[blind-chess] Annotated Game #022: Akiba Rubinstein - Rudolf Spielmann, San Sebastian 1912
- From: Roderick Macdonald <rmacd@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Blind Chess Mailing List <blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 11:29:02 -1000 (HST)
Annotated Game #022:
Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein - Rudolf Spielmann
San Sebastian 1912
Adapted and Condensed from
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
Contents
++1. Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein
++1.A Biography
++1.B Chess heritage
++1.C Notable chess games
++2. Rudolf Spielmann
++2.A Career
++2.B Quotes
++3. Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein - Rudolf Spielmann
++1. Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein
Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (December 12, 1882 - March 15, 1961)
was a famous Polish chess Grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th
century. He was scheduled to play a match with Emanuel Lasker for
the world championship in 1914, but it was cancelled because of the
outbreak of World War I.
++1.A Biography
Rubinstein was born in the Polish border town of Stawiski. He
learned to play chess in school when he was 16. He was Jewish, and
his family planned for him to become a rabbi. However, in 1903,
after finishing fifth in a tournament in Kiev, Rubinstein decided
to abandon his rabbinical studies and devote himself entirely to
chess. He trained with and played against the strong master Gersz
Salwe in Lodz.
Between 1907 and 1912, Rubinstein established himself as one of the
strongest players in the world. In 1907, he won the Karlovy Vary
tournament and shared first at St. Petersburg. In 1912, he had a
record string of wins, finishing first in five consecutive major
tournaments: San Sebastian, Piestany, Breslau (the German
championship), Warsaw and Vilnius (although none of these events
included Lasker or Capablanca). Some believe that he was better
than world champion Emanuel Lasker at this time. Ratings from
Chessmetrics support this conclusion, placing him as world #1
between mid 1912 and mid 1914. Reuben Fine, on the other hand,
believed he was not quite as strong as Lasker, and was also
eclipsed by Jose Raul Capablanca after 1911.
At the time when it was common for the reigning world champion to
handpick his challengers, Rubinstein was never given a chance to
play Lasker for the world chess championship because he was unable
to raise enough money to meet Lasker's financial demands. In the
1909 St. Petersburg tournament, he had tied with Lasker and won his
individual encounter with him. However, he had a poor showing at
the St. Petersburg tournament in 1914, not placing in the top five.
A match with Lasker was arranged for October 1914, but it never
took place because of the outbreak of World War I.
After the war Rubinstein was still an elite grandmaster, but his
results lacked their previous formidable consistency. Nevertheless,
he won at Vienna in 1922, ahead of future world champion Alexander
Alekhine, and was the leader of the Polish team that won the Chess
Olympiad at Hamburg in 1930 with a superb record of thirteen wins
and four draws. A year later he won an Olympic silver.
After 1932 he withdrew from tournament play, mostly because his
schizophrenic tendencies became prevalent; he was suffering from
anthropophobia, a fear of people and society. Unlike other great
grandmasters, he left behind no literary heritage, which may be
attributed to his mental problems. He spent the last 29 years of
his life suffering from severe mental illness, living at various
times at home with his family and in a sanatorium. It is not clear
how the Jewish grandmaster survived World War II in Nazi-occupied
Belgium. One oft-related story is that the Nazis arrived one day to
take him to the death camps, but he was so patently insane that
they abandoned the attempt. However, there is no documentation to
support this tale.
++1.B Chess heritage
He was one of the earliest chess players to take the endgame into
account when choosing and playing the opening. He was exceptionally
talented in the endgame, particularly in rook endings, where he
broke new ground in knowledge. Jeremy Silman ranked him as one of
the five best endgame players of all time, and a master of rook
endgames.
He originated the Rubinstein System against the Tarrasch Defense
variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined: 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4
e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 (Rubinstein - Tarrasch,
1912).
He is also credited with inventing the Meran Variation, which stems
from the Queen's Gambit Declined but reaches a position of the
Queen's Gambit Accepted with an extra move for Black.
Many opening variations are named for him. The "Rubinstein Attack"
often refers to 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 0-0
6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Qc2. The Rubinstein Variation of the French Defence
arises after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 (or 3. Nd2) dxe4 4. Nxe4.
Apart from 4. Qc2, the Rubinstein Variation of the Nimzo-Indian: 1.
d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3. There are also the Rubinstein
Variation of the Four Knights Game, which arises after 1. e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4, and the Rubinstein Variation of the
Symmetrical English, 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5.
Bg2 Nc7, a complex system that is very popular at the grandmaster
level.
The Rubinstein Trap, an opening trap in the Queen's Gambit Declined
that loses at least a pawn for Black, is named for him because he
fell into it twice. One version of it runs:
1. d4 d5
2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. cxd5 exd5
5. Bg5 Be7
6. e3 0-0
7. Nf3 Nbd7
8. Bd3 c6
9. 0-0 Re8
10. Rc1 h6
11. Bf4 Nh5?
12. Nxd5!
Now 12. ... cxd5?? is met by 13. Bc7, winning the queen, while 12.
... Nxf4 13. Nxf4 leaves White a pawn ahead.
