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Akiba Rubinstein
Rubinstein 
 

Number of games in database: 1,038
Years covered: 1897 to 1948
Overall record: +468 -163 =293 (66.5%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 114 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Queen's Pawn Game (121) 
    D02 A46 D05 D00 A40
 Orthodox Defense (51) 
    D63 D61 D55 D65 D50
 Nimzo Indian (39) 
    E34 E38 E46 E20 E40
 Tarrasch Defense (33) 
    D33 D32 D34
 Queen's Gambit Declined (33) 
    D37 D30 D31 D35
 King's Gambit Declined (26) 
    C30 C31 C32
With the Black pieces:
 Ruy Lopez (101) 
    C79 C77 C98 C84 C68
 Orthodox Defense (51) 
    D63 D60 D52 D61 D51
 Queen's Pawn Game (45) 
    D02 D00 D04 D05 A46
 Four Knights (43) 
    C48 C49 C47
 French Defense (42) 
    C01 C11 C10 C00 C09
 Queen's Gambit Declined (33) 
    D31 D30 D37 D06
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Rotlewi vs Rubinstein, 1907 0-1
   Rubinstein vs Lasker, 1909 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Salwe, 1908 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Hromadka, 1923 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Capablanca, 1911 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Duras, 1908 1-0
   Rubinstein vs Schlechter, 1912 1-0
   Alekhine vs Rubinstein, 1912 0-1
   Rubinstein vs Maroczy, 1920 1-0
   E Cohn vs Rubinstein, 1909 0-1

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Karlsbad (1907)
   Ostend Masters (1907)
   St. Petersburg (1909)
   Bad Pistyan (1912)
   BCF Major Open (1924)
   Hamburg Olympiad (1930)
   Polish Championship (1927)
   Rogaska Slatina (1929)
   Barmen Hauptturnier-A (1905)
   18th DSB Congress, Breslau (1912)
   Karlsbad (1911)
   Baden-Baden (1925)
   Vienna (1908)
   3rd All-Russian Masters, Kiev (1903)
   Ostend (1906)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   3 Carl Schlechter and Akiba Rubinstein Games Rob by fredthebear
   Carl Schlechter and Akiba Rubinstein Games by lobsters
   Akiba the Great by BAJones
   Akiba the Great by nbabcox
   Dry Rubinstein by Gottschalk
   19z Dry Rub by Littlejohn
   Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces by Karpova
   Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces by Okavango
   Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces by yesthatwasasac
   Veliki majstori saha 11 RUBINSTEIN (Petrovic) by Chessdreamer
   Akiba Rubinstein's Best Games by dwesturner9580
   Rubinstein vs World Champions Decisive Games by Okavango
   Akiba Rubinstein's Best Games by Okavango
   Akiba Rubinstein's Best Games by Retarf

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


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AKIBA RUBINSTEIN
(born Dec-01-1880, died Mar-15-1961, 80 years old) Poland (federation/nationality Belgium)

[what is this?]

Akiba (Akiva, Akiwa) Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1) was born on 1 December 1880 (2) in Stawiski, Poland.(3) He was the youngest of 12 children of a family of rabbis and scholars living in extreme poverty.(4) Ten of his siblings died of tuberculosis in infancy, and his father also died a few weeks before Akiba was born.(4) Akiba was raised by his grandparents to become a rabbi and went to the Cheder,(UK, p. 15) where he got acquainted with chess at the age of 14.(5) At age 16, he became interested in chess theory (5) and decided to become a chess professional instead of a rabbi.(6) Around the turn of the century, Rubinstein moved to Bialystok, Poland and left his family.(7) He soon became too strong for G G Bartoszkiewicz, the best player of Bialystok and Rubinstein's first nemesis.(8)

Early Chess Career

Rubinstein moved to Lódz, Poland in 1902 (AS, page CV) where he faced Georg Salwe. They played a match in 1903 to qualify for the 3rd All-Russian Championship in Kiev, 1903 (UK, pp. 19-20) (TLY, p. 390). The match ended drawn at 7.0-7.0 (UK, p. 20) and both chessplayers competed in the Championship later that year.(9) In 1904, Rubinstein and Salwe played a second match and Rubinstein emerged as the winner (TLY, pp. 390-391). He crowned his international debut at the Barmen 1905 Hauptturnier by sharing first place with Oldrich Duras, and became recognized as a master.(10) In the fall of 1905, Rubinstein beat Jacques Mieses in a match by the score of 3.0-0.0 (included in Rubinstein - Mieses (1909)).

Rubinstein continued to improve in 1906, sharing second place at the 4th All-Russian Championship in St. Petersburg behind Salwe,(11) and winning Lódz 1906 ahead of Mikhail Chigorin. (12) At Ostende 1906, a 5-stage 36-player tournament won by Carl Schlechter, Rubinstein achieved an excellent third place (UK, pp. 58-73). He was also successful in local events in Lódz.

Ascending to the Top

Rubinstein shared first place together with Ossip Bernstein at Ostende B 1907,(13) before he had his final breakthrough by winning Karlsbad (1907). (14) Rubinstein was also successful in his last match against Salwe, winning 16.0-6.0 (TLY, pp. 395-402). The year 1907 concluded with Rubinstein's win at the 5th All-Russian Championship 1907-1908 in Lódz,(15) where he played probably his most famous game Rotlewi vs Rubinstein, 1907.

The year 1908 was a bit disappointing, as he managed only 4th place at both Vienna (1908) and Prague (1908). He won two matches, one against Richard Teichmann (16) and Rubinstein - Marshall (1908). He also won Lodz (1908).

A contender for the title

At St. Petersburg (1909), Rubinstein shared first place with world champion Emanuel Lasker and beat him in their individual encounter. He went on to win Rubinstein - Mieses (1909) and was successful in smaller events. A match against Jose Raul Capablanca was planned in 1909, but never took place for reasons unknown (UK, pp. 207-208).

In 1910, a quiet year for the chess world, Rubinstein moved to Warsaw, Poland (AS, page CV). The Warsaw championship 1910 ended with a surprise, since Alexander Flamberg won ahead of Rubinstein (UK, p. 210). Soon afterwards, the two masters played a match which Rubinstein won 4.5-0.5 (UK, pp. 213-214). Rubinstein did not participate in Hamburg (1910) with respect to his health.(17) A planned match against Bernstein, which was to start in December 1910 and consist of 16 games, was postponed several times and, in the end, never took place (UK, pp. 215-216).

