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An Appreciation of Rudolph Spielmann Rudolph Spielmann was one of that group of great masters, which included Nimzowitsch, Alekhine and Rubinstein, players whose careers were scarred by the violent political and social upheavals of the first half of the twentieth century. All four were born into the relative security and prosperity of late 19th-century Europe, yet all had to face, in varying degrees, the horrors of the first world war, the Russian revolution, the collapse of the Hapsburg empire and the Nazi persecution of the Jews. Alexander Alekhine,
the only one of the quartet to become world champion, lost two fortunes and
ended his days in penury on the margins of Lusitania. Akiba Rubinstein
addressed his personal demons by retreating from his finely crafted jewels
of chess iridescence into a private world of madness and isolation.
When the myrmidons of the Nazi schutzstaffeln eventually arrived to haul the
aged Jewish grandmaster from his asylum to the death camps, the old man was
so patently insane that they turned on their heels and abandoned the
attempt. Yet within months of this glorious act of self assertion, Nimzowitsch, his health undermined by the deprivations of the first world war and his flight from his native Latvia, was dead, before he had reached the age of fifty. Rudolph Spielmann rose to prominence in the leisured tournaments of the Europe of the Hapsburgs and the Hohenzollerns, at a time when standard dress for the games was frock coat, wing collar and smartly polished boots. The young Austrian excelled when gambit play was prescribed by the tournament regulations, but, as proven by his result in the elite tournament of San Sebastian 1912, Spielmann could also hold his own with the best in the tough grind of normal competition. With the advent of the first world war and the collapse of his world as he had known it, Spielmann's results became wildly erratic. Triumphs, such as Stockholm 1919, and Teplitz-Schonau 1922, alternated with appalling disasters, as at Carlsbad 1923, where Spielmann finished in irretrievably last place. A further string of mediocre results in Baden Baden, Marienbad and Moscow left the chess world doubting whether Spielmann's talent had seriously survived the dissolution of the old Hapsburg empire, to which he had belonged, but now the Austrian grandmaster was to produce a coup de theatre which silenced his critics and assured himself a place at the top table of chess for virtually the next decade. At the tournament of Semmering 1926, in his home country, Spielmann unleashed the result of his life, storming ahead of Alekhine and a galaxy of grandmasters, whilst inflicting defeat on his close rivals such as Nimzowitsch, Vidmar and Tartakower.
An important component of Spielmann's career was match play. Indeed, records indicate that he was perhaps the most prolific match player of any great master. Spielmann was a specialist in the short match, contests often consisting of six games, and usually no more than ten. During his career Spielmann was involved in no fewer than 47 of such personal duels, which may well be the world record for a grandmaster. As Spielmann approached his 60th year the disaster of national socialism and its hatred of the Jewish race reduced his homeland of Austria to a territory which was no longer tenable for him. Flee or face the concentration camp was his stark choice. As it was, Spielmann sought refuge in Sweden, the home of so many of his triumphs, but upheaval, deprivation and disillusionment soon exacted their toll. Born in 1883, Spielmann died in Stockholm in September 1942 - his gravestone reading: "RASTLOS FLYKTING, HART
SLAGEN AV ODET" Fortunately Spielmann the creative spirit has triumphed over Nazi hatred, prejudice and oppression. His games and comments live on and many of the best are enshrined as a perpetual memorial for those aggressive players willing to embrace the Austrian grandmaster's philosophy of sacrifice and attack: "The glowing power of the
sacrifice is irresistible: enthusiasm for sacrifice lies in mans nature."
Rubinstein –
Spielmann
Spielmann immediately unbalances the central pawn constellation and indicates with this move that he plans, ultimately, to operate against White’s kingside, where he perceives that White’s king will take shelter.
3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Bd2 Nf6 5 g3 0-0 6 Bg2 d6 7 a3 Bxc3 8 Bxc3 Nbd7 9 Qc2 c5 10 dxc5 Nxc5
The opening has given White the advantage of the bishop pair and more mobile queenside pawns. In compensation Black’s knights have a firm grip over e4, as a possible springboard to invasion of the white camp.
11 Nf3 Nce4 12 0-0 Bd7 13 Rfd1 Rc8
Black’s development has, in fact, been so rapid and efficient that White now feels constrained to part with the bishop pair. All that remains of a possible White edge is Black’s backward pawn on d6, but over the coming moves Spielmann expertly masks its weakness.
