87.Ad1 Ad6 88.d3 DHe8 89.43 Ag7 90.fe2, Draw (56) Izbinsky - Rubinstein St. Petersburg (11) 1906 Ruy Lopez [C84] 1.e4 e5 2.0f3 Dc6 3.4b5 a6 4,.Qa4 £6 5.0-0 Ne7 6.d3 dé 7.c3 0-0 8.4)bd2 4)e8!? A forgotten idea of Rubinstein’s, which aims for ...f7-f5. ECO only deals with 8....d7, 8...b5 and 8...0d7. 9.Bel Perhaps White should play 9.d4. 48 9...86 10.)f1 £6 11.Ah6 2g7 12.¥d2 £5 13.0.5 £6 14.exf57! gxf5 15.h3 4e7 16.43h2 Ag6 17.f4 h6 18.fxe5 hxg5 19.exf6 Wxf6 20.2g3 Af4 21.He2 HhS 22.4)d4 c6 23.0.1 Lasker (Lasker's Chess Magazine, October 1907, p. 245), points out that now 23...Wxd4+ was very tempting but that Rubinstein showed good judgment in avoiding it, giving the variation 24.cxd4 Qxd4+ 25.8e3 £4 26.%c2 Mxe3+ 27.Hf1 Dg3+ 28.8el Be8 and now 29.4\g4 with the lines 29...c5+ 30.8d2 Dfl+ 31.8c3 and 29...8d4+ 30.82d2 DF1+ 31.81 Lxg4 [Authors: Why not 31...d5, which seems quite strong for Black?] 32.%%c4+ d5 33.¥9xd4. 23... £4 24.2)e2 Heb 25.83 Ah6 26.¥9f2 Qd7 27.2f3 Haes8 28.Af1 He7 29.Had1? Hh7 30.2.4 f431.4f3 Ag7 32.Hh1? Who 33.Wg1? d5 34.d4 g4 35.hxg4 fxg4 36.2.e2 Wh4, 0-1 The next game has a bit of a story behind it. Playing through the encounter to the end, one is more than a little surprised that it ended in a draw. While it is true that Rubinstein was better for much of the game and could even haveSt. Petersburg 1906 won at one point, there can be no doubt that he was quite lost at its conclusion. So is the official score table wrong? No! The tournament book for this event, by Eugene Znosko-Borovsky, which by the way is one of the rarest and most expensive records of a major event of the 20th century — noted chess book dealer Dale Brandreth puts its price at around $650 in 1994 - explains that Rubinstein protested the initial final result of the game (0-1) on the grounds that he had been unduly dis- tracted by the spectators. It seems that when the adjournment for this game was played off, Rubinstein’s rival for second place, Beniamin Blumenfeld, had finished his schedule and was a point and a half ahead of Akiva. However, Blumenfeld’s position was shaky, as Rubinstein was clearly better in his adjourned game and was scheduled to meet one of the tailenders, Talvik, in the last round. It seemed likely that Rubinstein would win both games and finish clear second, and there was nothing Blumenfeld could do about it. There were no other adjournments played off that night, but there were quite a few spectators who came to watch this most important game for the tournament standings. The crowd was very noisy and Blumenfeld was among the most disruptive. Both Rubinstein and Maliutin appealed to the tournament director but to no avail as the noise continued unabated. At this point they both declared that they were continu- ing the game under protest. Rubinstein missed a clear win on move 45, which we believe was the last move 49 of a time scramble (time control: 30 moves in two hours followed by one hour for each additional 15 moves). After making the time control Akiva then proceeded to fall apart, making a series of weak moves. When he was forced to resign on move 56 he immediately followed up on his earlier protest to the tournament committee. The following day the committee met with the two players and came to the decision that the game should be re- played from the adjourned position and that Blumenfeld must give his word never to be disruptive again. Maliutin, who seems to have been a very good sportsman, accepted the decision grace- fully even though it meant almost a certain loss as Blumenfeld (!) and his friends had already shown the winning plan (45.£h7!) to Rubinstein. Not wanting to win in such a fashion, Rubinstein offered a draw, which was accepted. (57) Rubinstein - Maliutin St Petersburg (12) 1906 Queen’s Gambit Declined ([D46] 1.d4 d5 2.2f3 |fL6 3.€3 e6 4.c4 Obd7 5.43 c6 6.2.43 2.d6 7.0-0 0-0 8.e4 dxc4 9.A.xc4 €5 10.085 We7 11.2.b3 Hd8 12.Hel |f8 13.dxe5 Axe5 14.%¥c2 Dge 15.Qe2 h6 16.4xe5 )xe5 17.Qxf6 WYxf6 18.f4 Hg6 19.23 gd 20.e5 WES 21.4xf5 Axf5 22.Bed1 Qg4 23.8f2 De7 24.22 Ad5 25.Ne4 Mxe2 26.Bxe2 Ac7 27.He3 OFS 28.h4 He7 29.£5 ab 30.84 Ac7 31. GF4 Bac8 32.a3 Ad5+ 33.8f3 He7 34.Hd2 Hed7 35.Had1 |b6 36.Bxd7+ Bxd7 37.4 xd7+ 4)xd7Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 38.8f4 a5 39.Qc2 Dc5 40.5 Of8 34.8xg2 Be7 35.Bh2 h6 hxg5+ 41.8xg5 b5 42.h5 b4 36. g2 4)c7 37.4.2 2)a8 38.83 Dh8 39..1.b4 Dg 43.£6+ gxf6 44.exf6+ OFS 45. Q.£5? According to Blumenfeld, White wins with 45.£h7!, followed by h6 and Agél. 45...O 28 46.O£4 b3 47.5? a4 48.h6 2)b6! 49.24.43 c5 50.2.b5c4 51.Q.c6 c3! 52.bxc3 b2 53.e4 a4 54.0f4 Dd5+ 55.He5 Axc3 56.4.b1 4xbi1, 0-1 [... but scored a draw after an appeal.] (58) Rubinstein - Dus-Chotimirsky St. Petersburg (13) 1906 Dutch Stonewall [A85] 1.c4£5 2.d4 D6 3.2)c3 €6 4.€3 b6 5.2d3 Qb7 6.3 Ab4 7.4ge2 0-0 8.0-0 4)c6 9..d2 we8 10.a3 Ad6 11.)b5 Wh5 12.4)xd6 cxd6 13.4)c3?! 4)e8 14.2)e2 Hc8 15.b4 a6 16.a4 4)e7 17.25 bxa5 18..xa5 g5 19.el Hf6 20.%g3 Bhs 21.e4 4c6 22.Ha3 £4 23.t¥g4 Wyh6 24.4! Yyxh4 25.¥yxh4 gxh4 26.b5 axb5 27.cxb5 4)d8 28..4.xf4 ®f7 29.Ha7 Hb8 30.23 Sgs 31.Hcl h3 32.82 hxg2 33.Hg1 50 40.Axg6! Hxg6 41.e5 H6gs 42.Qxd6+ BF7 43.Df4 Dbb 44.4.c7! Qa8 45.4xb6 Hxb6 46.8xd7+ Qe8 47.Ha7 Od5 48.4xd5 exd5 49.f4 Hg3+ 50.@d2 h5 51.f5 h4 52.f6 h3 53.Hh7 He2+ 54.9e3 He3+ 55.82 Hg2+ 56..e2 Hxb557.c6 Gd8 58.f7 Ye7 59.4h8 Hf2 60.8e3 Axf7 61.exf7 Hb3+ 62.843 Oxf7 63.Hxh3 Web 64.Hh6+, 1-0 (59) Talvik - Rubinstein St. Petersburg (14) 1906 Giuoco Piano [C53] 1.e4 eS 2.4f£3 Dce6 3.Nc4 Acd 4.c3 tye7 5.d4 &b6 6.0-0 dé 7.b4 46 8.a4 a6 9.a5 {a7 10.b5 axb5 11...xb5 0-0 12.a6 exd4 13.cxd4 Wyxe4 14.4)c3 Wg6 15.L.e3 |b4 16.4e2 bxa6 17.2424 Qb7 18.)h4 Wh5 19.g3 g5 20.ud2 gxh4 21.xb4 WF3, 0-1 Rubinstein had forfeit wins over Chigorin and Tabunshchikov.Lodz 1906 The first