Rubinstein beat Capablanca in their individual encounter and remained unbeaten at San Sebastian (1911), but he still had to share second place behind the young Cuban. He also had to be content with a shared second place at Karlsbad (1911), Teichmann's great triumph. The year concluded with Rubinstein winning the strong Warsaw championship.(18)

The year 1912 was Rubinstein's magical year. He won four consecutive major tournaments: San Sebastian (1912), Bad Pistyan (1912), the 18th DSB Kongress (1912) and Vilnius All-Russian Masters (1912).

World Championship Challenger

During San Sebastian 1912, Rubinstein wrote to Lasker that he wanted to play a title match against him. Lasker was still bound by the ill-fated negotiations with Capablanca.(19) Rubinstein officially challenged Lasker in August 1912, and the world champion accepted. The negotiations and the arrangement of the world championship took place mainly in 1912 and 1913.(20) The match was to take place in autumn 1914 in Europe, mainly in Germany and Russia. Rubinstein doesn't seem to have played serious chess in 1913, but probably prepared for the match. He spend a few months in Bad Reichenhall, a popular health resort in Germany.(21)

1914 - The end of a dream, but not of all hopes

Rubinstein only scored 50% at St. Petersburg (1914) and was eliminated in the preliminary tournament.(22) This had no influence on the planned world championship match, and Lasker went on with the arrangements for the match.(23) The outbreak of the First World War was the force majeure that forced the cancellation of the title match (UK, p. 304).

The First World War

From 1914 to 1917, Rubinstein was confined to Poland, a major battleground. He could only compete in events in Warsaw and Lódz and did so with success (UK, pp. 304-311). There were also good moments, as Akiba married Eugenie Lew in 1917 and their son Jonas Jacob was born on 24 January 1918 in Szczuczyn, Poland (AS, page Family Tree) (TLY, p. 26). He was able to travel to Berlin in early 1918 (UK, p. 311) and competed in several events. His play became uneven and very good performances took turns with very bad results. First, he won the Rubinstein - Schlechter (1918) match in January, and then came in last at Berlin Four Masters (1918). He followed up with a second place, unbeaten behind world champion Lasker, at Berlin Grandmasters (1918).

The post-war era

In late 1919, the Rubinstein family moved to Sweden where they lived until 1921 (UK, p. 323) (AS, page CV). He came in second in the Stockholm quadrangular tournament in December 1919 (behind Rudolf Spielmann, ahead of Efim Bogoljubov and Richard Reti) (UK, pp. 327-333). At the beginning of 1920, Rubinstein beat Bogoljubov in a match.(24) During a Simul tour through the Netherlands (20 March 1920), Rubinstein spoke about the world championship (UK, p. 370), since Capablanca had emerged as Lasker's main rival. He reminded the public of still having a contract with Lasker, yet did not deny Lasker's and Capablanca's right to play for the title. He thought that an official body should administer the world championship and also suggested a triangular match between Lasker, Capablanca and himself. However, Rubinstein had lost his financial basis in post-war Europe and couldn't raise the necessary funds. Capablanca met Lasker in The Hague in January 1920 and they drew up a draft agreement for a title match, not to begin before 1 January 1921.(25) Capablanca had already declared in August 1919 that Lasker, Rubinstein and he himself were considered the strongest chessplayers in the world and that he would accept a challenge from Rubinstein, if he won the title from Lasker.(26) Rubinstein ended the year with a good second place at Gothenburg (1920) and then won the small Göteborg Winter tournament, which extended from 1920 to 1921, in convincing fashion (TLY, pp. 29-34).

At The Hague (1921), Rubinstein came in third behind Alexander Alekhine and Savielly Tartakower. Rubinstein co-authored the Lärobok i Schack, one of the most important contemporaneous works on opening theory.(27) He went on to win the strong Triberg tournament, December 1921, ahead of Bogoljubov and Spielmann (TLY, pp. 44-52). Alekhine wanted to challenge the new world champion Capablanca already after The Hague (1921), but the Cuban granted Rubinstein the right of a first challenge. He had already accepted Rubinstein's challenge on 7 September 1921. Dutch chess officials suggested a candidates match between Rubinstein and Alekhine. Both masters agreed to the match. The winner would receive 1,000 Guilders, the loser 500 Guilders. The match was to take place not earlier than March 1922. In the end, Alekhine avoided the match.(28)

At London (1922), Rubinstein came in fourth and Capablanca drew up the London Rules.(29) Capablanca granted Rubinstein some time to meet the high financial demands, setting the deadline for 31 December 1923, but Rubinstein couldn't raise the funds.(30) After a second place at Hastings (1922), he came in fifth at Teplitz-Schönau, October 1922, but won 4 Brilliancy prizes (TLY, pp. 72-83). At the end of the year, he had one of his greatest successes at Vienna (1922). Rubinstein, who had to support his family and raise money for the title match, suffered a severe financial set-back when Austrian frontier officials impounded his prize money (TLY, p. 84). In 1922, the Rubinstein family moved to Germany, where they stayed until 1926 (AS, page CV). After winning Hastings 1922/1923 (TLY, pp. 96-100), Rubinstein had very disappointing performances at Karlsbad (1923) and Maehrisch-Ostrau (1923).

Although Rubinstein had to content himself with a third place in Meran, February 1924 he popularized the Meran variation of the Semi-Slav by beating the tournament winner in Gruenfeld vs Rubinstein, 1924. Rubinstein was willing to compete in New York (1924), but this was out of question for the organizers. Bernhard Kagan, responsible for contacting the European masters and trying to help Rubinstein, explained that the number of participants was limited and the Grandmasters who were already in New York had an influential word.(31) He competed in smaller events, before managing a good second place at Baden-Baden (1925). The year 1925 continued to be a successful one with a shared first place at Marienbad (1925). At Breslau (1925), he only shared third place and ended the year with a very disappointing performance in Moscow (1925), his first and only trip to the Soviet Union (TLY, p. 165). While his results improved in 1926, at Semmering (1926), Dresden (1926), Budapest, June-July 1926 (shared third to fifth place) (TLY, pp. 196-203), Hannover (1926) and Berlin (1926), they were not outstanding. The Rubinstein family moved to Belgium in 1926, where Akiba lived until the end of his life (AS, page CV). In the spring of 1927, Rubinstein visited Poland and won the Second Polish Championship in Lódz (TLY, pp. 212-221). On 19 March 1927, his son Samy Rubinstein was born in Antwerp, Belgium (AS, page Family Tree).

