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A nice (short) game ... by A. Rubinstein.I have always felt that Akiba Rubinstein was one of the greatest chess players who ever lived. Every web page that I make with his name on it, I want it to be a small monument to salute one of the greatest players of all time. He certainly was one of the best players who never managed to top the Mount Olympus of chess. (I hope you enjoy my web page, and that you will carefully study the chess of A. Rubinstein.) Please note that - in the game, below - that I conducted dozens of DPA's. A "DPA" is a deep positional analysis, done with a strong chess engine, usually run for around 4-10 hours. (Sometimes I let it run for 24 hours, or even longer.) I posted the results of what Fritz 12 and Fritz 13 found, this very strong chess engine consistently failed to find the moves that Rubinstein actually played. (And I also tested engines like, "Houdini," "Rybka," "Stockfish," "Deep Shredder," and many others as well. And - just about all of the time - the engines failed to find the moves that the genius of Rubinstein uncovered.) The results of these searches are posted in the game. ********************** Please
also note that I consistently quote GM
Savielly G. Tartakower.
[A.J. Goldsby I] ************************************************************************************* Rubinstein wins a tremendous
game ... and - in addition - it is a wonderful miniature as well! The game begins as a normal Queen's Gambit Declined. [ Both sides follow the four basic principles of the opening. If you study the game carefully, you will see that every one of these moves will accomplish 2-3 of these core concepts. For example, Black's first move, 1...Nf6; does the following: A.)
Controls key central squares,
specifically, e4 and also d5; *************************************************************************************
1.d4 Nf6; 2.c4 e6; 3.Nc3 d5; 4.Bg5 Be7; 5.e3 0-0; 6.Nf3 Nbd7; 7.Rc1 c6; (center) So far, this is all book. (Black's last move helped to cement his control of the vital d5-square,
r1bq1rk1/pp1nbppp/2p1pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/2RQKB1R w K - 0 8
Now we have a standard position from this opening. 8.Qc2, (Waiting, maybe -'!') Rather than play the King's Bishop up ... and possibly lose a tempo, White instead plays the Queen to a good square, perhaps postponing the development of the LSB to a later time. This is <also> playable, but
the main line is definitely 8.Bd3. Several authors praised Rubinstein for this move and even awarded it an exclam here. (Some authors have stated that this idea actually originated with Rubinstein, although I cannot verify this. The earliest known example {that I could find after looking at possibly hundreds of games!} of 8.Qc2 was played in a game between E. Lasker and <also> A. Hodges in 1915. I have also found a game - played by Capa when he was young - where he also employed this move, as well.) "Rubinstein lives up to his
move, introduced into tournament practice with brilliance in the
game,
[ The most commonly played
line would be the following continuation:
(Or Black can play: 9...Nd5!?; which would be the
10.0-0 cxd4;
11.exd4,
"+/="
[ See MCO-15, beginning on page # 393, col.'s # 1-18 ...
8...Re8; (Going for ...e7-e5?) Black plays the Rook to a central file, perhaps thinking of a later Pawn break in the center of the board. This move is not terrible, however it may not have been Black's most vigorous follow-up in this position. "It is still not clear as to which answer is Black's best ..." - GM Savielly Tartakower.
[ Probably better was:
(>/=)
RR 8...a6!;
9.a3!? h6;
9.a3!, (The purpose?) White plays a move that has prophylactic aims, perhaps with several ideas in mind: #1.) Prevent any pin/exchange (of White's Knight on c3) which starts with ...Bb4 by Black. #2.)
Now that the White Queen is on c2, it might be a good idea
for White to prevent a #3.)
White's LSB now has a new hiding square on a2, which might
be followed up by Bb1 #4.)
Maybe Rubinstein is thinking about playing b2-b4, gaining
space and this also discourages #5.)
I saw one game in the DB - sometime in 2013 - where two
masters played this system. ****************** Several authors liked this
move so much that they awarded it an exclam. "Much better than 9.Bd3, and
the best way to continue in the fight for the tempo."