The Rubinstein Memorial tournament in his honor has been held
annually since 1963 in Polanica Zdroj, with a glittering list of
top-flight winners.
++1.C Notable chess games
* George Rotlewi vs Akiba Rubinstein, Lodz 1907, Tarrasch
Defense: Symmetrical Variation (D02), 0-1 A very impressive
attacking combination; "perhaps the most magnificent
combination of all time" (Carl Schlechter)
* Akiba Rubinstein vs Emanuel Lasker, St. Petersburg 1909,
Queen's Gambit Declined: Traditional Variation (D30), 1-0
This game ends in an interesting position where Lasker has
no good moves (zugzwang).
* Akiba Rubinstein vs Karel Hromadka, Moravska Ostrava 1923,
King's Gambit Declined. Classical Variation (C30), 1-0 A
nice game full of tactics and hanging pieces. The former
Czech champion Karel Hromadka fights well, but at the end
Rubinstein prevails.
* Akiba Rubinstein vs Carl Schlechter. San Sebastian 1912,
1-0 Capablanca called this game "a monument of magnificent
precision." A quintessential Rubinstein game.
* Hermanis Mattison vs. Akiba Rubinstein, Carlsbad, 1929,
(C68), 0-1 A famous rook and pawn ending that seemed
"hopelessly drawn", but was won by Rubinstein. The editor
of the tournament book said that if this game had been
played 300 years earlier, Rubinstein would have been burned
at the stake for dealing with evil spirits.
++2. Rudolf Spielmann
Rudolf Spielmann (May 5 1883 - August 20 1942) was an Austrian-
Jewish chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer.
++2.A Career
He was trained as a lawyer but never worked as one.
Spielmann was known as "The Master of Attack" and "The Last Knight
of the King's Gambit". His daredevil play was full of sacrifices,
brilliancies, and beautiful ideas. This was exemplified, for
example, in the 1923 Carlsbad tournament, where he did not have a
single draw (with five wins and twelve losses).
Despite a strong opposition at that time with players like
Alekhine, Capablanca, Emanuel Lasker, Tarrasch, Rubinstein,
Nimzowitsch, and Tartakower, Spielmann managed to score well in
numerous tournaments. He won 33 of the roughly 120 in which he
played, including Bad Pistyan 1912; Stockholm 1919; Bad Pistyan
1922; and Semmering 1926.
He is also remembered as the author of the classic book The Art of
Sacrifice in Chess.
As a Jew, Spielmann had to flee from the Nazis, escaping to Sweden.
He died in Stockholm in great poverty.
Spielmann was one of few players to have an even score (+2 =8 -2)
against Capablanca, one of an even smaller number to win more than
one game against him, and the only person to fulfill both of those.
Both of Spielmann's wins came shortly after Alekhine dethroned
Capablanca as World Champion in 1927: at Bad Kissingen 1928 and
Karlsbad 1929.
Here is one of Spielmann's wins:
Capablanca-Spielmann, Bad Kissingen 1928 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3
Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. e3 b5 6. a4 b4 7. Na2 e6 8. Bxc4 Be7 9. 0-0 0-0
10. b3 c5 11. Bb2 Bb7 12. Nc1 Nc6 13. dxc5 Na5 14. Ne5 Nxc4 15.
Nxc4 Bxc5 16.Nd3 Qd5 17.Nf4 Qg5 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.Rc1 Rfd8 20.Qh5
Rac8 21. Rfd1 g6 22. Rxd8+ Qxd8 23. Qe5 Be7 24. h3 Rc5 25. Qa1 Bf6
26. Rd1 Rd5 27. Rxd5 exd5 28. Ne5 Qd6 29. Nfd3 Ba6 30. Qe1 Bxe5 31.
Nxe5 Qxe5 32. Qxb4 Bd3 33. Qc5 Qb8 34. b4 Qb7 35. b5 h5 36.Qc3 Bc4
37. e4 Qe7 38. exd5 Bxd5 39. a5 Qe4 0-1
++2.B Quotes
* According to Richard Reti, Spielmann demonstrated "unusual
resourcefulness in complicated situations, in which he felt
perfectly at home."
* Spielmann himself believed "A good sacrifice is one that is
not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent dazed and
confused."
* "Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a
magician, and the endgame like a machine." - Spielmann.
++3. Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein - Rudolf Spielmann
San Sebastian 1912, Round 10
White: Akiba Rubinstein
Black: Rudolf Spielmann
Result: 0-1
ECO: A84 - Dutch Defense, Rubinstein Variation
Notes by R.J. Macdonald
1. d4 e6
2. c4 f5
(The Dutch Defense, characterized by black advancing the f-pawn.
Nowadays the f-pawn advance often occurs, as with this game, on
black's second move, though by definition the dutch consists of 1.
d4 f5.)
3. Nc3
(The Rubinstein Variation. White sets up in a typical Queen's
Gambit-type formation, even though black has not played ... d5.)
3. ... Bb4
(Other possibilities for black include: (a) 3. ... b6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5.