In early 1928, Rubinstein visited the USA, gave Simuls and played several exhibition games (TLY, pp. 348-362). An international tournament had originally been planned and then a match against Marshall was suggested in its stead, but neither took place. He shared third place with Max Euwe at Bad Kissingen (1928), but Berlin (1928) was a disappointment. Then came the year 1929, which was one of his best years and stands out among the post-World War I years. First, he scored +3 -0 =4 against the British players in the Scheveningen-style Ramsgate tournament, March-April 1929 (TLY, pp. 238-241). Then followed three large tournaments, where Rubinstein came in fourth at Karlsbad (1929), second at Budapest (1929) and won Rogaška Slatina (today Slovenia), September-October 1929, ahead of Salomon Flohr (TLY, pp. 265-273). Donaldson and Minev on these three tournaments: "Rubinstein's overall result, which included only three losses in forty-nine games, was 34 1/2 - 14 1/2 during the sixty-nine days span."(TLY, p. 238)

The end of his chess career

He reached third place at San Remo (1930). Rubinstein also competed in the Belgian Team Championship in March and beat Johannes Hendrik Otto van den Bosch (3.0-0.0) and Salo Landau (2.5-0.5) in short matches in June (TLY, pp. 282-286). After a third place at Scarborough (1930), Rubinstein played on first board for the Polish team at the Hamburg Chess Olympiad, scoring +13 -0 =4. Rubinstein, together with Savielly Tartakower, David Przepiorka, Kazimierz Makarczyk and Paulino Frydman won the Gold medal.(32) Possibly tired from the Olympiad, which took place in July, Rubinstein disappointed at Liege (1930) in August.

In the spring of 1931, Rubinstein conducted a Simul tour through Palestine. He was the first well-known chess master to do so and the visit had a great, positive and long-lasting influence on chess in Palestine.(33) Then came the Prague Olympiad, July 1931, and Rubinstein played on first board again for the Silver-medal winning Polish team.(34) He was invited to Bled (1931), (35) but did not participate. After a successful Scheveningen-style tournament in Antwerp, July-August 1931 (TLY, pp. 316-318), Rubinstein came in last at Rotterdam, December 1931 (TLY, pp. 318-321) which was followed in January 1932 by a consultation event, which also took place in Rotterdam. Rubinstein scored the most points (TLY, p. 322). This was the last serious chess event he participated in, ending his professional chess career in early 1932.

The later years

The Rubinstein family had moved to Brussels, Belgium in 1931, where his wife Eugenie operated a restaurant (TLY, p. 26). With Akiba retiring from chess in 1932, Eugenie had to feed the family (two children) and the situation became critical. An appeal for help was made in 1932 and the publishing house of the Wiener Schach-Zeitung tried to help by publishing the book Rubinstein gewinnt!, with an introduction by Jacques Hannak and annotations by Hans Kmoch. (36) Akiba stayed for some time in a sanatorium before being reunited with his family (TLY, p. 16). In 1936, Eugenie reported that Akiba's health at least hadn't declined compared to the years before and he still occupied himself with chess, having followed the Alekhine - Euwe World Championship Match (1935) also.(37)

The fact that the Rubinstein family survived the Holocaust seems like a miracle. Sammy spent 1943-1944 in prison but was released. Factors which helped them to survive: They were probably all Belgian citizens by 1940 living in Brussels, and the Germans had no clear plans for Belgium which affected its administration (about 44% of the Jewish population in Belgium perished in the Holocaust), in addition, Akiba hid in a sanatorium (TLY, pp. 18-19).

Rubinstein's last public appearance as a chess player was a Simul he gave in Liège, Belgium in March 1946, scoring +24 -2 =4 (TLY, p. 377). It was reported that he would participate in a tournament in Maastricht soon afterwards, but he withdrew (TLY, p. 19). The financial situation of the Rubinstein family became critical again, and an appeal to help him was made in 1948 (TLY, pp. 17-18). In 1950, FIDE awarded the Grandmaster title to Rubinstein.(38)

Akiba had two students, Paul Devos and the third correspondence chess world champion Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (TLY, p. 19). He was also visited by Daniel Abraham Yanofsky and Miguel Najdorf, who said that Rubinstein won two fantastic games against him, and possibly Euwe.(39)

After his wife Eugenie died in 1954, Akiba moved to a home for old people. Sammy and Jonas remember visiting him and analysing the games of the world championship matches between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov together.(TLY, p. 21) On 15 March 1961, Akiba Rubinstein passed away in Antwerp, Belgium (TLY, p. 21).

Contributions to Opening Theory

Akiba Rubinstein invented and popularized many important opening variations, or turned innovations by others into fully-fledged opening systems. Many opening variations therefore bear his name. Among them are the Rubinstein variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense (1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 ♗b4 4.e3), the Rubinstein variation of the French Defense (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.♘c3 dxe4), the Rubinstein variation of the Symmetrical English (1.c4 c5 2.♘c3 ♘f6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 ♘xd5 5.♗g2 ♘c7), an important variation in the Four Knights Game (1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♘c3 ♘f6 4.♗b5 ♘d4), the important system against the Tarrasch Defence of the Queen's Gambit Declined with 6.g3 (introduced by Schlechter), and the already mentioned Meran variation in the Semi-Slav.

Testimonials

Garry Kasparov "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." (40)

Vladimir Kramnik Rubinstein was “...an incredibly talented and fantastic chess player...Why didn't he become a World Champion? That's a mystery to me…” (41)

Boris Gelfand on the question if Rubinstein was his favorite player: "Yes, sure, definitely." (42)

Additional Information

An overview of Rubinstein's individual scores against the strongest players of his time: User: RubinsteinScores

An overview of Rubinstein's matches: User: RubinsteinMatches

An overview of Rubinstein's tournament career: http://www.phileo.demon.co.uk/uk_ar...

User: jessicafischerqueen 's documentary of Rubinstein can be found in three parts at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi3h... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQQO... and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sqG...

Sources and Footnotes

The most important sources, apart from contemporaneous newspapers, were Donaldson's and Minev's two volumes on Rubinstein and Anita Sikora's website on Rubinstein with a lot of original research. In order to save space, these sources will simply be abbreviated in the text and don't get their own footnotes. The abbreviation "UK" stands for John William Donaldson and Nikolay N Minev, The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein - Volume 1: Uncrowned King, 2nd edition, 2006, Russell Enterprises, Inc., Milford CT USA. The abbreviation "TLY" stands for John William Donaldson and Nikolay N Minev, The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein - Volume 2: The Later Years, 2nd edition, 2011, Russell Enterprises, Inc., Milford CT USA. The abbreviation "AS" stands for Anita Sikora's (User: anyi) website http://rubina.yfw24.de/.

(1) His forename is usually written Akiba with b. In the Hebrew alphabet b, v and w are the same letter and v is the correct transliteration. See the discussion in AS (page CV). Rubinstein himself once used the German transliteration Akiwa (cover of KARL 3/2013). His name is spelled Akiba in the biography because it is the official spelling on chessgames.com. Kiwelowicz is his patronym (other transliterations are Kivelovitch and Kiwelowitsch, see AS, page CV) according to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Personalia (p. 364 of the paperback edition, 2005, McFarland) since Poland was occupied by Russia at that time.