[ RR 9.Bd3, - Fritz 13. ]
9...h6!, (Asking the question.) Black "kicks" White's DSB.
r1bqr1k1/pp1nbpp1/2p1pn1p/3p2B1/2PP4/P1N1PN2/1PQ2PPP/2R1KB1R w K - 0 10
I award this move an exclam ...
for a couple of reasons:
[ One {former} student recommended that Black play his immediate
10.Bf4!, (Centralization.) White plays a nice move, it hits the key e5-square and also prevents Black from getting any ideas about playing for the center break of ....e7-e5. This Bishop is also very annoying for the second player ... it makes it hard for Black to generate any meaningful game plan with this DSB (dark-squared B) slicing through the heart of his position. (10.Bf4! - GM S. Tartakower.)
[ RR 10.Bh4 , - Fritz 13. ]
10...dxc4!?; (hmmm)
Black surrenders the center ... without even being asked.
[ Probably the following moves were all a
In Black's defense, the idea of ...d5xc4; is a standard idea for Black in the QGD, and allows the second player to begin a process whereby he can eventually free his QB from its prison of Pawns ... most of which are
(now) currently
11.Bxc4 Nb6!?; (What the!?!?) Black is trying to get his pieces out and get some play as well.
r1bqr1k1/pp2bpp1/1np1pn1p/8/2BP1B2/P1N1PN2/1PQ2PPP/2R1K2R w K - 0 12
Normally - all the books teach that this is a bad (inferior) square for this piece.
This is another one of those moves - in this game - that was nearly universally condemned in many of the older chess magazines. (Whether it is really good or bad ... I leave for the reader to resolve for themselves.)
[ I think a fair improvement would probably have to be the following game:
Zurab Sturua
(2450) - Andrei Kharitonov;
(2300?) / [D64]
12.Ba2, (preparation, maybe, probably -'!') When I was a "Class C" player, a move like this definitely would have confused me.
Today, I realize that this is a good move ... for the following reasons:
[ RR 12.Bd3, - Fritz 13. ]
12...Bd6!?; (nullification) While Black's move appears to be good and completely logical, all the engines see a rather sharp rise in the overall evaluations of the current position on the chess board. (Black loses a significant amount of dark-square control by this exchange of the dark-squared Bishops here.)
"Under the slogan of simplification. But, as we shall soon see, this only simplifies the opponent's victory.
[
The following line had to represent a significant improvement
Seeing that he has no good square to retreat his QB to, Rubinstein goes ahead and swaps it off. 13.Bxd6 Qxd6; 14.0-0 Nbd7; (Black retreats?) Black is thinking about preparing the ...e7-e5 break, but this rather tame move does not appear to get the job done, although the strong engine, Houdini, seems to prefer this move over all the other alternatives here for Black. "With the vain hope of ...e6-e5." - GM Savielly Tartakower.
[ Maybe RR
14...Rd8;
or even RR
14...Nbd5; were a very,
******************************
Now White discourages Black from playing ...e7-e5; by placing his Rook on d1.
I should also note that Tartakower also awarded White's 15th move an exclamation point. 15.Rfd1! Qe7; (Too routine?) Black gets off the line/file of White's Rook on the d1-square.
r1b1r1k1/pp1nqpp1/2p1pn1p/8/3P4/P1N1PN2/BPQ2PPP/2RR2K1 w - - 0 16
Maybe placing the Queen on c7, would have been a slight improvement over the actual game.
[ After (>/=) 15...Qc7; Black would have better control of the vital e5-square. ]
16.Ne5!!, (Why is it good?) There are four basic principles that govern middlegame play. (Attack, try to get active posting of your pieces, make and exploit weaknesses, and also you should be looking for a favorable transition to the endgame.) I have studied literally thousands of master-level games, and one of the first things that a strong player will do ... especially in closed or semi-closed positions ... is to place a Knight on a strong square. (Outpost!)
This move is worthy of TWO exclamation points, as it also may entail - by force - a Pawn sack by White. I think that this is also ... yet another example ... of the second Morphy Principle in action. ("When you have all your pieces properly developed - and your opponent does not - then you should purposely try to open the game up as much as possible.")
