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Rubinstein 
 
Akiba Rubinstein
Number of games in database: 860
Years covered: 1897 to 1947
Overall record: +420 -151 =276 (65.9%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      13 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Queen's Pawn Game (112) 
    A46 D02 D05 D00 A40
 Orthodox Defense (39) 
    D61 D63 D64 D53 D52
 Nimzo Indian (35) 
    E38 E34 E46 E21 E44
 Queen's Gambit Declined (33) 
    D37 D30 D31 D36
 Tarrasch Defense (31) 
    D33 D32 D34
 Dutch Defense (19) 
    A84 A81 A85 A90
With the Black pieces:
 Ruy Lopez (87) 
    C77 C79 C98 C88 C68
 Four Knights (45) 
    C48 C49 C47
 French Defense (41) 
    C01 C11 C10 C00 C02
 Queen's Pawn Game (40) 
    D02 D00 D04 D05 A46
 Orthodox Defense (39) 
    D63 D60 D61 D52 D66
 Queen's Gambit Declined (32) 
    D31 D30 D37
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Rotlewi vs Rubinstein, 1907 0-1
   Rubinstein vs Lasker, 1909 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Hromadka, 1923 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Capablanca, 1911 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Salwe, 1908 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Schlechter, 1912 1-0
   Alekhine vs Rubinstein, 1912 0-1
   Rubinstein vs Janowski, 1925 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Duras, 1908 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Alekhine, 1911 1-0

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces by Karpova
   Akiba Rubinstein's Best Games by KingG
   Rubinstein Rubies by chocobonbon
   Match Rubinstein! by amadeus
   The Unknown Rubinstein - Forgotten treasures by Karpova
   Rubinstein's Rook Endings by kiadd
   Akiba Rubinstein's Rook Endings by Knight Pawn
   Learn from the great Rubinstein by timothee3331
   Akiva Rubinstein by Archives
   annotated games & lis short brilliancys by gmlisowitz
   classicisme by Duveltje
   San Sebastian 1912 by Archives

GAMES ANNOTATED BY RUBINSTEIN: [what is this?]
   Spielmann vs Rubinstein, 1920
   O Bernstein vs Rubinstein, 1912
   Salwe vs Rubinstein, 1907
   Rubinstein vs Loman / Van Gelder, 1920

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Akiba Rubinstein
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AKIBA RUBINSTEIN
(born Oct-12-1882, died Mar-15-1961) Poland (citizen of Belgium)

[what is this?]
Akiba Kielowicz Rubinstein was born October 12, 1882, in Stawiski, Poland, to a Jewish family which had planned for him to become a rabbi. Rubinstein did not complete his studies and instead decided to devote his full time to chess following fifth place in a tournament in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1903, and his career flourished from 1907 to 1912. He won the tournament in Carlsbad in 1907, shared first at St. Petersburg that year, and in 1912, he won four consecutive major tournaments: San Sebastian, Bad Pistyan, Wroclaw and Vilnius (this adds up to 5 consecutive wins in strong tournaments in the span of 12 months, including Warsaw 1911).

Rubinstein was never given a chance to play the world champion Emanuel Lasker because their match for the World Championship, scheduled to begin in October 1914, was cancelled after World War One broke out and after the War he was unable to raise sufficent funds to meet the financial demands. His career took a dive due to a bad showing in St. Petersburg in 1914, and then shortly thereafter the outbreak of World War One, and by then the active challenger Jose Raul Capablanca emerged to become the world championship contender. After the war, he was still a respectable grandmaster, winning at Vienna in 1922 and was the leader of the Polish team that won the Chess Olympiad in Hamburg in 1930, with a stunning record of 13 wins, 4 draws, and no losses.

After 1932 he withdrew from active tournament play, mainly due to his prevalent schizophrenic tendencies. He passed away in Antwerp, Belgium in 1961. Today, the Rubinstein variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3) is the most popular line of the Nimzo-Indian.

Former World Champion Garry Kasparov wrote that: "Careful analysis shows that modern chess, proceeding from the Botvinnik era, is very strongly influenced by the games of Rubinstein, who was, essentially, one of the fathers of modern chess history." -- On My Great Predecessors Part I

Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik once said that Rubinstein was: “...an incredibly talented and fantastic chess player...Why didn't he become a World Champion? That's a mystery to me…” (http://www.kramnik.com/eng/intervie...)