(2) Rubinstein's birthday was unclear for a long time, see the discussion on p. 384 of UK. The earliest sources gave 12 October 1882 (Gregorian calender, converted from 30 September 1882 of the Julian calender), while later sources gave 12 December 1882. It has lately been established that the birthdate on his gravestone, 1 December 1880, is correct, by Elzbieta Kusina and Jan Kusina of the Malopolska Chess Association, Krakow, Poland (19 April 2014, news of the Kenneth Whyld Foundation & Association, http://www.kwabc.org/index.php/17-l...).

(3) Tomasz Lissowski wrote a photo article on Stawiski, Irgendwo im Nirgendwo, KARL 3/2013, pp. 12-17.

(4) Ernst Strouhal, Alles Schöne war geistig..., KARL 3/2013, pp. 12-17. AS, page Family Tree. UK, p. 15. Strouhal notes that rabbis and Jewish scholars usually lived in great poverty in Eastern Europe at that time.

(5) Akiba Rubinstein, Wiener Schach-Zeitung, June 1926, pp. 164-165. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek". Rubinstein was answering Eugen Gömöri's question on how he became a chessmaster.

(6) Ernst Strouhal, Alles Schöne war geistig..., KARL 3/2013, pp. 12-17. Rubinstein's first chess book was Zosints' Instructor, written in Hebrew.

(7) Ernst Strouhal, Alles Schöne war geistig..., KARL 3/2013, pp. 12-17. This decision haunted him throughout his life, see for example TLY, p. 16 where the misunderstood story of the fly is explained. What pestered him was not an actual fly (it's a midrash) but the decision to leave behind his family and Jewish tradition to become a chess professional.

(8) Rubinstein vs G G Bartoszkiewicz, 1897 is Rubinstein's first recorded game. The date of the game is not clear: UK tentatively gives 1897 and played by correspondence (according to S. Postma, Jeugdpartijen van Beroemde Meesters), while Strouhal (see source (7)) has 1901 and played in Steins Café in Bialystok. Lissowski offers 1901 and 1902 as possible dates in Szachowa Vistula Chess Monthly, http://szachowavistula.pl/vistula/b...

(9) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/...

(10) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/.... UK, pp. 33-40. A play-off between Rubinstein and Duras ended 1.0-1.0 (two draws).

(11) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/.... UK, pp. 43-50.

(12) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/.... UK, pp. 51-57.

(13) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/.... UK, pp. 79-88. Walter John criticized the Ostend (Championship) (1907) for not inviting Rubinstein instead of the two tail-enders (Generalanzeiger für Elberfeld-Barmen, 6 July 1907; reprinted in Wiener Schach-Zeitung, August-September 1907, p. 254. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek")

(14) Jacques Hannak called the Karlsbad 1907 tournament the "historical turning point of our chess history" (Der historische Wendepunkt unserer Schachgeschichte), because the youth triumphed over the established masters (Jacques Hannak, Wiener Schach-Zeitung, November-December 1907, p. 252. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek").

(15) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/.... UK, pp. 117-125.

(16) Game Collection: Rubinstein vs. Teichmann, Match (1908)

(17) Wiener Schach-Zeitung, October-November 1910, p. 354. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek".

(18) UK, pp. 244-245. Salwe of Lódz was a special guest. This championship, played in December 1911, counted as the 1912 city championship.

(19) Emanuel Lasker, Pester Lloyd, 31 March 1912, p. 10. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek". See Lasker - Capablanca World Championship Match (1921) for more information on the negotiations between Capablanca and Lasker.

(20) UK, pp. 290-295 provides extensive coverage, e. g. the conditions can be found there. Lasker announced the successful conclusion of the negotiations on 28 August 1913 (Emanuel Lasker, Pester Lloyd, 31 August 1913, p. 11. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek").

(21) Wiener Schach-Zeitung, July 1913, p. 200. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek".

(22) The artificial division into a preliminary and a final tournament, instead of a double round robin event, was criticised by many people according to the St. Petersburger Zeitung (Wiener Schach-Zeitung, May-June 1914, p. 96. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek"). Rudolf Spielmann also criticised the format in the Münchner Neuesten Nachrichten, 31 May 1914 (Wiener Schach-Zeitung, May-June 1914, p. 97. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek").

(23) UK, p. 294 quotes the American Chess Bulletin (1914, p. 139): "Word comes from St. Petersburg that Dr. Lasker will go ahead with his arrangements to play the match for the championship with A. K. Rubinstein of Lodz." It's worth remembering that Carl Schlechter only scored 50% at St. Petersburg (1909), before drawing the Lasker - Schlechter World Championship Match (1910).

(24) Game Collection: Bogoljubov-Rubinstein Match, Sweden 1920

(25) Edward G Winter, Capablanca: a compendium of games, notes, articles, correspondence, illustrations and other rare materials on the Cuban chess genius José Raúl Capablanca, 1888-1942, 1989, McFarland 1989, pp. 108-109 (originally from the American Chess Bulletin, March 1920, pp. 45-46). Edward Winter notes that it is unclear why Capablanca didn't want to play prior to 1921. The consequence was that clause 15 stated that Lasker had the right to play a title match against someone else before 1921. Despite the signed contract, Rubinstein could have played a title match against Lasker, if he had raised the necessary funds. Also telling is Winter's comment on Capablanca's My Chess Career, published in early 1920 on p. 105: "...he also had to convince the chess world of his right to a world title match with Lasker." defending Capablanca from critics accusing him of self-laudation in this book.

(26) Winter, Capablanca, pp. 97-98 (originally from The Observer, 24 August 1919, p. 9).

(27) This was the fourth edition, Stockholm 1921, by Gustaf Collijn and Ludvig Collijn, written by Rubinstein, Richard Reti and Rudolf Spielmann (Aron Nimzowitsch also contributed). Sources are TLY, p. 26; AS, page Mysteries; there are also online resources from libraries, but the fourth edition is not publicly available.

(28) Toni Preziuso, Amerika! Amerika!, KARL 3/2013, pp. 36-37.

(29) Edward G Winter, The London Rules, 2008, http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

(30) Toni Preziuso, Amerika! Amerika!, KARL 3/2013, pp. 37-38. In 1923, Rubinstein tried to finance a trip to the USA as a part of his title campaign, but couldn't raise the money.

(31) Toni Preziuso, Amerika! Amerika!, KARL 3/2013, pp. 38-39 (Kagan gave the explanation in his Neueste Schachnachrichten, 1924, p. 176). According to Preziuso, it is not clear why Rubinstein wasn't invited. He was never considered and financial reasons appear unlikely.

