Forgacs, Leo VS Rubinstein, Akiba 1909.03.05

Annotations

St. Petersburg 1909, Game No. 129. In a French Defence Rubinstein builds a central pawn mass and wins with, in Lasker's words, extraordinary vigor.

1. 19.Qa4 Black has subtly brought his Pawns into the centre. White should not underestimate the danger of their advance, and with moves as those in the text he should not lose time. He could very well have met the menace of placing the Kt on B 5 by the manoeuvre Kt - Kt 3 - Q 3.
2. 23…c5 Black initiates an attack which, in comparison to the slight force put in action, has extraordinary vigor.
3. 25.g5 White does not heed the peril. The Q on K 8 is misplaced. After Q P X P, B X P, the White K B P is very weak. If Black takes on Q 4, that Pawn remains isolated and weak in the end game. Quickly Q - R 4, in order to retake with Kt and Q, was prudent.
4. 27.Qc8 After 27) Q X Q, B X Q; 28) P - K R 4, P - K B 3, White either loses the Kt P or the Q P.
5. 41.Qg2 Black menaced to push P - B 6 and, after the Pawn moves of White are exhausted, to win by "Zugzwang."

Emanuel Lasker, The International Chess Congress, St. Petersburg, 1909 (1910) · Public domain · source