Here's an overview over Rubinstein's individual scores against the strongest players of his time: User: RubinsteinScores. Here's more on Rubinstein's life (what is known about his personal life, up to 1920 at the moment): User: RubinsteinLife. Here's an overview over Rubinstein's matches (only until and including 1920 at the moment): User: RubinsteinMatches. Here's an overview of Rubinstein's tournament career: http://www.phileo.demon.co.uk/uk_ar....


 page 1 of 35; games 1-25 of 860  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. Rubinstein vs G G Bartoszkiewicz 1-017 1897 CorrespondenceC55 Two Knights Defense
2. Rubinstein vs NN 1-018 1902 ?000 Chess variants
3. Rubinstein vs S Levitsky  ½-½38 1903 Third All-Russian ChampionshipD08 Queen's Gambit Declined, Albin Counter Gambit
4. W Von Stamm vs Rubinstein 0-127 1903 Third All-Russian ChampionshipD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
5. Chigorin vs Rubinstein 1-033 1903 KievC00 French Defense
6. M Lowtzky vs Rubinstein 1-029 1903 RUS-ch03D31 Queen's Gambit Declined
7. Rubinstein vs V N Kulomzin 1-020 1903 Third All-Russian ChampionshipD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
8. Rubinstein vs Salwe 1-032 1903 Lodz mD05 Queen's Pawn Game
9. Rubinstein vs Dus Chotimirsky 0-175 1903 RUS-ch03D05 Queen's Pawn Game
10. N Kalinsky vs Rubinstein 0-139 1903 Third All-Russian ChampionshipC22 Center Game
11. Salwe vs Rubinstein 1-030 1903 Lodz mB57 Sicilian
12. Rubinstein vs P P Benko 1-018 1903 RUS-ch03A84 Dutch
13. Rubinstein vs Znosko-Borovsky ½-½24 1903 Kiev All-Russian chD53 Queen's Gambit Declined
14. Rubinstein vs S F Lebedev 1-059 1903 Third All-Russian ChampionshipC10 French
15. S Izbinsky vs Rubinstein 0-136 1903 RUS-ch03C81 Ruy Lopez, Open, Howell Attack
16. Rubinstein vs A Rabinovich 0-149 1903 Third All-Russian ChampionshipA84 Dutch
17. Rubinstein vs O Bernstein 0-125 1903 Third All-Russian ChampionshipC45 Scotch Game
18. Salwe vs Rubinstein ½-½39 1903 RUS-ch03D02 Queen's Pawn Game
19. Yurevich vs Rubinstein 0-164 1903 Third All-Russian ChampionshipA03 Bird's Opening
20. Rubinstein vs NN 1-022 1903 Handicap tournament ?000 Chess variants
21. Schiffers vs Rubinstein 0-121 1903 Third All-Russian ChampionshipC11 French
22. Rubinstein vs V Nikolaev 1-040 1903 Third All-Russian ChampionshipD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
23. Chojnacki vs Rubinstein 0-123 1903 Handicap tournament000 Chess variants
24. Rubinstein vs Salwe 1-037 1904 Second MatchD53 Queen's Gambit Declined
25. Rubinstein vs Salwe 0-131 1904 Second MatchD53 Queen's Gambit Declined
 page 1 of 35; games 1-25 of 860  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Rubinstein wins | Rubinstein loses  
 

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 39 OF 39 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Oct-16-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  pawn to QB4: Cheers TheFocus. You share a name with a great chessplayer. By the way, I've seen his surname spelled Rubinsztein...on second thoughts, maybe better not!
Oct-17-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  vonKrolock: <Rubinsztein> A case in point... He's called somewhere <"Stawiski most illustrious son">, but the Polish spelling is seen only, if eventually, in Polish sources. A related discussion about different spellings of names is seen in L R Eisenberg page - I would add only that that in parts of the Ukraine conquered by Poland in 1920, the Czarist program in schools until 1917 included Russian Langage, Ukrainian Culture, Foreign Langages (chosen from German, French and English), and optionally ancient Hebrew, Greek or Latin - therefore Polish came as a big novelty: and suddenly everyone had Polish documents and spelling for their names! (Well, everyone knows too that this finished in 1939 and how the end was...)

Of course, Rubins<z>tein's city and region were not in that situation, they surelly belonged historically, and belongs always to Poland...

Nov-10-09   przepiorka: Akiba played wunderbar chess
Nov-28-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: I have a quick question about a German phrase, and this seems as good a place as any to ask.

http://books.google.com/books?id=uS...

Leopold Hoffer is annotating a Rubinstein game here, and gives a quote in "Rubinstein's quaint German" as <"Er liegt schon auf'm Bank'l">, the last word also being spelled "Baenk'l" on the next page.

It seems to be related to having a bad or constricted position. The first part comes out "He is already", but the last two words seem too quaint for the translation engines to handle.

Nov-29-09   sneaky pete: <PB> I don't know the expression, but it's apparently derived from the word Bänkel (Baenkel) as in http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A....
Dec-08-09   gezafan: What's the verdict on how Rubinstein's name should be pronounced?

Does "uh kee vuh rue vin stine" sound accurate?

Dec-08-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  TheFocus: <gezafan> <What's the verdict on how Rubinstein's name should be pronounced?

Does "uh kee vuh rue vin stine" sound accurate?>

LOL!! I am not going there again. How about we call him Andrew Rubin? Although, that is how I pronounce it.

Dec-17-09   M.D. Wilson: I think Rubinstein's chess is more interesting than his name, but that's just me.
Dec-23-09   gezafan: Rubinstein was an absolute master of rook endings.

Some of his wins in what appear to be even postions look like magic. Against strong opponents too!

