Rubinstein's Immortal

Akiba Rubinstein was 25 when he played this game at the Łódź tournament in December 1907. Rotlewi — a young Polish master — opened with the Queen’s Gambit; Rubinstein replied with the Tarrasch Defense and built the classical isolated-pawn structure that Tarrasch had championed. The combination that decides the game is sometimes called “Rubinstein’s Immortal” by analogy with Anderssen’s, and it features one of the cleanest queen sacrifices in the literature.

The position after 21.Be4 Qh4! is critical. Rotlewi must defend against multiple threats. The move he chose — 22.g3 — was understandable but loses to Rubinstein’s astonishing reply 22…Rxc3!.

If 23.Bxc3, then 23…Bxe4 wins back the bishop with a winning attack. If 23.gxh4 (as played), then 23…Rd2!! sacrifices the second rook and forces 24.Qxd2 Bxe4+ with mate to follow: 25.Qg2 Rh3! and there is no defence against 26…Rxh2# — a mate that Rotlewi recognised but could no longer prevent.

The combination is studied today both for its conceptual depth and for the rare aesthetic feature of two simultaneous rook sacrifices. Rubinstein gave both rooks for a forced mate; Rotlewi’s queen, captured on move 24, could not prevent the inevitable.

After Łódź

Rubinstein went on to become one of the strongest players in the world through the 1910s, finishing first at major events including San Sebastián 1912 and Pistyán 1912. The First World War interrupted his career; a planned World Championship match against Lasker was never arranged. He continued playing into the 1930s but never reached the title.

Rotlewi died of typhus during the 1912 typhus epidemic in Poland, at age 22. The Łódź game is his only widely-remembered contribution to chess literature — but losing to one of Rubinstein’s masterpieces is no shame.