Rubinstein’s Immortal

The game, move by move

A Semi-Tarrasch, both sides developing

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… d5 The same claim
3. 2. Nf3 The knight out
4. 2… e6 e6
5. 3. e3 e3 — modest, and it costs him It shuts in the bishop on c1 for eight moves. Rubinstein’s whole game is built on getting his pieces out one move before White does.
6. 3… c5 c5, at the centre
7. 4. c4 c4
8. 4… Nc6 The knight out
9. 5. Nc3 And White’s
10. 5… Nf6 And Black’s second
11. 6. dxc5 The pawn taken on c5
12. 6… Bxc5 The bishop recaptures
13. 7. a3 a3, preparing b4
14. 7… a6 a6
15. 8. b4 b4, gaining space
16. 8… Bd6 The bishop steps back to d6 Onto the diagonal that runs to h2. It comes back to c7 and then to b6, and at the end it is on b6 checking down the other one.
17. 9. Bb2 The bishop to b2 at last
18. 9… O-O Black castles
19. 10. Qd2 The queen to d2
20. 10… Qe7 The queen to e7

Every piece pointed at one king

1. 11. Bd3 The bishop to d3, at h7
2. 11… dxc4 The pawn taken on c4
3. 12. Bxc4 Recaptured
4. 12… b5 b5, at the bishop
5. 13. Bd3 Back to d3
6. 13… Rd8 The rook to d8 Both black rooks come to the files in the middle and neither of them ever defends anything. Both are given away in the last four moves.
7. 14. Qe2 The queen to e2
8. 14… Bb7 The bishop to b7 — the long diagonal It never moves again until it takes on e4 with check. From b7 the diagonal ends on g2, and g2 is the square the whole finish is about.
9. 15. O-O White castles
10. 15… Ne5 The knight to e5
11. 16. Nxe5 The knights come off
12. 16… Bxe5 The bishop recaptures on e5
13. 17. f4 f4, at the bishop
14. 17… Bc7 Back to c7
15. 18. e4 e4, taking the centre
16. 18… Rac8 The second rook to c8 Every black piece is now developed and aimed at the white king, and White has a bishop on b2 doing nothing and a knight on c3 that is about to be taken by a rook.

Two rooks offered

1. 19. e5 e5, pushing on
2. 19… Bb6+ The bishop to b6, with check
3. 20. Kh1 Kh1
4. 20… Ng4 The knight to g4 Threatening h2 and f2 at once, and the queen is about to arrive behind it.
5. 21. Be4 The bishop to e4, blocking the diagonal It stops the bishop on b7 and it is taken by that bishop four moves later. There was no move that held everything.
6. 21… Qh4 Qh4 — the last piece arrives Queen, two rooks, two bishops and a knight, all on the kingside. White has the bishop on b2, and the b2 bishop is the piece the combination removes first.
7. 22. g3 g3, to break the attack
8. 22… Rxc3 The rook takes the knight on c3 — the first offer A rook for a knight, and the point is the bishop on b2: it now has to hold c3 as well as g7, and it cannot. The rook on c3 cannot be taken by the bishop because of what happens on h2.
9. 23. gxh4 The queen, taken instead
10. 23… Rd2 Rd2 — the second rook Onto a square White’s queen covers. It is not a check and it is not even a threat to the queen; it is a threat to take on g2, and the queen has to take.

The rook on h3

1. 24. Qxd2 Taken — she has to be
2. 24… Bxe4+ The bishop takes e4, with check The diagonal from b7 to g2 is open at last, and it has been aimed there since move fourteen.
3. 25. Qg2 The queen blocks on g2
4. 25… Rh3 Rh3 — and White resigned No check, no capture, and the last move of the game. The rook stands on h3 and the mates are all one move away: 26.Qxh3 loses to Bxg2, 26.Qxe4 to Rxh2, and there is nothing that holds both. Rotlewi did not choose which of them to lose to.