(32) TLY, pp. 289-299. Wojciech Bartelski & Co., http://www.olimpbase.org/1930/1930i...

(33) TLY, pp. 368-371. Avital Pilpel, Rubinsteins Abenteuer im Heiligen Land, KARL 3/2013, pp. 46-49. For Rubinstein, the trip was not a success as he suffered a financial set-back.

(34) TLY, pp. 307-315. Wojciech Bartelski & Co., http://www.olimpbase.org/1931/1931i...

(35) Wiener Schach-Zeitung, July 1931, p. 220. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek"

(36) TLY, pp. 16-17. An advertisement for the book in the Wiener Schachzeitung can be seen here: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/a... (Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek").

(37) Wiener Schach-Zeitung, February 1936, p. 60 (originally from the British Chess Magazine). Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek"

(38) Jeremy Gaige, Chess Personalia, 2005 (paperback edition), McFarland, p. 364.

(39) TLY, p. 19. Edward G Winter, Akiba Rubinstein’s Later Years, http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

(40) Garry Kasparov, On My Great Predecessors Part I, 2003, Everyman, p. 204)

(41) Interview with Vladimir Barsky, Kramnik Interview: From Steinitz to Kasparov, 15 May 2005, http://www.kramnik.com/interviews/61

(42) Interview on 5 June 2012, part 2, http://www.chessvibes.com/?q=report...

Last updated: 2019-07-25 18:40:22

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 42; games 1-25 of 1,038  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Rubinstein vs G Bartoszkiewicz 1-0171897corrC55 Two Knights Defense
2. Rubinstein vs NN 1-0181902?000 Chess variants
3. Chojnacki vs Rubinstein 0-1241903Handicap tournament000 Chess variants
4. Rubinstein vs NN 1-0221903Handicap tournament ?000 Chess variants
5. Rubinstein vs Salwe 1-0321903MatchD05 Queen's Pawn Game
6. Salwe vs Rubinstein 1-0301903MatchB56 Sicilian
7. Salwe vs Rubinstein 1-0491903ConsultationC55 Two Knights Defense
8. Salwe vs Rubinstein 0-1141903LodzC50 Giuoco Piano
9. Rubinstein vs A Rabinovich 0-14919033rd All-Russian Masters, KievA84 Dutch
10. N Kalinsky vs Rubinstein 0-13919033rd All-Russian Masters, KievC22 Center Game
11. Rubinstein vs P P Benko 1-01819033rd All-Russian Masters, KievA84 Dutch
12. M Lowcki vs Rubinstein 1-02919033rd All-Russian Masters, KievD31 Queen's Gambit Declined
13. Rubinstein vs F Duz-Khotimirsky 0-17519033rd All-Russian Masters, KievD05 Queen's Pawn Game
14. W K von Stamm vs Rubinstein 0-12719033rd All-Russian Masters, KievD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
15. Rubinstein vs B A Nikolaev 1-04019033rd All-Russian Masters, KievD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
16. V Yurevich vs Rubinstein 0-16419033rd All-Russian Masters, KievA02 Bird's Opening
17. Rubinstein vs S F Lebedev 1-05919033rd All-Russian Masters, KievC10 French
18. S Izbinsky vs Rubinstein 0-13619033rd All-Russian Masters, KievC81 Ruy Lopez, Open, Howell Attack
19. Rubinstein vs V Kulomzin 1-02019033rd All-Russian Masters, KievD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
20. Chigorin vs Rubinstein 1-03319033rd All-Russian Masters, KievC00 French Defense
21. Rubinstein vs S Levitsky ½-½3819033rd All-Russian Masters, KievC01 French, Exchange
22. Schiffers vs Rubinstein 0-12119033rd All-Russian Masters, KievC11 French
23. Rubinstein vs O Bernstein 0-12519033rd All-Russian Masters, KievC45 Scotch Game
24. Salwe vs Rubinstein ½-½3919033rd All-Russian Masters, KievD02 Queen's Pawn Game
25. Rubinstein vs Znosko-Borovsky ½-½2419033rd All-Russian Masters, KievD50 Queen's Gambit Declined
 page 1 of 42; games 1-25 of 1,038  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 46 OF 52 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Nov-07-13  Karpova: There is a better place for this discussion: Alexander Alekhine
Nov-07-13  RedShield: <Under the London Rules the champion would not be <compelled> to defend his title for less than $10,000. He could defend it for less if he wanted; in fact Alekhine did. After all, no one was going to raise $10,000 in 1929.>

But by negating the 'six games up, draws not counting' rule, Alekhine effectively tore up the London Rules and threw them in Capa's face.

Nov-09-13  RedShield: <After all, no one was going to raise $10,000 in 1929>

The match began in September, before the Great Crash of late October.

Soloviov's <Bogoljubow: The Fate of a Chess Player> has some information on the match finances:

<Alekhine was to receive $6000, full board in a first class hotel and travel expenses. Bogoljubow was to receive all the money raised above $6000. Half of Alekhine's fee (12600 Marks) was to be paid by the city of Wiesbaden.>

Skinner & Verhoeven's Alekhine book notes:

<It was also reported that Bogoljubow had guaranteed to provide a stake of $6,800 if Alekhine won and $5000 if he lost. [...] Most of the money for the match was raised from patrons in Germany and Holland and it was stipulated that the games would be played in the various cities in the two countries that had contributed to the prize fund.>

The London Rules provided that the defending champion should receive 20% of the prize fund as a fee, and the remaining 80% should be divided 60:40 between winner and loser.

For the supposed minimum fund of $10,000, Alekhine, as champion, would expect to receive $6,800 as winner and $5,200 as loser. These figures tally closely with those quoted by Skinner & Verhoeven, which suggests that Alekhine wasn't doing Bogo much of a favour as some have suggested. Indeed, it was Bogo who must have spent months arranging the match, with little guarantee of great financial reward, that carried the burden.

Nov-10-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  chessgames.com: <Karpova: There is a better place for this discussion: Alexander Alekhine>

We strongly support that sentiment. Please everybody, this is all excellent discussion, but in the wrong place.

