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Jul-11-02
 | | Sneaky: So did Rubinstein not see 24...Ra5? Or did he draw the game intentionally in a remarkable display of eccentricity? If I was going to draw a won game intentionally, I'd get the opponent's king in a checkmate position, and then extend my hand in draw. The way Rubinstein did it, the world will always wonder if he had seen it or not. |
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| Mar-18-03 | | AgentRgent: 24...Rh5 isn't a forced mate, but it does force loss of material. 25. Ne5 Rxe5 26. Rxe5 Qxe6. Though being a knight down against Rubinstein will almost certainly be fatal. |
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| Feb-12-04 | | capanegra: This is one of my favorite anecdotes. Kmoch and Reinfeld tell that in the Leipzig tournament of 1888, Schottländer had refused Mieses’ offer of a draw in identical circumstances, eventually losing the game –and the first price!-. Additional comment: before this last round, Rubinstein’s competitor for the first price was Maroczy with one point down. As Maroczy had beaten Janowski, then Rubinstein needed a draw to win the first price without sharing it. His game against Janowski is very worth to see, a startling Moeller Attack that rocked the poor David back on his heels: Maroczy vs Janowski, 1907 |
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| Mar-19-05 | | Karpova: <sneaky: The way Rubinstein did it, the world will always wonder if he had seen it or not.> no, that's wrong.
maroczy and wolf were friends and wolf was not quite a nice person. he promised maroczy to win against rubinstein and didn't talk good about rubinstein. look at capanegra's post for the tournament situation. wolf didn't achieve a chance of winning the game and offered rubinstein a draw. this would have meant the sole victory for rubinstein but he refused and strated outplaying wolf. he probably wanted to make clear to wolf and maroczy that he could not only win against wolf (and not lose to him) but also make a draw whenever he wanted! |
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Jun-30-06
 | | offramp: Somr strong player said that Rubinstein had never offered a draw in any game in his career. |
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Jun-30-06
| | offramp: It was in fact Lajos Steiner who said that he had never seen Rubinstein offer a draw himself and knew of no other master that had seen him offer one. |
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| Oct-11-06 | | Plato: A curious coincidence -- and what some might call "poetic justice" -- occured some 16 years later at Karlsbad, 1923 ( Rubinstein vs H Wolf, 1923 ). Rubinstein was to face Wolf again, this time with White, and on move 44 could have acquiesced to the draw with 44.Nb7, which would have repeated the position for a third time. Instead, he again refused Wolf's draw offer, opting for 44.Qb7 ... and resigned just four moves later due to a horrific blunder! I'm sure Wolf was smiling to himself at that moment... |
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| Dec-28-06 | | AdrianP: I was browsing through the new edition of Rubinstein: Uncrowned King when I came across this anecdote. Rubinstein (as indicated by capanegra only needed a draw to win the tournament), but refused Wolf's draw offer (as per comments). He had a long think about his 24th move, but then played 24 ...Ba6 rather than 24 ...Rh5!  . After the game a crowd of spectators asked him why he had not seen 24. ...Rh5 winning, and Rubinstein apparently replied that, of course, he had seen it. They asked why hadn't he played it and he replied that he only needed a draw to win the tournament. They then asked why he hadn't accepted Wolf's earlier draw offer, prompting the famous reply 'With Wolf I make draw when I want to, not when he wants to!' |
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| Dec-28-06 | | Benzol: <AdrianP> Ade are there any new games by comparison with the previous edition? |
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| Dec-28-06 | | AdrianP: <Benzol> I don't know - I haven't got the old edition and I didn't buy the new one... |
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| Dec-28-06 | | Archives: <It was in fact Lajos Steiner who said that he had never seen Rubinstein offer a draw himself and knew of no other master that had seen him offer one.> Reminds me of a saying I have heard, "A Rubinstein never offers a draw!" |
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| Dec-28-06 | | Archives: <AdrianP> Were you just browsing through it at a bookstore? Can't wait till I can get my copy of the new book! |
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| Nov-23-07 | | Karpova: <Plato: A curious coincidence -- and what some might call "poetic justice"> Well, it's actually Wolf whose behaviour was inappropriate getting excited and promising to beat that <polish upstart> (Wolf and Maroczy were both representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and close friends). <offramp: It was in fact Lajos Steiner who said that he had never seen Rubinstein offer a draw himself and knew of no other master that had seen him offer one.> Rubinstein offered draws e.g. against Chigorin in round 19. |
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Jan-06-08
 | | Phony Benoni: It's possible that Steiner's observation is accurate. He would have known Rubinstein only after the First World War when Rubinstein's psychological problems became more apparent--one of which, as I recall, was a morbid fear of disturbing his opponent. |
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Nov-19-08
 | | perfidious: Horowitz pointed out in one of his books from the 1960s that after 24....Rh5 25.h3 Ng4 was possible, with the ensuing line 26.fxg4 Rxh3+ and 'White's position falls apart'. |
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Dec-30-08
 | | Richard Taylor: I think Rubinstein missed Rh4. He was a great player but all players make errors. Perhaps Wolf should have played 22. f4 or 22. Ng4 ......? |
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Nov-29-10
| | offramp: This is how I heard it:
"Man Named Wolf he visit town of the Running Water of Heap Big Chief.
He makum offer of calumet to Dances With Rooks! Dances With Rooks heap
unhappy. Dances With Rooks sulk in corner. He say "Dances With Rooks
makum calumet when Dances With Rooks want calumet, not when Man Named
Wolf want calumet!" He get heap big laugh. Makum good comedian." |
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Nov-29-10
 | | Pawn and Two: <capanegra> In his book, "Three Hundred Chess Games", Tarrasch stated that it was Riemann, not Schottlaender, who made a costly decline of a draw offer at Leipzig 1888. Tarrasch stated, <At one point, Mieses offered Riemann a draw which would have given Riemann first place."> Riemann declined the draw, lost the game, and as a result, he had to share first place with von Bardeleben, with Mieses finishing 3rd. |
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Jun-05-15
| | Phony Benoni: Maybe not one of the best draws ever, but certainly one of the best stories. Briefly, Rubinstein needed a draw to win the tournament. Wolf offered one, but Rubinstein refused and built up a massive, winning attack. Then he frittered it away, offered a draw himself, and walked away with first prize. When asked later to explain his behavior, Rubinstein replied, "With Wolf, I draw when I want to, not when he wants to!" There is much more to the story, with many subplots both personal and political. You can read some of this in previous kibitzes. And, as with most really good chess anecdotes, there's a possibility it didn't happen at all. Yes, I know Hans Kmoch wrote it up in an article in "Chess Review" some forty years later. It would still be good to find a contemporary report. |
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| Jun-05-15 | | PhilFeeley: Is it a crime against chess not to win a game when you should? |
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Jun-05-15
| | offramp: <PhilFeeley: Is it a crime against chess not to win a game when you should?> Yes it is. But is it wrong not to always be glad? No, it's not wrong - but I must add, how can someone so young sing words so sad? |
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Jun-05-15
 | | Check It Out: If it is then I should be incarcerated. |
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| Jun-05-15 | | morfishine: Yawnsome |
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Jun-05-15
 | | Penguincw: Hmm. It's draw week here, as 4 straight GOTDs have been drawn. Any predictions for tomorrow's game (I'm just going to guess 1-0)? |
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| Jun-05-15 | | Brit: Another draw possibly? |
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