of several major tournaments the Lodz Chess Society organized was held in the spring of 1906. This event heralded a changing of the guard, as Rubinstein finished ahead of Chigorin (who was to die less than two years later) and garnered his first big victory. The best five-year averages of the par- ticipants according to Elo’s The Rat- ing of Chessplayers: Rubinstein (2640), Chigorin (2600), Flamberg (2480), and Salwe (2500). Theonly source we found that provides some information about the time when this tournament was played was M. J. Chigorin, His Life and Work, by N. 1. Grekov (Moscow 1939). There Grekov mentions that the event was played immediately after the Chigorin-Salwe match (March-April 1906). It is possible that the finish of this triple-round match tournament was held in the beginning of May. (60) Rubinstein - Flamberg Lodz (1) 1906 Queen’s Pawn [D05] Notes by Konstantinopolsky. 1.44 d5 2.4)f3 Af6 3.€3 e6 4.4.43 £5 5.b3 £)c6 6.0-0 cxd4 7.exd4 SLe7 8.Qb2 0-0 9.2bd2 wb6 10.Kel Qd7 11.c4 dxc4 12.4)xc4 Y7 13.81 we? Black should play 13...2ac8, with equal chances. 14.4)ce5 Bfd8 15.23 After 15.2c4! Yh6 16.cl WhS 17.h3 White has the advantage. 15...9h6 16.4)xd7 Hxd7 17.Qb5 Hc7 18.2.xc6 bxc6 19.2)e5 Hac8?! Better is 19...c5, but White still retains a slight edge. 20.2.3! Qd6 21.0a5 Axes 22.dxe5 Hd7 23.t¥e2 2d5 24.%4a6 4)e7 25.2.b4? Instead, 25.8cd1! Bxd1 26.8xd1 gives White a clear advantage. 25...c5 26.Axc5 Hxc5 27.Q4xc5 Wyd2 28.te2 We3 29.A.xe7 Hxe7 30.8d1 g6 31.t¥d2 Wyc6 32.t4d8+ Hes 33.4d7 a8 34.b4 &g7 35.8cl Hd8 36.%c6 Hdl+ 37.g2 Wd8 38.8xd1 wyxd1 39.%yc4 Wel 40.d4 we2 41.04 a6 42.h3 h5 43.h4 @h7 44.@h2 @g7 45.882 Wh7 46.5 g7 47.Q@h2 Wya2 48.a5 we2 49.Wya7 We4 50.b7 WEL! 51.¥9b6 eye2 52.4¢5 @h7 53.4d4 7 54.822 Bh7 55.uf4 &g7 56.f6+ Og8 57.9f3 Wbs 58.¥e4 Oe7 59.Hg1 Wh7 60.4d4 Og7 61.b6 Wxes 62.%9b7 Wel+ 63.982 5 64.b5e4Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 65.bxa6 3 66.Y¥b2+ Wh7 67.fxe3 ¥yxa5 68.uyb7 Yya2+ 69.Of3 Wed 70.e4 Yy¥d3+ 71.f4 tyd6+ 72.e5 Wd4+ 73.We4 Wf2+ 74.Wf3 Wd4+ 75.We4 WF2+, Draw (61) Rubinstein - Chigorin Lodz (2) 1906 Queen’s Pawn [D05] Notes by Konstantinopolsky (K) and Authors (A). (A) The Russian publication Chess in the USSR, which published all the games of this tournament in Number 6 (April-June 1990), mistakenly gave this game as Chigorin-Rubinstein. 1.d4 d5 2.4)f3 e6 3.€3 £6 4.4.43 c5 5.b3 4)\c6 6.0-0 a6? (A) A waste of time. Better is 6...2d6, followed by ...0-0 and ...t¥e7. 7. Q.b2 cxd4 8.exd4 2.d6 9.2)bd2 0-0 10.Hel 2.47 11.25 (K) More exact is 11.a3!. 11...8c8 (K) Black should play 11...b4 12.42 Bc8 13.c3 Ac6 14.4d3 and now 14...b5 or 14...8%c7 with equality. (A) After 15.£4 or 15.df3 White has a small advantage. 12.a3 Qe7 13.4df3 Dg6 14.g3 Me8 15.485! Le7 (K) If 15...h6? 16.dxe6. 16.h4! 4|h8 17.04 h6 18.4h3 Qd7 19.4)f4 2b4 52 20.c3! Qd6 (K) If 20...8xc3? 21.¥¥c2! and White wins. 21.¥¥c2 g6 22.