- Akiba Rubinstein
Infobox chess player
playername = Akiba Rubinstein
caption= Rubinstein around 1907/1908
birthname = Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein
country = POL
datebirth =December 12 ,1882
placebirth =Stawiski ,Poland
datedeath =March 15 ,1961
placedeath =Antwerp ,Belgium
title = Grandmaster
worldchampion =
womensworldchampion =Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (
12 December ,1882 , inStawiski ,Poland –15 March ,1961 inAntwerp ,Belgium ) was a famous Polish chess Grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th century.Biography
He was
Jew ish, [ [http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/jews.html Edward Winter, Chess and Jews, 2003] , retrieved April 26, 2007] and his family planned for him to become arabbi , yet he did not finish his studies and chose to devote himself to chess entirely. The decision came in 1903 after he won fifth place at a tournament inKiev . He learned to play chess when he was 16 [Hooper and Whyld, "The Oxford Companion to Chess "] and had been training with the strong masterGersz Salwe inŁódź , and playing frequently against him.Rubinstein flourished especially from 1907 to 1912. Beginning from his win at
Karlovy Vary in 1907, through a shared win at St. Petersburg in the same year, he culminated it in a record string of wins in 1912. He won five consecutive major tournaments that year: San Sebastian,Piešťany , Breslau (the German championship),Warsaw andVilnius (although none of these events included Lasker or Capablanca)."The World's Great Chess Games",Reuben Fine , (McKay, 1976), p.79-80] Some believe that he was better than world championEmanuel Lasker at this time. [citation
last=Silman|first=Jeremy|author-link=Jeremy Silman
year=2007
title=Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master
publisher=Siles Press
isbn=1-890085-10-3
page=477] Ratings fromChessmetrics support this conclusion, placing him as world #1 between mid 1912 and mid 1914. [ [http://db.chessmetrics.com/CM2/Summary.asp?Params=190510SSSSS3S000000000000111000000000000010100 Chessmetrics Summary for 1905-1915] , retrieved on 25-Apr-2007]Reuben Fine , on the other hand, believed he was not quite as strong as Lasker, and was also eclipsed byJosé Raúl 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. His plans were damaged by a poor showing at the St. Petersburg 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 ofWorld War I . [ Harvnb|Silman|2007|p=477]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 championAlexander Alekhine , and was the leader of the Polish team that won theChess Olympiad atHamburg 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 Verify source|date=July 2007 became prevalent; he was suffering fromanthropophobia , a fear of people and society. [ [http://www.starfireproject.com/chess/rubinstein.html starfireproject.com] ]Although he lived for almost 30 years afterwards, he left behind no literary heritage like the other great grandmasters, which may be attributed to his mental problems.
During
World War II when theNazi s eventually arrived to haul the aged Jewish grandmaster from his asylum to the death camps, he was so patently insane that they abandoned the attempt. [ [http://www.chessville.com/Keene/spielmann.htm Keene] ]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. [Harvnb|Silman|2007|pp=477-88]He originated the Rubinstein System against the
Tarrasch Defense variation of theQueen's Gambit Declined : 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 (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 theQueen's Gambit Accepted , with Black one move ahead.Today, he certainly has no shortage of lines 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. The Rubinstein Variation of theNimzo-Indian is the most popular non-classical line of the Nimzo-Indian [ [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/explorer?node=112308&move=4&moves=d4.Nf6.c4.e6.Nc3.Bb4&nodes=10703.11482.11470.75542.75543.112308] Popularity of the non-classical line of the Nimzo-Indian from chessgames.com] : 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3. Of course, there is 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 highly complex system which is very popular at the grandmaster level.The
Rubinstein Memorial tournament in his honor has been held annually since 1963 inPolanica Zdroj , with a glittering list of top-flight winners.Notable chess games
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1119679 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 )
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1119726 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 ).
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1075094 Akiba Rubinstein vs Karel Hromádka, Moravská Ostrava 1923, King's Gambit: Declined. Classical Variation (C30), 1-0] A nice game full of tactics and hanging pieces. The former Czech championKarel Hromádka fights well, but at the end Rubinstein prevails.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1119757 Akiba Rubinstein vs Carl Schlechter. San Sebastian 1912, 1-0] Capablanca has heaped enormous praise on this game, calling it "a monument of magnificent precision." A quintessential game of Rubinstein.Chess diagram|=
tright
Mattison-Rubinstein, 1929
=
| |kd|rd| | | | |=
|pd| | | | |pd|pd|=
pd| | |pd| |pd| | |=
| |pd|rl| | | | |=
| | | |pl| | | |=
| | | | |pl| | |=
pl|pl|pl| | | |pl|pl|=
| |kl| | | | | |=
Black to move (his twentieth move)
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1066873 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. [Citation
last = Purdy|first = C.J.S. |authorlink = Cecil Purdy
title = C.J.S. Purdy on the Endgame
year = 2003
publisher = Thinker's Press
pages=223-26
ISBN=978-1-888710-01-8]References
Further reading
*cite book | author=Donaldson, John and
Nikolay Minev | title=Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King | publisher=International Chess Enterprises | year=1994 | id=ISBN 1-879479-19-2
*cite book | author=Chernev, Irving | title=Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games | publisher=Dover | year=1995 | id=ISBN 0-486-28674-6
*cite book | author=Kmoch, Hans | translator=Barnie F. Winkelman | title=Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces/100 Selected Games | publisher=Dover | year=1960 | id=ISBN 0-486-20617-3External links
*
* [http://www.starfireproject.com/chess/rubinstein.html Starfire bio]
* [http://www.chess-poster.com/great_players/rubinstein.htm chess poster bio]
* [http://www.supreme-chess.com/famous-chess-players/akiba-rubinstein.html Supreme Chess bio]
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