When I first went through this game I was wondering why Akiba went with 28.Qxf2! instead of 28.Kb3. It turns out that 28.Kb3 is a very inferior move to the one played.

Also, I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the final move of 29.Bc5! A simpler win for White would have been 29.Bxg8 but Akiba chose the very artistic Bc5! instead which leaves Black's Rook and Knight both hanging.

And the brilliant 25.Qb6! is reminiscent of Marshall's infamous Qg3! move.

Yea, Ive always found it strange that when Akiba opened with e4 and was meet by ...e5, he invariably replied with 2.f4

I thought a player like him would prefer something like the Lopez or maybe even the Giouco.

<Man i really like Rubinstein's great gems like this.. how cool is this game??? i daydream of playing like this> LOL. I wish I could play a game as marvellous as this too. So many moves in this game deserve exclamation marks IMO.

Moves 10, 12, 19, 20, 23, 25, 26, 28, & 29 all deserve an exclamation mark IMO.

He occasionally played other 1. e4 e5 openings -- this is a very fine Ruy Lopez, highly praised by Nimzowitsch in the tournament book.

19.Kc2! is a very nice move which gives the King the security of the pawn chain and also connects the Rooks.

20.Rf3! which sets up White for a double attack on the f7 and a7 squares.

23.g3! a nice little pawn sac which removes the Knight of the f-file.

25.Qb6! which is just brilliant and devastating.

28.Qxf2! is the simplest and most accurate way to continue.

29.Bc5! which hangs Blacks Rook and Knight.

For example, running the position through Rybka2.2 and Fritz after 9.Qg3, it awards Black with an advantage of approx -1.30 and then it is only when you slide forward a few moves does it's evaluation eventually change to equal.

One possible line from 9.Qg3 is 9...Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Nxa1 11.Qxg7 Rf8 12.fxe5 dxe5 13.Rf1 Be7 14.Bg5 c6, which Rybka and Fritz will both initially award Black a nice advantage of roughly -1.00 but then eventually changes to even and then actually changed to give White the advantage!

Which leads to something very interesting I have sort of learnt about Rubinstein (as some people know, I am very passionate about Rubinstein, and he is my chess "hero")...

Rubinstein was a "classical" player - he played the classical openings (Queen's Gambits, Ruy Lopez's instead of the hypermodern ones), and his openings would follow the simple rules of ideal and efficient development (generally speaking, he never seemed to be one to seek complications or unclear positions in the opening).

I have found that the above is largely true for Rubinstein's early career, but when he reemerged after WWII, his opening play was distinctly different. He would willingly enter complications early on and didn't seem to shun sharp positions like I felt he did in the first half of his chess career.

Mikhail Marin's <Beating the Open Games> [2] quotes Rubinstein: <I employ the King’s Gambit only when I find myself in a bad mood.> Marin suggests that Rubinstein played 1.e4 only when he expected 1..e5, scored 19(!) points in 22 tourney games with King's Gambit, and did less well against other replies.

[1] http://www.exeterchessclub.org.uk/O...

Blacks 20th move is very nice, as 21.exd5 will be met with 21..e4 22.Bf4 exf3 23.Bxc7 with strong attack for blacks as they have a very powerful threat Qe2+! The idea behind that Nd5 was bringigng the N to outpost on f4, which of course could be a good idea, but Rubinstein saw further.

It is telling me that White can answer 20...Nd5 with 21.exd5 and still hold a at least a good +1 advantage. But also that an even stronger move for white instead of 21.exd5 is 21.Bxa7!

However, after 21.exd5 Black can respond with either 21...cxd5 or 21...e4

After 21...cxd5, 22.a6 dxc4 23.axb7+ Kb8 24.Bxa7+ Kxb7 25.Qg4 with +0.90 advantage to White

After 21...e4, 22.Bf4 exf3 23.Bxc7 Qe2+ 24.Kb3 cxd5 25.Bb5 after which Rybka3 gives Blacks best response a +2 advantage to White