¥¥d2 g5 23.4)h3 xe5 24.dxe5 Le7 25.hxg5 hxg5 26.vye2 |g6 27.24 e7 28.Had1 b5 29.axb5 axb5 30.c4! bxc4 31.bxc4 Qc6 32.A8.c1l Bh8 33.05 We8 34.Qxg6 fxg6 35.4)xe6+ Hg8 36.cxd5 Qb7 37.L.x85 AxB5 38.2)x85 (A) But not 38.4425 Wxe6! 39.dxe6 &h1+ mate! 38...Hc5 39.4)e4, 1-0 (62) Salwe - Rubinstein Lodz (3) 1906 Giuoco Piano [C50] 1.e4 €5 2.4)f3 4c6 3.2.04 Acs 4.43 Af6 5.2)c3 d6 6.2.e3 Abb 7.0-0 294 8.4)d5 4)xd5 9.4xd5 Wd7 10.Qxc6 bxc6 11.h3 Qh5 12.c3 We6 13.Qh2 Abs 14.2 £5 15.exf5 Wxf5 16.421 2g6 17.Had1 0-0 18.1 c5 19.c4 c6 20.£3 d5 21.0f2 WE4 22.xf4 exf4 23.4)e2 d4 24.4)c1 Hfe8 25.01 a5 26.a4 Qc7 27.b3 BF7 28.Bfel 2e5 29.He2 Of5 30.2.1Lodz 1906 Ha8 31.Xd2 g5 32.Rdel f6 33.0f1 He6 34.81 h5 35.0f2 207 36.8 xe6+ Axe6 37.4h1 OFS 38.Hel 2.26 39.He2 He8 40.Hxe8 Qxe8 41.f1 X26 42.%e2 Qh7 43.Qf2 Af5 44.He2 94 45.hxg4 hxg4 46.9f2 g6 47.2.e1 gs 48.He2 @h5 49.4)a2, Draw After one cycle the scores were: 1. Rubinstein 2; 2-3. Flamberg and Salwe 1%; 4. Chigorin 1. (63) Flamberg - Rubinstein Lodz (4) 1906 Ruy Lopez [C87] Notes by Konstantinopolsky. 1.e4 e5 2.43 )c6 3.4b5 a6 4.9.44 £6 5.0-0 Xe7 6.Hel dé 7.44 b5 8.dxe5 4)xe5! 9.4)xe5 dxe5 10. xd8+ Qxd8 11.4b3 ADb7 12.2)c3 Le7 13.45 Axd5 14,exd5 0-07! This pawn sacrifice is not necessary. Instead, 14...f6! 15.f4 0-0-0 16.fxe5 Sixd5 leads to a slight advantage for Black. 15.Bxe5 Af6 16.8 £5 If 16.8e1 Bad8 17.8d1 c6 and Black stands better. 16...Afe8 17.8f1 Had8 18.c3 After 18,225 &xg5 19.8xg5 Bd6 20.8d1 Hed8 21.8e1 &f8 the game is equal. 18...a5 19.43? The right continuation is 19.a4! with equality. 53 19...a4 20.8.a2 2a6 21.23 b4+ 22.881 b3! 23.Qb1 Ac4 24.8 f4 Bxd5 25.2.3 Ac6 26.404 Hd7 27.8f1 Me5 28.Hg4 Hed8 29.2 PhS 30.f4 AF6 31.65 He7 32.@f2 h5 33.8f4 Xg5 34.f6 Bxe3 35.fxg7+ Oxg7 36.hxe3 He8+ 37.04 2 xf4 38.85 Ad7, 0-1 (64) Chigorin - Rubinstein Lodz (5) 1906 French Burn [C11] 1.e4 e6 2.44 d5 c3 DFE 4.0.85 dxe4 5.4)xe4 Ne7 6.4xf6 gxf6 7.4)£3 £5 8.2)83 5 9.L.b5+1 206 10.c3 0-0 Rubinstein tries to improve upon Salwe’s play. The other star from Lodz was unsuccessful with 10...%b6 and 10...cxd4 in his match with Chigorin, just before this event. 11.Qxc6 bxc6 12.0-0 cxd4? 13.4)xd4! WYe7 14.Yh5 Bhs 15.8fel £4 16.44 £5 17.85 Axg5 18.¥9x85 €5 19.Yh6 Ad7 20.4)f3 Hfe8 21.4g5 He7 22.f6+ He7 23.Qf7+ gs 23.)h6+ Qh8 24.8xe5 wyc8 26.He7 Wf8Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King Walter Korn, in his The Brilliant Touch, as well as Gerald Abrahams in The Chess Mind, point out that almost the same position was reached with colors reversed 40 years later at Groningen. There the future world champion Vassily Smyslov (as Black against Lundin, diagram below) missed thewin with ...f2! and took a draw by per- petual (...2f2+ and ...h3+). Chigorin-Rubinstein continued (from the previous diagram): 27.8f7!, 1-0 (65) Rubinstein - Salwe Lodz (6) 1906 King’s Gambit [C30] 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Ac5 3.4f3 d6 4.c3 4c6 5.2.b5 2d7 6.d4 Ab6 7.0-0 46 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qxc6 Axc6 10.4)xe5 Qxe4 11.0g5 dé 12.Qxf6 gxf6 13.Qc4 Web 14.)bd2 £5 15.4)xe4! fxe4 16.tya4+! Be7 17.a3zt+ Hes 18.