14 Bxf6 Qxf6 15 Qb3 Rc7 16 Ne1 Nc5 17 Qb4 f4
Black’s kingside attack now starts in earnest.
18 Nd3
If 18 Rxd6 fxg3 grants Black a terrible attack in the f-file.
18 ... fxg3 19 fxg3 Nxd3 20 Rxd3 Qf2+ 21 Kh1 Bc6 22 e4
White could trade on c6 but Rubinstein clearly felt that his king needed the added protection provided by the bishop on g2.
22 ... Rcf7 23 Re1
If 23 Rxd6 Qe2 threatening ... Rf1+ with mate to follow.
23 ... a5 24 Qc3 Qc5 25 b4
With this move White must have felt, at long last that he had restored the balance and neutralised Black’s initiative. The black queen is apparently driven away from its commanding post and the further threat of b5 by White will also press Black’s bishop into a defensive situation. However, White is in for a terrible shock.
25 ... Bxe4!!
A fantastic move. If 26 bxc5 Rf1+ 27 Rxf1 Rxf1+ checkmate. Alternately, if 26 Bxe4 Rf1+ 27 Rxf1 Rxf1+ 28 Kg2 Rg1+ 29 Kf3 Qh5+ 30 Ke3 Qxh2 with a murderous attack. Doubtless stunned by the sudden turn of events, though, Rubinstein misses the most tenacious, indeed, problem-like defence which consists of 26 Rf3!! After this Black has nothing better than 26 ... Qc6 27 b5 Rxf3 28 Qxf3!! Bxf3 29 bxc6 Bxc6 30 Bxc6 bxc6 31 Rxe6 Rf6. In this case, Black is a pawn ahead in the endgame and should win, though White’s resistance is by no means at an end. As played in the game, although a rook ahead, White is overwhelmed by a further sequence of tactics, exploiting the exposed nature of his king.
26 Rxe4 Rf1+ 27 Bxf1 Rxf1+ 28 Kg2 Qf2+ 29 Kh3 Rh1 30 Rf3 Qxh2+ 31 Kg4 Qh5+ 32 Kf4 Qh6+ 33 Kg4 g5
The key move to Black’s offensive. The threat of 34 ... Qh5 checkmate now obliges White to jettison material, after which White’s wandering king spells his doom.
34 Rxe6 Qxe6+ 35 Rf5
Here Spielmann could have finished off more quickly with 35 ... Qe4+ 36 Kxg5 h6+ 37 Kf6 Re1! 38 Kg6 Qg4+. A tiny slip in an otherwise unimaginably brilliant game.
35 ... h6 36 Qd3 Kg7 37 Kf3 Rf1+ 38 Qxf1 Qxf5+ 39 Kg2 Qxf1+ 40 Kxf1 axb4 41 axb4 Kf6 42 Kf2 h5 White resigns
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Aron
Nimzowitsch had the pleasure, not to mention the courage, to expel a high
ranking uniformed Nazi official from the press centre of the 1934 Alekhine v
Bogolyubov world championship match in Germany. The Nazi lacked
accreditation and Nimzo, as press chief, was well within his rights.
However, the irony, and the attendant peril, of a Jew in 1930's Germany
throwing out a member of the ruling party was not lost on the assembled
press corps. Fortunately, the natural instinct of the Nazi Beamte to
obey apparently even higher authority prevailed, and the intruder left
without incident.
As
a direct result of this triumph, Spielmann was to become an indispensable
invitee to a whole sequence of grand events: New New York 1927, Berlin and
Bad Kissingen 1928, Carlsbad 1929 - where his second prize and defeat of
Capablanca might be considered superior even to the Semmering performance -
San Remo 1930, Bled 1931, matches in 1932 against Alekhine's world title
contenders Euwe and Bogolyubov, and finally a creditable appearance at
Moscow 1935. Here he held up well against most of the new Soviet
generation of masters - his debacle against Botvinnik being the one notable
exception. Even in 1938 Spielmann was able to finish an undefeated
second to Alekhine himself at Margate, while at Gothenburg the following
year he tied with Salo Flohr (the official FIDE challenger for the world
title) for first place, again undefeated.
