EpisodesRound 03

Rubinstein's Immortal

His queen was attacked. He left it there, gave a rook, then offered his last rook.

Now playing1:50

Rubinstein's Immortal: the video's cover

YouTube Subscribe The quick cut · 0:43

Georg RotlewiK.O. · material 28/39

Akiba RubinsteinWins · material 20/39

White: Georg RotlewiFrom Łódź, born in 1889. Sixth in the same tournament.
Black: Akiba RubinsteinAge 27. Winner at Carlsbad 1907, and of this tournament.
Event: 5th All-Russian tournament
Place: Łódź, Congress Poland
Date: 26 December 1907
Opening: Tarrasch Defense, Symmetrical Variation (D32)
Result: 0-1White resigned, facing mate, 25 moves
Video: 1:50Published 8 November 2026

The story

Łódź, December 1907. Akiba Rubinstein is 27 and in the best year of his life so far: he won the great tournament at Carlsbad in September, and he wins the All-Russian tournament here in Łódź as well. With Black he meets Georg Rotlewi, a young player from the city who finishes sixth.

The opening is symmetrical: for fifteen moves the two sides almost mirror each other, with Black one move ahead. Then Rotlewi pushes his centre pawns. 19.e5 is the real mistake. It opens the diagonal to his own king, and after 19...Bb6+ both black bishops point at it.

21...Qh4 threatens mate on h2. Rotlewi attacks the queen with a pawn. Rubinstein leaves it where it is and takes a knight instead: 22...Rxc3.

Rotlewi takes the queen. 23...Rd2 gives a rook as well, and it is the only move that wins: the white queen is pulled away from the bishop it was guarding. That bishop falls with check, and the white queen has to block on g2, where it is pinned.

Then 25...Rh3. The last black rook steps next to the king and cannot be taken. White has 20 legal moves, and all of them lose to mate. Rotlewi resigned.

Rubinstein gave a queen and a rook for a knight and a bishop. Years later the writer Hans Kmoch gave the game its name: Rubinstein's Immortal.

Key moments

Frames from the video, one for each turning point.

19...Bb6+
The diagonals open
A check from b6. Both black bishops now point at the white king.
22...Rxc3!!
The queen sacrifice
The rook takes the knight. The queen stays on h4, where a pawn can take it.
23...Rd2!!
The rook sacrifice
The only move that wins. The rook pulls the white queen away from the bishop on e4.
24...Bxe4+
The bishop falls
Check on the long diagonal. The white queen must block on g2, and is pinned there.
25...Rh3!!
Rotlewi resigns
The last rook cannot be taken. All 20 of White's moves lose to mate, 17 of them in one.

Command list

Rotlewi vs Rubinstein · 50 plies · 0-1

1.d4d5
2.Nf3e6
3.e3c5
4.c4Nc6
5.Nc3Nf6
6.dxc5Bxc5
7.a3a6
8.b4Bd6
9.Bb2O-O
10.Qd2Qe7
11.Bd3dxc4
12.Bxc4b5
13.Bd3Rd8
14.Qe2Bb7
15.O-ONe5
16.Nxe5Bxe5
17.f4Bc7
18.e4Rac8
19.e5?Bb6+
20.Kh1Ng4
21.Be4Qh4
22.g3?Rxc3!!
23.gxh4Rd2!!
24.Qxd2Bxe4+
25.Qg2Rh3!!

The PGN file

[Event "Lodz Society of Chess Playing Amateurs championship"]
[Site "Lodz"]
[Date "1907.12.26"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Rotlewi, Georg"]
[Black "Rubinstein, Akiba"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D32"]
[Opening "Tarrasch Defense: Symmetrical Variation"]
[Source "Wikipedia 'Rotlewi versus Rubinstein' (moves, date 26 Dec 1907); Lichess study embed fbCBweq9/xPghDYy1 (moves to 25...Rh3; header 'Lodz, 1907'); chess.com blog ThummimS (date 26 Dec 1907, Lodz); lichess blog CaseyReese rotlewi-rubinstein-lodz-1907 (event, round six). chessgames.com gid 1119679 not reachable."]

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

Behind the edit

What it took to turn 50 plies into 1:50 of video. Counted from the finished edit.

Effects: 609
Kinds of effect: 87
Sound cues: 89
Moves, each with its own light: 50
Seconds of video: 110

What we checked

Every caption in the video was checked against the sources. Some well-known stories did not survive.

Rubinstein called it his immortal game.
The name is not his, and it is not from 1907. Hans Kmoch coined "Rubinstein's Immortal Game" later.
Rotlewi was checkmated.
He resigned after 25...Rh3. Some scores go on with 26.Rf3 Bxf3 27.Qxf3 Rxh2 mate: that is an annotator's line, not what was played. All 20 legal replies were checked: 17 allow mate in one, the other three last two or three moves.
After the queen sacrifice, everything loses to mate.
Almost. Of White's 36 replies to 22...Rxc3, 35 lose to a forced mate. One does not: 23.Bxb7 plays on, in a lost position. Rotlewi took the queen.
Rotlewi was outplayed from the start.
The engine sees an equal game until the pawn pushes. 19.e5 is the main mistake (19.Kh1 was best), and 22.g3 the last one: 22.h3 was the only move that still held on.
26 December 1907, at the All-Russian tournament.
Most sources give this date and this tournament. They do not fit together perfectly: one tournament table dates the event from 4 to 24 December, and one source names a local Łódź championship instead. The round is not recorded anywhere reliable.

Credits

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, public domain: "Akiba-Rubinstein.png" (Deutsche Schachzeitung, 1908) and "Boris Maliutin Gersz Rotlewi.jpg" (1909, cropped).
Music and voices: original.

Sources

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