%b3 Wwe7 19.Hf4 Hhgs 20.¥yb4+ HeB 21.eyb5+ c6 22.ve5 Wxe5 23.4xe5 Ac7 24.Hxe4 Sxe5 25.Hxe5+ Od7 26.Hael Haf8 27.Be7+ Oc8 28.8 1e3 h6 29.f2 Hg6 30.Hf3 £6 31.Bg3 Hes 32.h4 Xb5 33.b3 c5 34.d5 34 Ha5 35.Hgg7 Hxa2+ 36.8f3 Bc2 37.Hc7+ Sd8 38.Rxb7 Hxc3+ 39.@f4 Yc8 40.d6, 1-0 (66) Rubinstein - Flamberg Lodz (7) 1906 Queen’s Gambit Exchange [D63] 1.44 d5 2.c4e6 3.4)c3 D6 4.A85 e7 5.4f3 |bd7 6.e3 0-0 7.Ac1 b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.5e5 Qb7 10.443 c5 11.f4 He8 12.0-0 c4 13.Qb1 a6 14.8f3 b5 15.8h3 4)£8? 16.2.xf6 Axf6 4, GY Aa ‘yy 17.Qxh7+! Qxh7 18.Yh5 We7 19.%xh7+ Qf8 20.e4 dxe4 21.4)xe4 Axe5 22.fxe5 Web 23.Hel Wd5 24.h8+ We7 25.h4+ Od7 26.x9f2 Bc7 27.8f3 He7 28.2\c3 tye6 29.Hf4 Konstantinopolsky suggests 29.d5 Sixd5 30.44c5+ with the advantage, but after 30...Sc6 White doesn’t seem to have any forced continuation that gives him the better game. 29...Hd8 30.Hf1 Hdd7 31.%¥g3! Wb6 32.4)€2 wc6 33.8xf7! bs 34.Hxe7 Hxe7 35.0f4 we4 36.9 26+ Wxg6 37.4) xg6 Bd7 38.Hd1 b4 39.6 Hd6 40.e7 Qc6 41.45, 1-0Lodz 1906 The battle for first place in the tournament was decided in the penultimate round by the following game between the two tournament leaders. (67) Rubinstein - Chigorin Lodz (8) 1906 Chigorin [D07] Notes by Konstantinopolsky (K), Chigorin (C) and Authors (A). 1.04 d5 2.4)f3 2g4 3.e3 e6 4.4 4c6 5.4)c3 Qb4 6.%yb3 Dge7 7.4.42 0-0 8.cxd5 4)xd5 9.443 Axf3 10.gxf3 Ab8 11.0-0-0 2 xc3 12.bxc3 (A) A forgotten attempt to improve on the existing theory of the day. ECO’s example, Pillsbury-Chigorin, London 1899, continues 12.8xc3, but after 12...b5 13.8d2 Bb6 14.8dgl a5 15.4 f5! Black stands slightly better. 12...b5 13.e4 4\de7 14.Hhg1 a5?! (C) Black should play 14...b4! 15.5 wWd7! 16.%a4 Bb6 17.4b5 Bfbs 18.2xc6 8xc6 with advantage. (K) Also interesting is 14...a5!? 15.443 (if 15.¥4c2? b4! 16.cxb4 Dac6) 15...c4 16,LAxc4 bxc4, ete. 15. Le3 Dg6 16.f4 Wh4 17.d5! a4 (K) The alternatives 17.,.exd5 18.txd5 Lodz 1906 April 111 222 a3 3 4 4 4 Toul 1. Rubinsten x x x 10 1 411 “1% 6% 2.Chigorn 0 1 0 xX x x oO 14% 1 11 5u 3. Flamberg 1% 0 0 10% x ox x 01% 3% 4, Salwe % 0% 000 10% xxx % ce7 19.%¥g5 and 17...d8 18,2xb5 ®xf4 19.8c5 He8 20.Wad4 are in White’s favor. 18.Y%ya3 exd5 19.exd5 4)ce7? (C) Here Black missed 19...b4! 20.%¥xa4 Sce7, and if 21.c4 there would follow 21...xf4 22.2 Seg6. Bringing the queen in on the queenside, Black would have a strong, perhaps decisive attack. 20.951 4)xf4 21.4xb5 OFS (K) If 21...Dexd5 22.44d4!. 22.8yc4l 4)d6 23.8Yxf4 23.¥4d4 f6 24.246 is a Fritz suggestion to preserve the two bishops. 23...%4Yxf4 24,.8xf4 Bxb5 25.8c2 Akiva looks to his better placed king and the target on a4 as reasons for op- timism in this ending. 