Lasker-Rubinstein....Gigantic Battles!
Recently, Simaginfan reminded me of a post which he published in 2017, titled "Lasker Learns from Blackburne"
https://www.chess.com/blog/simaginfan/lasker-learns-from-blackburne
It is a very good post, and it features two games: a game from 1892 in which Blackburne, playing Black, obtains an endgame advantage, and a game from Moscow, 1925, in which Lasker, playing Black, outplays Rubinsein in a similar endgame.
This got me looking at the encounters between these two players. I wanted to know what their lifetime record is against each other. It turns out it is quite even:
"Classical games: Emanuel Lasker beat Akiba Rubinstein 2 to 1, with 4 draws."
This led me to look at the games, even the drawn ones. I have to say, they are all interesting games. Here are all their encounters, in chronological order:
The first game is a Rubinstein victory, and it is a dominating statement. Here is the game, from St. Petersburg 1909, with notes by Lasker!
The second game is from St. Petersburg, 1914. Now, Rubinstein was so famous for his endgame play, especially his rook endgames, that Tarrasch once said: "Rubinstein is a rook endgame created by the Gods long ago."
In this game, Lasker wins against Rubinstein, in Rubinstein's style! (exploiting a very small advantage in a rook endgame!)
The third game is from Berlin, 1918, just after WWI. Rubinstein, one of the best Ruy players with the Black pieces, equalizes against Lasker's d3 system.....
The next game is also from Berlin, 1918. Lasker, with his usual courage, plays the Tarrasch Defense, and Rubinstein plays the g3 system that carries his name to this day!
In the following game, Rubinstein, playing Black, plays energetically, but Lasker finds a forced draw.
In the next game, in Berlin, 1924, Lasker plays Capablanca's system against the Queen's Gambit Declined. Lasker plays energetically, but Rubinstein is the one who finds a perpetual to seal he draw.
And the last game, from Moscow 1925, is the one Simaginfan included in his original article.
Two giants, Lasker and Rubinstein, give a Master Class ever time they play!
