Akiba Rubinstein, The Perfect Artist!

In his moment, Akiba Rubinstein (1882-1961) played the most perfect chess of the epoch! Many of his games were models of precision. He played the endgames like the gods! said Tartakower, a leading master at the time. Before World War I, Rubinstein was Lasker’s chief rival for the championship. It is said, during the period of the war his nerves were affected and he could never again recreate the shape he had in the pre-war epoch.

“For Rubinstein has also created the most perfect games of the epoch since Steinitz. The theories of Steinitz and their application in chess practice have the same history as the theories of physics and their application in technology. The games of Steinitz himself, who created the theories, were far from being the best games exemplifying them. It took an entire generation of chess master to derive from those theories all that they contained of value for practical playing. Rubinstein was the keystone of this generation, and his games are the most perfect demonstrations of Steinitz’s teachings.” Richard Reti.

Today I want to show you three different examples of Rubinstein’s mastery: Positional, Combinational, and Endgame Technique.