25... a3 (A) This is a tough Choice forChigorin. Should he allow the upcoming double- rook ending or let Akiva get a bishop vs. knight endgame via 25...£fb8 26.8b1? The weakness of Black’s a- pawn in the latter endgame was un- doubtedly a factor in Chigorin’s decision.Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King 25... e8 26.2 ge1 &f8 might havebeen the best choice. 26.2.cl Ha8 27.Hg4! (A) This rook lift prepares Rb4. If White can exchange a pair of rooks it will be to his advantage, as the pawn on a3 will almost certainly fall. 27...f5 28.8b4 Hba5 28...8xb4 29.cxb4 He8 30.b3 and a3 falls. 29.Qf4 G7? 30.Qxd6 cxd6 31.8b7+ Of6 32.Hd7 H8a6 33.c4 Bb6 (C) Better defensive chances were offered by 33...f4, for example 34.5e1 Hb6 35.He6+ SF5 36.8f7+ g4 37.Bxg7+ &f3, etc. (A) One of the nice things about Mikhail Marin’s chapter on Rubinstein’s rook endgames in Learn from the Legends — Chess Champions at their Best is that he not only selects well-known examples, but also some less examined gems. He subjects the position after Black’s 33rd move to no less than four pages of analysis! 34.4! 85 (K) Or 34...b2+ 35.8c3 Hxa2 36.Be1 @g6 37.Bgl1+ Pho 38.8gxg7 He2 39.8g5 Sa6 40.8f7 and White wins. (A) Marin improves on this line with 38...8f2! 39.8xh7+ Sg6 40.Bhg7+ @h6 41.847 8xa7 42.8xa7 a2 43.8b3 Exf4 44.Bxa2 Bg4 45.8a6 Hg6 46.%c3! and White should win. 35.fxg5+ Qxgs 35...86 36.h4, 36.3! “A subtle move. Not finding a forced win yet, Rubinstein makes a prophy- lactic move. If Black wants to continue his plan, he will have to play Bh2 without check, thus allowing the immediate capture of the d6-pawn” (Marin). 36... hS 37.h4+! Bed (A) If 37...8xh4 38.4g7 with inevi- table mate. 39.Bg6! (A) Winning immediately. The threat is 40.8f1+ and 41.8e7+ mate. 39...@f3 40.Hf1+ Be2 41.8xf5, 1-0 A point up going into the last round, most players would opt for safety, but Rubinstein engages in a knock-down, drag-out battle against his club mate. 56Lodz 1906 (68) Salwe - Rubinstein Lodz (9) 1906 Giuoco Piano [C50] 1.€4 e€5 2.4f3 Dc6 3.4c4 Ac5 4.4)c3 Df6 5.d3 d6 6.2.e3 2b6 7.0-0 2.94 8.Ad5 4xd5 9.4xd5 wd7 A year later, in their third match, Rubinstein preferred 9...0-0 when 10.h3 (10.c3 @h8 11.h3 Bd7 12.d4 exd4 13.2xd4 [13.cxd4 f5!] 13...axd4 14.Qxd4 c6 15.2b3 We7 16.Hel Ac7 offered chances for both sides in Salwe- Flamberg, Lodz 1906) 10...h5 11.4 Aig6 12.8g2 Ph8 13.we2 We7 14.24 Qd8 15.a5 Axe3 16.fxe3 c6 was clearly in Black’s favor, according to Unzicker in ECO. 10.c3 Varying from the third round, where Salwe tried 10.&xc6 bxc6 11.h3 against Rubinstein. 10...e7 11.2.xb7 Hb8 12.0.6 286 Threatening 13...0h4. This pawn sac- tifice is necessary; 12...xe3? 13.fxe3 Hxb2 would be met by 14.£.c4 withthe twin threats 15.xf7+ and 15..4b3. 13.d4 f5 As 13...h4 can now be met by 14.2€2. 57 14,.2.e2 £4 15.4.cl 0-0 16.