[ RR 16.Ne4!?, "+/=" - Fritz 13. ]
16...Nxe5; (Kill the intruder!) It is only natural that Black would want to remove the offending Knight. However, there is a well known rule of thumb that a defender, (esp. someone who is defending a blatantly inferior position); should never open lines, so this exchange is a clear violation of that concept. (Usually - open lines favor the player with the upper hand, this is why you do not want to open lines when you are defending an inferior position. The results favor the attacker the majority of the time.) In Black's defense, the exchange on d5 appears very strong ... and even seems to win a pawn, as well. (Several chess engines - to include an earlier version of Stockfish - seem to prefer this exchange of Knights on e5.)
[ RR 16...Rd8; - Houdini 1.5; RR 16...Nd5; - Fritz 13. ]
White has no good move other than to retake the Knight on e5. 17.dxe5 Ng4; (Hitting the Pawn on the e5-square.)
This move - which is the first choice of most chess engines - is criticized by Tartakower who comments that:
[ RR
17...Nd7!?;
('?!') 18.f4,
'±' ("+/") -
Fritz 13.
18.Bb1!, (Battery!) This move, which threatens a simple mate in two, (Qh7+, and then Qh8#); virtually forces Black to push his KNP and further weaken his position. One of the first books - published in America - was by the Irish-born Mason. In that historic volume, he advised players to try and get your pieces working together and pointed at the enemy King.
[ Not as accurate would be: </=
18.Qe4?! Qh4!;
"<=>" (counterplay)
18...g6[]; (100% forced.) Black had no choice at all, not in this position.
[ Of course not: </= 18...Nxe5??; 19.Qh7+ Kf8; 20.Qh8#. (mate) *********************************
Also bad for Black was:
Now ... rather than even try to defend his Pawn on e5, White simply sacrifices it. 19.Ne4! Nxe5; (Booty!) Black appears to have won a Pawn, however, now all of the engines are already finding the win for White.
Black has won material, but all of White's pieces are in very good positions. Probably the straw that breaks the back
[ RR 19...Rf8; 20.Qc3, +- ]
20.Qc3!, (Attacking the Knight!) One of the first things you learn to do as a chess player is to go after the unprotected piece. Averbakh said - in his landmark book on tactics - that double attacks form the foundation of every good combination.
[ RR 20.f4!? Ng4; 21.Qc3, "+/=" 20...e5!; "<=>" ]
20...Nd7; (A safe square?) Black retreats to a place that looks secure. In addition, if Black had just a few moves, he could easily untangle his position and try to use his extra Pawn to win the game.
r1b1r1k1/pp1nqp2/2p1p1pp/8/4N3/P1Q1P3/1P3PPP/1BRR2K1 w - - 0 21
Unfortunately for Black, the position has now become a tactical puzzle, with ... ... ...
[ RR
20...Ng4; 21.h3 f5;
22.Nd6, "+-" (White's winning.)
*******************************************************************
With his next move, Tartakower comments that Rubinstein is: (giving)
Of course, after 21.RxN/d7!, Black cannot capture with the Queen, as 22.Nf6+,
would fork 21.Rxd7! Bxd7; 22.Nf6+ Kf8; 23.Nd5!, "+/-" Black Resigns.
The second player quits because he has to either lose his Queen ... or get mated.
r3rk2/pp1bqp2/2p1p1pp/3N4/8/P1Q1P3/1P3PPP/1BR3K1 b - - 0 23
This game is a true jewel ... and one of the finest miniatures that I have ever deeply analyzed. All of Black's moves were logical and plausible, there was no gross blunder, Rubinstein simply outplayed Moishe Hirschbein. ************************************************************************************ BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Copyright (c) A.J. Goldsby, 2004. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) A.J. Goldsby, 2013. All rights reserved.
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The analysis for this page was prepared with the excellent program,
ChessBase
10.0. The HTML was polished with several different tools and programs, (mostly FP) ... the text was checked for spelling with MS Word..
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