Dr. Milan Vidmar sometimes gets overlooked as one of the greatest players of his era [when two of your peers are Emanuel Lasker and Jose R. Capablanca, that *will* happen!], but for an extended period of time he was one of the 10 best players in the world -- a remarkable accomplishment given that chess was not his profession. He was a full-time university professor who played chess in his spare time. Here, Dr. Vidmar lays the wood to the great Rubinstein -- using the Black pieces, no less! |
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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5
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Vidmar uses a Budapest Gambit, a relatively new line at the time. Rubinstein proceeds to badly mishandle the game. |
 
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3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+
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Rubinstein's greedy insistence on maintaining the Pawn will be punished. Modern players know that often times the best way to deal with a gambit is to return the Pawn at the appropriate time in return for a positional advantage. |
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6. Nc3 Qe7 7. Qd5 Bxc3+
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Forcing an ugly weakness in Rubinstein's Pawn structure. |
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8. bxc3 Qa3
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Aggressively posting his Queen. |
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9. Rc1 f6
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Forcing the removal of the advanced KP. |
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10. exf6 Nxf6
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Returning the Knight to its natural square with tempo. |
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11. Qd2 d6
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Opening a line to develop his last minor piece. |
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12. Nd4 O-O
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Tucking his King away before engaging in complications. |
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13. e3 Nxd4
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Removing Rubinstein's strongly centralized Knight. |
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14. cxd4 Ne4
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Planting his own Knight in a central outpost. |
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15. Qc2 Qa5+
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Forcing Rubinstein's King towards the open spaces. |
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16. Ke2 Rxf4
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A beautiful sacrifice, breaking apart the Pawn-chain shielding the White King. |
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17. exf4 Bf5
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Now threatening 18... N-N6 ch winning Rubinstein's Q on the discovered attack. |
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18. Qb2 Re8
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Now 19... N-N6 dbl ch would win the White KR. |
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19. Kf3 Nd2+
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Beginning a furious King-hunt. |
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20. Kg3 Ne4+
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Driving the King further away from his friends. |
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21. Kh4 Re6
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Closing in. |
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22. Be2 Rh6+
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The logical follow-up. |
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23. Bh5 Rxh5+
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Another sacrifice, this one drawing the King onto a square from which a deadly double check can be issued. |
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24. Kxh5 Bg6+
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Rubinstein graciously resigns rather than play out the checkmate. |
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(1564)