@h1! Taking appropriate defensive measures. On 16.4xe5 Axe5 17.dxe5 Black has a pleasant choice between the sharp 17...f3!? and the more restrained 17...Qxe2 18.¥xe2 dxe5 — in both cases with excellent play. 16... be8 17.d5 We7 18.a4! a5 19.b4 S.c8 20...d2 HPh8 21.bxas a7! 22.2e1 Hg8 23.Hb1 |fs 24.2)d2 tgs Stopping White’s*&.g4. An alternative is 24...g5 25.Ag4 La. 25.f3 Dg6 26.4.b5 He7 27.tye2 \)h4 28.g3 fxg3 29.hxg3 Dg6 30.Af2 f4! 31.gxf4 Wh5+, Draw Konstantinopolsky gives the fantasy variation 32.4h4? wxh4+ 33.wh2 Wxf4 34.xf4 exf4 35.04 g5 36.26 Bes! 37.Da5 94 38.26 g3! 39.g2 h3+ 40.8xh3 BhS+ 41.821 Bh2+ mate.Ostende 1906 The Belgian seaside resort of Ostende was the scene of one of the most unusual tournaments in the history of chess. The Oxford Companion to Chess notes that it was the strong master and organizer Isidor Gunsberg who was responsible for the unusual format. Gunsberg was especially proud of the five-stage thirty-six-player tournament, as it gave many younger players a chance. This was a change from the norm of the time, which was to invite only established masters. The fine results of the youngsters Rubinstein (3rd place), Bernstein (=4th), and Perlis (9th) greatly enhanced their reputations. The flip side of Gunsberg’s marathon was that it proved to be a strain for some of the older players. Those that made it to the final stage (nine of the players) ended up playing 30 games! Schlechter’s victory, one of the finest of his distinguished career, was worth 4,000 Belgian francs. Maréczy received 2,500 and Rubinstein 1,500. From Lasker s Chess Magazine, June 1906: The Ostende Tournament The tournament at Ostende attracted thirty-six competitors, a huge, unruly number. The manager, Isidor Gunsberg, had the difficult task before him to discover a system of playing that would satisfy the chessworld and not fag the players. The best way would have been to restrict the number of entries. But such a procedure would probably have been contrary to the desires of the “Kursaal.” So there was no way of solving the problem but by the antiquated play in groups. The masters were arranged in four groups (A, B, C, D) of nine, each group, in the opinion of the committee, being of about the same strength. Each member of A and C met each member of B and D. After this tussle the three who held, according to the Berger system of scoring, the least number of points in each group were thrown out. Then the reduced groups fought again, this time A battling with C, B with D. Hereafter the reduc- tion process was again applied, two being eliminated in each section. The four remaining players of each group continued the con- test, A meeting D, B contending against C. In the semi-final four players of each group played with each other. The nine players with best scores entered the final, which proceeded according to the manner generally adopted. Under the circumstances the tournament resolved itself