Bf4 Bb7 6. g3 Nh5 7. Bd2 Be7 8. Bg2 0-0 9. 0-0 a6 10. h3; (b) 3.
... Nf6 4. g3 d6 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Nf3 0-0 7. 0-0 Qe8 8. Bf4 Nc6 9. Rc1
Nh5 10. Bg5; and (c) 3. ... Be7 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 0-0. In each case
White has a slight advantage.)
4. Bd2
(Also possible is 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 0-0 6. Nf3 d6 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. Qb3
Ne4 9. Be3 Bxc3 10. bxc3, where white retains a slight advantage.)
4. ... Nf6
5. g3 0-0
6. Bg2 d6
7. a3 Bxc3
8. Bxc3 Nbd7
9. Qc2 c5
10. dxc5 Nxc5
11. Nf3 Nce4
12. 0-0 Bd7
13. Rfd1 Rc8
14. Bxf6 Qxf6
15. Qb3 Rc7
16. Ne1 Nc5
(Black threatens to win material: Nc5xb3.)
17. Qb4
(17. Qc3 Qxc3 18. bxc3 Kf7 19. Rxd6 Ke7 gives black a moderate
advantage.)
17. ... f4
(This gives black a moderate advantage.)
18. Nd3
(18. Nf3!? Rc6 19. Qc3 Qxc3 20. bxc3 and black is slightly better.
18. ... e5 leads to a slight advantage for black.)
18. ... fxg3
(Black now has a moderate advantage.)
19. fxg3 Nxd3
(19. ... Bc6 20. Qc3 Nb3 21. Bxc6 (21. Qxb3?? Qd4+ 22. Kh1 Bxg2+
23. Kxg2 Qe4+ 24. Kg1 Qe3+ 25. Kh1 Rf2 26. Nxf2 Qxb3 with a
decisive advantage for black) 21. ... Rxc6 22. Rab1 gives black a
moderate advantage.)
20. Rxd3 Qf2+
(Black forks: g1+e2)
21. Kh1 Bc6
(21. ... Qxe2 22. Rd2 Qxc4 23. Qxc4 Rxc4 24. Rxd6 offers a moderate
advantage for black.)
22. e4
(After the text move black has a slight advantage.)
22. ... Rcf7
23. Re1
(23. Rxd6 fails to the following pretty mating combination: 23. ...
Bxe4 24. Bxe4 Qe2 25. Bf3 Rxf3 26. Rg1 Rf2 27. Rg2 Qe4 28. Qxb7
Rf1#)
23. ... a5
(Black threatens to win material: a5xb4)
24. Qc3 Qc5
25. b4 Bxe4
(Black has a mate threat.)
Key Move Diagram:
5rk1/
1p3rpp/
3pp3/
p1q5/
1PP1b3/
P1QR2P1/
6BP/
4R2K
Position after black's 25th move.
26. Rxe4??
(26. Bxe4 had to be tried to avoid defeat: 26. ... Rf1+ 27. Rxf1
Rxf1+ 28. Kg2 Rg1+ 29. Kf3 Qh5+ 30. Kf4 Rf1+ 31. Rf3 axb4 32. axb4
offers equality.)
26. ... Rf1+
(This gives black a decisive edge.)
27. Bxf1 Rxf1+
28. Kg2 Qf2+
29. Kh3 Rh1
30. Rf3
(30. Rxd6?? will allow a snap mate in 2 after 30. ... Rxh2+ 31. Kg4
Qf5# 30. Rxe6 leads to a pleasing mate after 30. ... h5 31. Qxg7+
Kxg7 32. Re7+ Kf8 33. Re8+ Kxe8 34. Kh4 Qf6+ 35. Kxh5 Qf5+ 36. Kh6
Rxh2+ 37. Kg7 Qg5#)
30. ... Qxh2+
31. Kg4 Qh5+
32. Kf4 Qh6+
33. Kg4 g5
34. Rxe6 Qxe6+
35. Rf5
(35. Kxg5 praying for a miracle, but after 35. ... h6+ 36. Kf4
black is decisively ahead.)
35. ... h6
(More precise is 35. ... Qe4+ 36. Rf4 gxf4 37. Qf6 fxg3+ 38. Qf4
Qg6+ 39. Qg5 h5+ 40. Kxg3 Qxg5+ 41. Kf2 Qf4+ 42. Ke2 Rh2+ 43. Kd3
Rd2+ 44. Kc3 Qe3#)
36. Qd3 Kg7
37. Kf3
Key Move Diagram:
8/
1p4k1/
3pq2p/
p4Rp1/
1PP5/
P2Q1KP1/
8/
7r
Position after white's 37th move.
37. ... Rf1+!
(Deflection: f1)
38. Qxf1 Qxf5+
39. Kg2 Qxf1+
40. Kxf1 axb4
41. axb4 Kf6
42. Kf2 h5
0-1
==========
The blind-chess mailing list
View list information and change your settings: //www.freelists.org/list/blind-chess
List archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/blind-chess
=========
Other related posts:
- » [blind-chess] Annotated Game #022: Akiba Rubinstein - Rudolf Spielmann, San Sebastian 1912 - Roderick Macdonald
