Verlinsky — Rubinstein

Moscow, 1925

• Boris Verlinsky (1888–1950)Soviet master, 1929 USSR champion, and the first Soviet grandmaster, a title awarded for that win. He was nearly deaf since childhood; in 1925 he beat World Champion Capablanca at Moscow.
• Akiba Rubinstein (1880–1961)Polish grandmaster (1950) and, by retrospective ratings, the world's strongest player in the early 1910s. War cancelled his 1914 title match with Lasker, and in 1930 he led Poland to Olympiad gold.

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1. 34.
2. Preventing e5-e4
3. 34.
4. Still intending to make the breakthrough. White brings in another piece to hold it back
5. 35.
6. White has now massed six (!) hits on the e4 square, while Black holds that square under "only" five. It would seem Black cannot play e5-e4 right away. Yet it followed
7. 35.
8. 36.
9. The point is that this continuationcosts White at least the exchange after
10. 36.
11. 37.
12. 38.
13. 39.
14. And Black achieved an overwhelming position