into a con- test of endurance. The older players suffered most from the ordeal. One by one they sank exhausted by the wayside. The longer they held out the more pitiable was their breakdown. Mardczy, after aOstende 1906 bad start, swept magnificently to victory, but suddenly collapsed, put a rook en prise in one game, overlooked an easy win in another, and had to be satisfied with second place. Janowsky made a brilliant start and then broke down. The overdose of play so completely ruined him that, after having won seven out of the first nine points he managed to gain only six out of the following eighteen games, finally getting a sort of second wind where he scored two out of three [sic—Janowsky finished with 16 points]. Blackburne, Marco and Chigorin were soon hopelessly floundering in the dust after the first and second stage had been reached, and this although Chigorin, after a miserable start, had made a showing which, if continued, would have secured to him one of the high prizes. But had he, after his poor beginning, won nearlyevery game he would, probably, still have been eliminated. Verily it was a chess fair, not a tournament! It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. The young masters were given their chance to show what they had learnt and the examina- tion was most satisfactory. In fact, they came dangerously near an- nexing the position of examinators [sic] for themselves. And one of their ranks, Rubinstein, proved himself what his name implies, a veritable gem. Mr. Gunsberg may thank his stars that this twenty- three-year-old Russian happens to have the cut of a genius. This fact redeems the tournament. IfMr. Rubinstein keeps what his cour- age, prudence and imagination promise, the tournament at Ostende will long be remembered as his debut on the stage of international chess. Exit Janowsky, enter Rubinstein! But perhaps not. Janowsky is not made to stand large strains. His limit of elasticity is soon reached. When he will have rested and recuperated from the effects of his mistake in trying to carry an overload of mental labor, a year hence he will be a dangerous rival again. The hero of the tournament was Schlechter. It was his first undis- puted victory, and as Schlechter is very popular all over the chessworld, the whole chessworld was glad with him. He scored 21 points out of a possible 30. For a first prize winner, this is a meagre percentage, seventy-five percent being the rule. But, it might be ar- gued, the list of entries included such names as Mardéczy, Rubin- stein, Bum, Bernstein, Teichmann, Marshall, Janowsky, Perlis, Blackbure, Marco, Chigorin and others of good sound, and to meet many of them twice and still win seven out of ten is a great achievement. In any case, achievements cannot be measured by mere suc- 59

Life and Games of Akiba Rubinstein

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