Dec-23-09   returnoftheking: <Er liegt schon auf'm Bank'> Hij ligt al op de pijnbank? :p
Dec-24-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: <PB> Bankl or Bänkl sounds like a diminutive form, maybe also Yiddish form (?/'quaint German') of Bank.

Likely figurative context:
Schlachtbank - slaughterhouse
Opferbank - sacrificial altar
Folterbank (pijnbank) - rack

Dec-26-09   gezafan: I've looked at some of Rubinstein's games. A great player!

But he sometimes makes some really terrible blunders. If it weren't for his nerves he might have become world champion. He was certainly good enough.

Dec-26-09   returnoftheking: I have the same trouble. If I just could stop making those blunders I will defenitely become a wch.
Dec-30-09   Anyi: At <Phony Benoni> and <whitshark>: "benkl" means "chair" or "stool" in Yiddish - as I'm learning Yiddish, I'll enquire whether there is a Yiddish saying that involves "lign oyf a benkl".

I have a Yiddish (Rubinstein's mother tongue) text about Rubinstein and the this texts leaves no doubt about how his given name is written: it's "Akiva".

Dec-30-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  TheFocus: <Anyi> It is nice to see you back. I will get you that material I promised you as soon as possible. Been working on a lot of projects. Look for it within ten days. Scold me if you don't have it by then. I will send the English part this weekend, and the German within ten days.

<I have a Yiddish (Rubinstein's mother tongue) text about Rubinstein and the this texts leaves no doubt about how his given name is written: it's "Akiva".>

Well, that should end the debate. Anyi is a leading Rubinstein expert at CG. Please see her profile for her fine website devoted to Akiva Rubinstein.

Dec-30-09   Anyi: Am looking forward to hearing from you <TheFocus>.

"Akiba" is the German version of "Akiva", as you can see from the Wikipedia article on the famous Rabbi Akiva ben Josef: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbi_...

It may be that Rubinstein went for the German version of his name when he played his first international tournament in Barmen and continued to do so in Karlsbad etc, but went on to refer to himself as "Akiva" at home.

Feb-22-10   Karpova: C.N. 6487

Edward Winter: <From pages 77-78 of Soultanbéieff’s 'Guide pratique du Jeu des Combinaisons', in the introduction to his draw against Rubinstein at Liège, 1930> - V Soultanbeieff vs Rubinstein, 1930 - <(our translation):

‘Once he had played his move, Rubinstein would leave the table and sit in a corner of the hall. When his opponent’s reply had been made, he came back unhurriedly to the board. The waste of time was evident, and Rubinstein, a very slow player, suffered from it frequently (it is known how many games he lost on time). One day I asked him why he did not remain at the board to await his opponent’s reply, which was sometimes imminent, and the explanation he gave me astounded me in the mouth of a professional master: “So as not to disturb my opponent; some players are not at ease when one watches them thinking.”’>

Source: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

Mar-10-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  kamalakanta: Akiva or Akiba; it does not matter to me. I love his games! Every single of his wins has a great Master Class in it. Definitely worth going over these games with the pieces; not on the computer...

For me, he was a World Champion, even if he did not earn the title in a match...after all, it was not his fault that WWI took that away from him.

May-10-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  wordfunph: Akiba Rubinstein went mad from chess. It's been said that he sat at a table for hours in the hospital moving a pawn from c2 to c4, then moving it back.

(Source: From London to Elista by Evgeny Bareev & Ilya Levitov)

May-10-10   polarmis: From a recent interview with Gelfand: http://www.crestbook.com/?q=node/1180 (in Russian)

<Which former chess players have influenced you the most, and who made the greatest impression on you?

I’ve tried to learn from all players but, no doubt, I was most impressed by Yury Razuvaev and Valery Myrachvery’s “Akiba Rubinstein”. I read it again and again in my childhood. And even today when I meet Yury or we talk on the telephone we often return to that book, to Akiba’s games. The striving to play deeply in the opening and the so-called “long plan”, that is when a game’s played from beginning to end in one key… That’s what I like in chess, and it comes from Akiba.>

More translations from that interview: http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt...

May-10-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <I’ve tried to learn from all players but, no doubt, I was most impressed by Yury Razuvaev and Valery Myrachvery’s “Akiba Rubinstein”. >

Thanks, Polarmis! I have that book. I should do a collection of the games from it, though it is mostly the famous games everyone knows.

Jun-15-10   Ramurew: (Akiba Rubinstein went mad from chess. It's been said that he sat at a table for hours in the hospital moving a pawn from c2 to c4, then moving it back ).......I do not see what is wrong with that. c2-c4 is a good move isn.t it?
Aug-10-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  jessicafischerqueen: Here is a quite fabulous chess biography of <Rubinstein> with many, many rare photos.

The text is in Italian, but you can just copy paste it into GOOGLE translator to get the gist at least:

http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/...

Aug-10-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  BobCrisp: <many, many rare photos>

A touch oxymoronic.

Aug-10-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  jessicafischerqueen: <Bob Crisp>

LOL!

Yes quite right.

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