Akiba Rubinstein
Rubinstein c. 1907/1908 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein 1 December 1880 |
| Died | 14 March 1961 (aged 80) Antwerp, Belgium |
| Chess career | |
| Country | Russian Empire (1880-1917) → Poland (1918-1926) Belgium (1926-61) |
| Title | Grandmaster (1950) |
Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion.
In his youth, he defeated top players José Raúl Capablanca and Carl Schlechter. He was scheduled to play a match with Emanuel Lasker for the World Chess Championship in 1914, but it was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I. He was unable to re-create consistently the same form after the war, and his later life was plagued by mental illness. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster when FIDE introduced the title in 1950.