Rotlewi versus Rubinstein is a game of

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

played between

Gersz Rotlewi Gersz (Georg, George, Gersh) Rotlewi (Rotlevi, Rotlevy) (1889 – 1920) was a Polish chess master. Biography In 1906, Rotlewi tied for 5-6th in Łódź (Akiba Rubinstein won). In 1907, he took 3rd, behind Rubinstein and Dawid Daniuszewski, in Lod ...

and

Akiba Rubinstein Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title International Grandma ...

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

on December 26, 1907. It features a brilliant queen and rook sacrifice by Rubinstein to . The game was dubbed Rubinstein's Immortal Game by

Hans Kmoch Johann "Hans" Joseph Kmoch (July 25, 1894, Vienna – February 13, 1973, New York City) was an Austrian-Dutch-American chess International Master (1950), International Arbiter (1951), and a chess journalist and author, for which he is best known. ...

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...

described the game as "Rubinstein's truly 'immortal' game" and "his most famous creation".

The game

White: Gersz Rotlewi Black: Akiba Rubinstein

Opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , ...

Tarrasch Defense The Tarrasch Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves: :1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4, d4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5, d5 :2. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. c4, c4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. c4/2...e6, e ...

, Symmetrical Variation ('' ECO'' D32)
Łódź, Poland, December 1907 otes_are_based_on_''The_Big_Book_of_Chess''_by_Eric_Schiller,_and_other_referenced_works..html" ;"title="Eric_Schiller.html" ;"title="otes are based on ''The Big Book of Chess'' by otes_are_based_on_''The_Big_Book_of_Chess''_by_Eric_Schiller,_and_other_referenced_works.">Eric_Schiller.html"_;"title="otes_are_based_on_''The_Big_Book_of_Chess''_by_Eric_Schiller">otes_are_based_on_''The_Big_Book_of_Chess''_by_Eric_Schiller,_and_other_referenced_works. 1._d4_d5_2._Nf3_e6_3._e3_c5_4._c4_Nc6_5._Nc3_Nf6_6._dxc5_Bxc5_7._a3_a6_8._b4_Bd6_9._Bb2_0-0_10._Qd2 :_

otes_are_based_on_''The_Big_Book_of_Chess''_by_Eric_Schiller,_and_other_referenced_works.">Eric_Schiller.html"_;"title="otes_are_based_on_''The_Big_Book_of_Chess''_by_Eric_Schiller">otes_are_based_on_''The_Big_Book_of_Chess''_by_Eric_Schiller,_and_other_referenced_works. 1._d4_d5_2._Nf3_e6_3._e3_c5_4._c4_Nc6_5._Nc3_Nf6_6._dxc5_Bxc5_7._a3_a6_8._b4_Bd6_9._Bb2_0-0_10._Qd2 :_Savielly_Tartakower">Tartakower_criticizes_this_as_a_loss_of_:_"The_queen_will_soon_have_to_seek_a_better_square._The_most_useful_move_is_10.Qc2." 10..._Qe7 :This_move_sacrifices_a_pawn,_but_11.cxd5_exd5_12.Nxd5?_accepting_the_sacrifice_allows_12...Nxd5_13.Qxd5_Rd8!_with_a_strong_attack. 11._Bd3_dxc4_12._Bxc4_b5_13._Bd3_Rd8_14._Qe2_Bb7_15._0-0_Ne5_16._Nxe5_Bxe5 :Threatening_to_win_a_pawn_by_17...Bxh2+!_since_18.Kxh2_allows_the_Fork_(chess).html" "title="Savielly_Tartakower.html" ;"title="Eric Schiller">otes are based on ''The Big Book of Chess'' by Eric Schiller, and other referenced works.">Eric_Schiller.html" ;"title="otes are based on ''The Big Book of Chess'' by Eric Schiller">otes are based on ''The Big Book of Chess'' by Eric Schiller, and other referenced works. 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. c4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. a3 a6 8. b4 Bd6 9. Bb2 0-0 10. Qd2 : Savielly Tartakower">Tartakower criticizes this as a loss of : "The queen will soon have to seek a better square. The most useful move is 10.Qc2." 10... Qe7 :This move sacrifices a pawn, but 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Nxd5? accepting the sacrifice allows 12...Nxd5 13.Qxd5 Rd8! with a strong attack. 11. Bd3 dxc4 12. Bxc4 b5 13. Bd3 Rd8 14. Qe2 Bb7 15. 0-0 Ne5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 :Threatening to win a pawn by 17...Bxh2+! since 18.Kxh2 allows the Fork (chess)">fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with which one ...

18...Qd6+ followed by 19...Qxd3. 17. f4 Bc7 18. e4 Rac8 19. e5 Bb6+ 20. Kh1 Ng4 :Black is trying to attack White's . Both bishops, the knight, and soon the queen are attacking squares near White's king. 21. Be4 Qh4 22. g3 (see diagram) Rxc3 :White's bishop on e4 is defended by both his queen and knight, but his queen must also defend h2 against ...Qxh2. Black sacrifices to remove the knight, causing White's queen to be overloaded defending both e4 and h2. Chernev wrote "It's only the beginning. You ain't seen nothin' yet. Kmoch gives this move three exclamation marks. We can hardly do less."''Chess Review'' 1954, vol. 22, p. 288 23. gxh4 :White has little choice but to accept the sacrifice of Black's queen, since 23.Bxc3 and most other moves lose to 23...Bxe4+ 24.Qxe4 Qxh2#, and 23.Bxb7 loses to 23...Rxg3. 23... Rd2!! (diagram) :Black deflects White's queen from defending the bishop on e4 by sacrificing a rook in addition to the queen. White has to take the rook because White's queen is pinned against the h2-square, for example: :* 24.Qe1 Rxh2# :* 24.Qxg4 Bxe4+ 25.Rf3 Rxf3 (threatening 26...Rf1#) :** 26.Qxf3 Bxf3# :** 26.Qg2 Rf1+! 27.Rxf1 Bxg2# :* 24.Rfe1 or 24.Rae1 lose to 24...Bxe4+ 25.Qxe4 Rxh2# :* 24.Bxb7 Rxe2 25. Bg2 (forced) Rh3 and ...Rxh2# 24. Qxd2 Bxe4+ 25. Qg2 Rh3! :Black ignores the fact he can take White's queen and instead forces mate soon by ...Rxh2#, despite being down in by a queen and rook for two . White resigns.

References

Bibliography * * * * *{{Citation, title = 500 Master Games of Chess , last1 = Tartakower , first1 = Savielly , last2 = du Mont , first2 = Julius , author1-link = Savielly Tartakower , author2-link = Julius du Mont , year = 1975 , orig-year = First published 1952 , publisher = Dover Publications , url = https://archive.org/details/500mastergamesof00tart , url-access = registration , via =

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

, ISBN = 0-486-23208-5

External links

Game score
at

Chessgames.com Chessgames.com is an Internet chess community with over 224,000 members. The site maintains a large database of chess games, where each game has its own discussion page for comments and analysis. Limited primarily to games where at least one pla ...

1907 in chess 1907 in Poland December 1907 sports events Chess games 20th century in Łódź

The game

See also

References

External links