Rubinstein trap
The Rubinstein trap is a well-known tactical motif in chess . It can arise from different move orders in the rejected Queen's Gambit .
The idea first appeared in a game between Amos Burn and Heinrich Wolf at the chess tournament in Ostend in 1905:
1. d2 – d4 d7 – d5 2. c2 – c4 e7 – e6 3. Nb1 – c3 Ng8 – f6 4. Bc1 – g5 Bf8 – e7 5. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – d7 6. e2 – e3 0–0 7. Ra1 – c1 a7 – a6 8. c4xd5 e6xd5 9. Bf1 – d3 Rf8 – e8 10. 0–0 c7 – c6 11. Qd1 – c2 h7 – h6 (11.… Nd7 – f8 is more precise) 12. Bg5 – f4 Nf6 –H5? (Black wants to exchange the well-positioned bishop, but overlooks White's threat)
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Position after Black's 12th move
White now won a pawn with 13.Nc3xd5, since 13.… c6xd5 because of 14. Bf4 – c7 cannot win with a queen. 13.… Nh5xf4 was followed by 14.Nd5xf4 and White subsequently won the game.
While most chess opening traps are named after the players who first successfully used them, the Rubinstein trap is named after the Polish world-class player Akiba Rubinstein, who, curiously, fell for it twice in his career. The two games (against Max Euwe in Bad Kissingen in 1928 and Alexander Alekhine in San Remo in 1930) were not exactly identical, but the combination motif was the same. The chess historian Edward Winter mentions four other similar examples from master tournaments between 1908 and 1924 in his Chess Notes (No. 3354).
Individual evidence
- ^ Edward Winter: The Rubinstein Trap , accessed July 21, 2010