The Symmetrical Immortal, Part 2

In Part 1 we saw the beginning of the game Rotlewi-Rubinstein. Not a whole lot has happened, but wait until you see the second part of the game!

Rotlewi made some mistakes in the opening and as a result lost two tempi. He then lashed out by pushing his e- and f- pawns. This was not such a good idea, since it created weaknesses and opened the diagonals for Black's bishops.

Here is the position where we left off:

Black's knight is attacked. It looks natural to jump into the center with 20...Nd5. But this would allow the knight to be exchanged and lessen Black's advantage. Instead, Rubinstein found another way for the knight to go, so that is would lead to a lightning attack on White's king! He played 20...Ng4. The knight leads the charge, but has support from two long range bishops lurking in the background.

White chose to defend against mate by 22.g3. This way, his queen guards h2. It almost looks like things are ok! The bishop on e4 is neutralizing the Black bishop on b7. It looks like Rubinstein has to just exchange bishops and then retreat the queen. But he wasn't going to have any of that!

Rubinstein had already seen his immortal combination. It is based on White's overworked queen. The queen guards against mate on h2 but must also guard the bishop on e4. The other piece guarding the bishop on e4 is the knight on c3. Therefore, that knight must be removed!

Rotlewi must have wondered if his opponent had gone crazy. Rubinstein has just given up his queen, and now nearly all of his pieces are under attack. No worries, Rubinstein now puts another one under attack!

Check out the final position - it is mind over matter. White is approximately a queen up, and still most of Black's pieces are seemingly attacked. But mate cannot be stopped. 26...Rxh2 mate is the threat (since the white queen is pinned) and it can only be delayed by a couple of moves by throwing away pieces. Of course, 26.Qxe4 is also met by 26...Rxh2 mate.

Black's bishops were really the heroes here. Lots of players prefer the tricky knights to the bishops, but seeing this might make you change your mind!