Akiba Rubinstein: The Man Who Should Have Been World Champion

The pages of Chess history are filled with legendary names. From the very first Chess players such as Ruy López de Segura and Gioachino Greco, to the current top players such as Magnus Carlsen and Alireza Firouzja, Chess has had an abundance of talented players, with new prodigies emerging every year. Doubtless, no other sport can boast of so many players contesting the epithet of "greatest of all time". 

Indeed, "who is the greatest player of all time?" is one of the most debated and controversial questions in the Chess world. And with so many candidates and circumstances to consider, it is almost certain no common consensus will ever be reached. However, this post does not look to answer that question. Instead, it looks to pay homage to one of history's greatest talents, someone who, due to the many unfortunate circumstances of life, never had the honor of calling himself World Champion. I speak of Akiba Rubinstein. The man who should have been World Champion. 

Akiba Rubinstein was born on December 1, 1880, in Stawiski, Poland. The oldest of twelve children, life was not easy for Akiba. Pertaining to a Jewish family, life in northeastern Poland at the end of the nineteenth century was a combination of discrimination and scant freedoms of any kind. 

Rubinstein learned to play Chess at the age of 14, very late for someone who would eventually grow to become such a strong player. Initially, his family had planned for him to become a rabbi. However, in 1903, after having having participated and finished fifth in a strong tournament in Kiev, he set out his own path to dedicate himself solely to Chess. During his youth he trained with Polish master Gersz Salwe, who would initiate Rubinstein's path towards Chess mastery.

Rubinstein would make his first international sensation when he tied for first with Oldrich Duras in the Hauptturnier, tournament in which he would be recognized as a master. He continued to be successful as he finished second at the 4th All-Russian Championship, behind Gersz Salwe, and won Lódz 1906 ahead of the great Mikhail Chigorin.

He had a great personal breakthrough by winning Karlsbad, in 1907.  He also played a match against Gersz Salwe, in Rubinstein triumphed 16.0-6.0. He finished 1907 by winning the 5th All- Russian Championship, in which he played his most recognized game, Rotlewi-Rubinstein.

                                                            Rubinstein's Immortal

Rubinstein had reached the very elite of Chess, already being among the top players in the world. He was scheduled to play a match against future World Champion José Raúl Capablanca in 1909, but was canceled due to unknown reasons. He also proposed a match against Bernstein but it also did not take place. Rubinstein beat Capablanca in their first individual encounter in San Sebastián, 1911.  The two would have a life score of +1 -1 =7.

The year 1912 was Rubinstein's best year, as he won four consecutive tournaments (San Sebastián, Bad Pistyan, the 18th DSB Kongress, and Vilnius All-Russian Masters 1912.) He wrote to Lasker proposing to be his challenger in a World Championship Match and Lasker eventually accepted. The match was set to take place in 1914, but was eventually canceled due to the outbreak of the First World War. 

Lasker and Rubinstein

The four years of World War One were particularly difficult for the Chess world, but especially so for Rubinstein. Not only was he unable to play for the World Champion title, but he also finished last in the Berlin Four Masters of 1918. He did, however, win a match against Schlechter that same year. 

Rubinstein moved with his family to Sweden in 1919 and lived there until 1921. He spoke about the upcoming World Championship Match between Lasker and Capablanca, suggesting instead a three-player tournament to determine the Champion. He also voiced the importance of a governing body to determine the official rules and requirements of future matches.

Rubinstein giving a simul

As Capablanca beat Lasker 4-0 in 1921, the Cuban became the third official World Champion. Once crowned, he accepted Rubinstein as his challenger, but Akiba was unable to come up with the required $10,000 sum Capablanca demanded. Capablanca's challenger was set to be determined by the winner of a match between Akiba Rubinstein and Alexander Alekhine, but Alekhine refused this proposal. 

Rubinstein continued to have good tournament results but the conquest of the World Championship still eluded him. He was given another chance to raise the funds necessary for a match against Capablanca, but was ultimately unable to do so.

The 1930s would mark the end for Rubinstein's competitive career. He placed third in San Remo, 1930, after which he won a consultation event in 1932. After that, his health declining, Rubinstein would no longer participate in any tournament and would retire to lead a normal life with his family. 

This does not mean that Rubinstein stopped following Chess altogether. Accounts from his family members state that he followed the Alekhine-Euwe (1935) Match attentively, as well as the matches between Botvinnik and Smyslov. He met with legendary Argentine-Polish Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf, with whom he is said to have played some casual games.

Rubinstein passed away in 1961 in Antwerp, Belgium. He left behind a legacy which helped shape the path for modern Chess, or as Garry Kasparov would put it,  "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." Rubinstein was an outstanding player overall, but excelled at endgames. Take a look at this game in which Black manages to win an otherwise dead-drawn Rook-ending:

And this other game which the great Capablanca himself called a "monument of magnificent precision".

Rubinstein co-authored a book titled Lärobok i Schack, one of the most important books on opening theory. His influence can be seen in players such as Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand, who has called him his favorite player. Rubinstein's  had a very delicate, precise, and energetic style, much like Capablanca's, and thus very difficult to beat. He is nowadays assessed as one the history's strongest players, and the strongest player in the world during the years 1913 and 1914, above then World Champion Emanuel Lasker.