Nov-10-13  Karpova: Update on Rubinstein's health:

<Brüssel. Wie das British Chess Magazine mitteilt, berichtet Frau Rubinstein in einem Brief, daß die ungünstigen Nachrichten über das Befinden ihres Gatten, Großmeisters Rubinstein, nicht den Tatsachen entsprechen. Sein Zustand hat sich zumindest gegenüber den letzten Jahren nicht verschlechtert und nach wie vor beschäftigt er sich täglich mit Schach und hat an dem Verlauf des Weltmeisterschaftskampfes Aljechin-Euwe das lebhafteste Interesses genommen.>

From page 60 of the February 1926 'Neue Wiener Schachzeitung'

Translation: Brussels. The British Chess Magazine conveys that Mrs Rubinstein reports in a letter that the bad news about the health of her husband, Grandmaster Rubinstein, aren't in accordance with the facts. His condition, at least compared to the last years, did not worsen and he occupies himself daily with chess and took the liveliest interest in the progression of the World Championship match Alekhine - Euwe.

It would be interesting to see the original report in the 'BCM' - as Alekhine-Euwe World Championship Match (1935) is mentioned, it may even have been a late 1935 'BCM'.

Rubinstein retired from competitive chess in early 1932, and Eugenie Lev mentions that his condition had worsened. But obviously it remained stable for a time.

Nov-10-13  RedShield: Update on Rubinstein's health: he's dead.
Nov-23-13  Karpova: Rubinstein's tour through Palestine in 1931 - <Great for the Chess Community, a financial disaster for Akiva>

Based on the report <Rubinsteins Abenteuer im Heiligen Land> by Avital Pilpel (translation Harry Schaack) on pp. 46-49 of 'Karl' 03/2013

Rubinstein the Pioneer

1) Akiva's immortal game Rotlewi vs Rubinstein, 1907 was the first complete gamescore to be published in Palestine, annotated by Edward Lasker ('The Palestine News, The Weekly Newspaper of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force of the British Army in Occupied Enemy Territory' of May 7, 1918).

2) Akiva was the first Chessmaster to write an article on chess originally in Hebrew ("Ha'Shachmat" of June 1924, p. 34).

3) Rubinstein was the first famous Chessmaster to visit Palestine (Salomon Flohr followed in 1934 and Jacques Mieses in 1936).

Akiva arrived in Palestine on April 14, 1931. He was greeted by the officials of the Tel Aviv "Rubinstein Club" Wilson and Marmorosh, and the mayor of Tel Aviv, Meir Dizengoff. The tour itself consisted of at least 7 Simuls and a game played with living pieces against Marmorosh (Akiva won). He left for Trieste by ship on May 25, 1931.

Rubinstein's visit was very good for the Chess Community as Marmorosh established himself as "Mr Chess" and made use of his influence to promote chess. This led to an Inofficial Palestinian Chess Championship tournament in 1932. More important was that Biyalik, Marmorosh and two others were commissioned to develop a Hebrew Chess Terminology - almost 60 terms were suggested and most of them are still in use. Akiva's visit also prompted the foundation of the Palestinian Chess Federation. Already in 1935, Palestine sent a team to the Chess Olympiad: http://www.olimpbase.org/1935/1935f...

Sadly, the trip was a financial disaster for Akiva. Rubinstein was promised £120 (probably Palestinian £), but he received only £50 for his expenditures there. So in the end, there was not much left. He got a 3rd class ticket for his travel back to Trieste, where he should receive the rest of the money. Someone witnessed the discussion on the ship and started a collection, which brought in the £6 necessary for his trip from Trieste to Antwerp. As Akiva didn't get the rest of the promised money in Trieste, he would have been stranded in Trieste without the collected money. It is unlikely that the organizers framed Rubinstein intentionally. They probably didn't receive as many donations as expected and many people went home, "forgetting" to pay for their game (economic crisis).

See also my earlier post with information from Donaldson & Minev 'The Later Years', 2nd edition: Akiba Rubinstein

Nov-23-13  RedShield: <Sadly, the trip was a financial disaster for Akiva. Rubinstein was promised £120 (probably Palestinian £), but he received only £50 for his expenditures there.>

I could have warned him about this.

Nov-24-13  Karpova: Simul in the Braunschweig (Brunswick) Chess Club, November 1924: +23 -2 =1

(Lost to Schultheis and Dr. Wolfram, drew Dr. Hahn)

Simul in Magdeburg: +25 -1 =1

From page 365 of the December 1924 'Wiener Schachzeitung'

Nov-27-13  Karpova: Interview with John Donaldson (by Johannes Fischer) in 'Karl' 03/2013. From page 52:

Q: <Hat sich Ihre Einstellung zu Rubinstein im Laufe der Arbeit an ihren Büchern geändert? Mussten Sie bestimmte Vorstellungen aufgeben und sind Sie auf Dinge gestoßen, die Sie besonders überrascht haben?> (Did your stance on Rubinstein change in the course of your work on the books? Did you have to abandon certain ideas and did you discover things that especially astonished you?)

A: <Eine Sache, die Dr. Minev und mich überrascht hat, als wir mit den Recherchen über Rubinstein begannen, war die große Zahl kaum verbürgter Geschichten über ihn. Die meisten Anekdoten über ihn erwiesen sich bestenfalls als Halbwahrheiten, die im Laufe der Zeit so sehr ausgeschmückt worden waren, dass sie mit dem wirklichen Geschehen nur noch wenig Ähnlichkeit hatten.> (One thing that surprised Dr. Minev and me when we started with our research, was the huge amount of barely authenticated stories about him. Most of the anecdotes about him turned out to be half-truths at best, and in the course of time they had been embellished so much that they hardly resembled the actual events.)

On a sidenote, our own Anita Sikora - User: anyi - is mentioned by Donaldson (pp. 52-53).

Dec-30-13  Karpova: Ostende (1906)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 a6 in I Abonyi vs G Lovas, 1915 there is the following annotation <Dieser Zug steht auch bei modernen Meistern in Gunst. So z. B. wurde er von Cohn gegen Rubinstein (Ostende 1906) angewendet [...].> on page 56 of the March-April 1915 'Wiener Schachzeitung'.

A game from Ostende (1906) is not given in Donaldson & Minev, Volume I, 2nd edition, and is missing from the games with known result but unobtainable game score (p. 73).

The date was probably not wrong as the two games against E. and W. Cohn from Ostende (1907) were Queen's Gambits Rubinstein vs W Cohn, 1907 and E Cohn vs Rubinstein, 1907.

But according to Rod Edwards edochess, Wilhelm Cohn was in Ostende (1906) in the First Stage: http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/... so these may have been the opening moves of a game played between them.

Perhaps, date and opponent are wrong, as Rubinstein played 4...a6 in Znosko-Borovsky vs Rubinstein, 1907 from Ostende (1907).

Jan-14-14  Karpova: Article by Jacques Mieses, Leipzig, on the financial side of the World Chess Championship, called <Amateur und Berufsspieler im Schach; Der Schachwettkampf um die Meisterschaft der Welt in finanzieller Beleuchtung>. According to Georg Marco, Mieses provided him with the article on February 18.

