Pomar-Maroczy: A Prodigal Rubinstein Variation
Arturo Pomar Salamanca (pictured) was born September 1, 1931 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. At the age of 11 he won the championship of the Balearic Islands. He was able to draw a game at age 13 with his teacher, Alexander Alekhine. He was the youngest to draw with a reigning world champion. Pomar was the Champion of Spain seven times from 1946 to 1966. He played in the Stockholm Interzonal in 1962. He made IM in 1950 and GM in 1962.
Playing Pomar in this game is Geza Maroczy, who was born over 61 years before Pomar was. Maroczy was born March 3, 1870 and died May 29, 1951. He still remains one of Hungary’s all time greatest grandmasters. In the early 20th century, Maroczy was a leading contender for Lasker’s world title, but their plans for a match fell through. In 1935, when Max Euwe defeated Alekhine to win the world championship, Maroczy was Euwe’s second.
In the game shown, the opening was the French defense. After the Tarrasch Variation move order, it became the Rubinstein Variation. The game is not an example of a young player blowing away an elderly player with tactics. The players reached an endgame. Although, Maroczy was noted for endgame play (and that was one of the reasons Euwe used his services), Maroczy resigned at a point where most of us would expect play to continue. Did Maroczy simply know that he was lost and respect his young opponent enough to resign? Was Maroczy not up to the task of playing a longer game at his age, or was he already too short of time? In any case, I suggest that readers who do have the time set up the final position on a board and try to work out the ending. Of course, readers can just let their fingers click on the screen to see my thoughts that.
