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Łódź, 26 December 1907

Rubinstein's Immortal

Gersz Rotlewi – Akiba Rubinstein · 0-1

a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1
Result
0-1
Moves
25
Opening
Queen's Pawn Game
The names end at
5... Nf6

Watch it on the mapFinal position on the map

The story

Played in Łódź in December 1907. Rubinstein, with Black, aims his two bishops at White’s king from b6 and b7.

With 22...Rxc3! he gives up a rook, and after 23. gxh4 — White takes the queen — comes the second rook sacrifice, 23...Rd2!!. Two moves later White resigned, facing mate on h2 — with a queen and a rook more than Black, for two minor pieces.

Hans Kmoch called it Rubinstein’s Immortal Game, and Garry Kasparov wrote of “Rubinstein’s truly ‘immortal’ game”.

Rubinstein's Immortal: the map where the opening names end
The position where the game leaves the named openings, with every game of the next four moves around it.

The moves

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 c5 4.c4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.a3 a6 8.b4 Bd6 9.Bb2 O-O 10.Qd2 Qe7 11.Bd3 dxc4 12.Bxc4 b5 13.Bd3 Rd8 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.O-O Ne5 16.Nxe5 Bxe5 17.f4 Bc7 18.e4 Rac8 19.e5 Bb6+ 20.Kh1 Ng4 21.Be4 Qh4 22.g3 Rxc3 23.gxh4 Rd2 24.Qxd2 Bxe4+ 25.Qg2 Rh3 0-1

Through the openings

  1. 1. d4Queen's Pawn Game
  2. 1... d5Queen's Pawn Game
  3. 2. Nf3Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation
  4. 5... Nf6Tarrasch Defense: Symmetrical Variation

Source of the moves: en.wikipedia.org

More famous games

The Opera GameMorphy, Paris 1858Playing from a box at the opera, Morphy mates his two opponents in 17 moves. The Immortal GameAnderssen, London 1851Anderssen gives up both rooks, a bishop and his queen, then mates with the minor pieces he has left. The Evergreen GameAnderssen, Berlin 1852Anderssen sacrifices his queen and mates with a bishop; more than 170 years on, the game is still fresh. The Game of the CenturyD. Byrne – Fischer, New York 1956Thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer gives up his queen and wins. Kasparov's ImmortalKasparov – Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999A rook sacrifice on move 24 starts a hunt that chases Black's king across the whole board. Deep Blue Beats KasparovDeep Blue – Kasparov, New York 1997The last game of the first match a computer won against the world champion, over in 19 moves. The Game Spassky ApplaudedFischer – Spassky, Reykjavik 1972Fischer almost never opened 1.c4; here he did, and at the end even Spassky joined the applause. The Octopus KnightKarpov – Kasparov, Moscow 1985Kasparov's knight digs in on d3 and paralyses White; that match made him world champion. Botvinnik's Bishop SacrificeBotvinnik – Capablanca, AVRO 1938Botvinnik beats former world champion Capablanca with a bishop sacrifice on move 30.