The parts about Rubinstein:

<Rubinsteins Herausforderung jedoch ist von Lasker glatt angenommen worden, und auch über alle näheren Bedingungen haben sich beide Kämpen bereits geeinigt. Dem Zustandekommen des Matches steht also nichts mehr im Wege, vorausgesetzt, daß die finanzielle Seite des Unternehmens gesichert ist. Das scheint nun zwar glücklicherweise hier der Fall zu sein, aber es waren doch dabei gewisse Schwierigkeiten zu überwinden, auf die wir noch zu sprechen kommen werden.>

<Es ist daher nur selbstverständlich, wenn der Weltmeister Lasker das Zustandekommen des Wettkampfes mit Rubinstein an pekuniäre Bedingungen knüpft, die der außergewöhnlichen Bedeutung dieses Ereignisses einigermaßen entsprechen. Er verlangt durchschnittlich etwa 1400 Mk. für jede Partie, und es sollen im ganzen 20 Partien gespielt werden. Wenn man bedenkt, daß ein solcher Weltmeisterschaftskampf etwa einmal in 5 Jahren vorkommt, wenn man ferner berücksichtigt, daß er mit allen nötigen Vorbereitungen mindestens 3 bis 4 Monate in Anspruch nimmt, und daß auch der unterliegende Spieler eine erhebliche finanzielle Entschädigung aus dem Matchfonds erhält, so kann man die Laskerschen Forderungen gewiß nicht als übertrieben bezeichnen.>

<Nun, zum Glück für die weitere Förderung ertsklassiger Schachleistungen hat sich der Enthusiasmus der internationalen Schachkreise dadurch nicht beirren lassen. Schon jetzt ist die Mehrzahl der zu spielenden 20 Partien an einige der größten deutschen und russischen Schachklubs vergeben, und daß auch noch die wenigen übrigen Partien untergebracht werden, erscheint kaum mehr zweifelhaft. Im Hochsommer oder Herbst dieses Jahres wird daher wohl der Kampf beginnen.>

Source: Pages 323-326 of the October-November 1913 'Wiener Schachzeitung'

Jan-14-14  Karpova: In short, this article by Mieses from February 1913 demonstrates again how far the arrangement of the World Championship match between Dr. Lasker and Rubinstein already was.

<1> In the first paragraph, Mieses says that Dr. Lasker accpeted Rubinstein's challenge and that they agreed upon the match conditions. Now, the financial backing had to be secured and, fortunately, this seems to be the case. But first, a few difficulties had to be overcome.

<2> The second paragraph details Dr. Lasker's demand of 1400 Mark per game on average, with 20 games to be played overall. As a title match takes place only about once per 5 years, takes 3 to 4 months of preparation, and the loser also receives a considerable financial compensation from the match funds, Dr. Lasker's demand is not too high.

The difficulty they had to overcome is basically the outcry ater the financial demands had become publicly known. This was apparently considered too much for a chess event.

<3> The third paragraph explains that the International Chess Circles were not taken aback. Already now, most of the 20 games have been distributed to some of the biggest Chess Clubs in Germany and Russia. That the few remaining games will be housed, appears pretty much indubitably. The match will possibly take place in midummer or autumn of 1913.

It turned out that the match was delayed for one year and then, World War I broke out.

Feb-03-14  Karpova: In C.N. 8521, Timothy J. Bogan (Chicago, IL, USA) submitted a passage from page 34 of O’Kelly de Galway's '34 mal Schachlogik' on Rubinstein's later years.

Edward Winter's summary: <During the Second World War and until Rubinstein’s wife died, O’Kelly played several dozen games against Rubinstein, some of which featured the ‘Symmetrical Defence’ to the Queen’s Gambit, an opening which O’Kelly then analysed and played himself. As a widower, Rubinstein spent his final years in an old people’s home, no longer using a chess set but regularly analysing without a board. He remained almost silent, as if wishing to prepare himself for death.>

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

I don't think that the last sentence entirely captures what O'Kelly said, so a different way of putting it is: <He had acquired an almost complete muteness, as if he wanted to prepare for death silently.>

The opening in question is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c5

Feb-07-14  Karpova: Krejcik mentions a consultation game <Marco / Faehndrich vs Rubinstein / Salwe, Vienna 1908>. This game already showed that after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 a quick d4-d5 as in Maroczy vs P F Johner, 1907 is disadvantageous to White.

Source: Page 212 of the July-August 1911 'Wiener Schachzeitung'

Feb-11-14  Karpova: P. P. Saburov on the current state of the Chess Mastership in Russia (end of 1911):

Four Grandmasters (<Großmeister>) are there in Russia at the moment:

1. A. K. Rubinstein (Warsaw; 1st at Karlsbad 1907, 1st-2nd at St. Petersburg 1909, 1st-2nd at Ostende 1907).

2. S. Winawer (Warsaw; 1st at Nuremberg 1883, 1st-2nd at vienna 1882)

3. O. S. Bernstein (Moscow; 1st-2nd at Ostende 1907)

4. D. Janowski (Paris or Piotrków Trybunalski respectively; 1st st Monte-Carlo 1902, 1st at Hanover 1902, 1st-2nd at Barmen 1905).

Nine further prize winners in International tournaments:

5. A. Niemzowitsch
6. H. Salwe
7. Alexander A. Alekhine
8. F. J. Duz-Chotimirsky
9. E. A. Znosko-Borovsky
10. H. Levenfish
11. J. Taubenhaus
12. G. Rotlewi
13. S. Alapin
14. A. Levin
15. A. J. Rabinovich
16. S. M. Levitsky
17. M. Lowcki
18. D. Przepiorka
19. S. N. von Freymann

Also proven Master strength: 20th P. A. Evtifeev, 21st V. J. Nenarokov, 22nd A. F. Goncharov, 23rd S. J. Pollner, 24th S. F. Lebedev, 25th V. N. Sournin.

As Masters are also counting: 26th A. Poplawski, 27th A. Flamberg, 28th B. Blumenfeld, 29th M. Elyashov, 30th A. V. Solowtzow.

Source: Pages 353-355 of the November-December 1911 'Wiener Schachzeitung'

Feb-11-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: If I'd have spent forty years being buzzed around by that pesky Musca domestica I think I'd have been hoping for death to arrive as well.
Feb-11-14  RedShield: Don't tempt me.
Feb-22-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Stefan Zweig, novelist, died today in 1942. I mean 22nd February.
Feb-22-14  bien pensant: By his own hands, if I may add.
Feb-24-14  thomastonk: The "Neue Welt" of January 10, 1930 has on page 10 an interview with Rubinstein. See http://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.....

The "Neue Welt" (see http://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt....) is the successor of the "Wiener Morgenzeitung" (see http://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt....), which - according to Ehn & Strouhal - contained the chess column of the Hakoah. I searched a little bit, but without success. If someone else knows where to find it, I would very much appreciate a hint.

Feb-24-14  Karpova: From the interview by Paul Berend with Akiva Rubinstein in Budapest. Thanks to <thomastonk> for this great finding!

Whenever Rubinstein comes to a larger city with jewish inhabitants, he can be sure about a jewish reporter asking for an interview. With his childlike clumsiness (<kindliche Unbeholfenheit>) he tries to ward it off. Finally, he asks for the questions to be posed as his nerves aren't sufficient for a long, contiguous lecture anymore. So Rubinstein recounts:

- His grandfather was a famous rabbi in Russian-Poland and was located near Warsaw.

- His father was a wood merchant who left 30,000$ and a huge hebrew and yiddish library. Both, the money and the library, were a great sensation back then in the Polish village. Nothing was left of either the money, nor the library and he didn't know his own father, who died shortly after his birth. Akiva was raised by his grandparents, as his mother remarried after having been a widow for a short time and moved to another city.

- Until he was 16 years of age, he studied the Talmud exclusively. At the age of 20, he became a professional chessplayer.

- When he was a little child, someone (he believes it was a relative) showed the game of chess to him and the same day, Akiva bought himself a chess book in Hebrew. In their town, they spoke Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish fluently. He was not "discovered" by someone, but became a "Master" by studying books and practice.

- The Talmud also covers the game of chess and Bretschneider even wrote a book <Schach im Talmud> ('Chess in the Talmud'), wherein he also cites other Hebrew and jewish sources. The 'Shulchan Aruch' also mentions chess, and allows chess play on Sabbath if the chess pieces are made of noble metals, gold or silver - Akiva believes that the 'Schulchan Aruch' wants to make clear that chess is a combination of extraordinary, higher ideas and notions (<Ideen und Einfällen>) and not a work in the usual sense, which is forbidden on Sabbath.

- Akiva leads a jewish, religious life together with his wife and his little son. They live in a suburb of Antwerp, Belgium, where also other jews live. But there are not many and most of them are sephardim, i. e. of Spanish descent/parentage (<Abkunft>). There is a small synagogue he also visits. Although the Belgian jews are self-confidently adhered to their religion, they are very enlightened/open-minded (it's <aufgeklärt> in German and while enlightened is the direct translation, the english expression has some connotations which are not quite fitting. So negative associations with the expression were probably not intended by Akiva). But the Rubinsteins live very withdrawn and have almost no contact to others (<[...], denn wir leben sehr zurückgezogen und verkehren fast mit niemand.>).

- Asked why there are relatively many jewish chessmasters, Akiva mentions fast grasping of a situation, fast decision making and a pronounced talent for combinations.

- There follows an interesting analysis that chess is the only pillar in his life. When he discovered chess, it aroused his interest and he knew he would be able to make a living of it. But he became in a way a slave of it, and as external circumstances drove him, he could never carry his life in his own hands. The game of chess ruined his nerves (<Das Schachspiel hat meine Nerven ganz zerrieben.>). He doesn't have the patience for longer books anymore, for example. The fulgurous zigzag, by all inner logic, rhapsodic and neurasthenic essence of chess made him become like that in life also. That's also shown by what he writes in chess literature - short analyses, small tracts. He describes how chess is his life as he doesn't have a project in life besides it. He only visited the cheder also, and no other school.

Source: 'Die Neue Welt', 1930.01.10, p. 10

Feb-24-14  Karpova: A very interesting interview indeed, but there are some inconsistencies and it can be misleading to believe that he describes every aspect of one issue, when he describes just one.

The part about his father at least appears to be inconsistent. But this needn't be Akiva's fault, as he may have been told that during his childhood (perhaps to cheer him up, considering the circumstances of their living, and raise his self-confidence). His father was also rabbi, and where he came from, the jews lived in extreme poverty. The poverty was so great, that 10 of the 12 Rubinstein children (Akiva was the youngest) died of tuberculosis in childhood. Akiva never got to know his father, but he seems to have died shortly before Akiva's birth, not shortly afterwards. There are no direct traces left of the Rubinsteins in Stawiski (see Tomasz Lissowski in 'Karl' 03/2013, pp. 12-17 for an article on and fotos of Stawiski), but there may have been some in case his father had been that rich. But the extreme poverty is certainly not something you would boast about.

The latter part about chess being his pillar - I think that Rubinstein is pretty much referring to something like a profession, i. e. that he couldn't have changed his mode of living once he chose chess as his profession. His son Jonas recalls interests his father had apart from chess - Akiba Rubinstein - and then there was his family also. So it seems that he was exaggerating a bit to make the influence of chess on his life clear. But to me it seems to be more consistent to restrict it to a profession mostly (that's why he also mentions the Cheder as the only school he visited). For sure, it probably had a great influence of his private life also, and this influence may have grown the worse his condition got. This may have been the reason why he finally had to give up chess - to get away from it.

Mar-02-14  Karpova: Dr. Emanuel Lasker, Berlin, March 30, 1911:

<Rubinstein ist auf der Rückfahrt nach Warschau durch Berlin gekommen. Er blieb einige Tage und zeigte sich den Schachfreunden in einer Simultanvorstellung im Cafe Kerkau. Sein Aussehen ist blühend, als käme er, statt von einem anstrengenden Turniere, von einem Picknick. Er wurde freundlich begrüßt. Es ist schade darum, daß er sich in Warschau so fest niedergelassen hat. Für die Schachwelt wäre ein wanderlustiger Rubinstein von größerem Nutzen. So ist er ein seltener Gast.>

(Rubinstein came to Berlin during his travel back to Warsaw. He stayed for a few days and showed himself to the chess friends during a Simul in the Cafe Kerkau. His look is blooming as if he was not coming from a strenuous tournament, but a picnic. He was welcomed friendly. It is sad that he settled so firmly in Warsaw. For the chess world a more migrant Rubinstein would be of greater use. So he is a rare guest.)

Source: 'Pester Lloyd', 1911.04.02, page 8

Mar-02-14  Karpova: Dr. Emanuel Lasker, Berlin, August 31, 1911, on Karlsbad (1911) (on August 31st, round 8 had just been played):

<Aber er ist einer von den sehr wenigen, die kein Glück brauchen.>

(But he [Rubinstein] is one of the very few who do not need luck.)

Source: 'Pester Lloyd', 1911.09.03, page 7

Lasker's point is that Rubinstein will become a threat to the tournament leaders, although after 8 rounds he had aleady suffered two losses.

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