byJohn Donaldson & Nikolay MinevAkiva Rubinstein occupies a unique position in chess history. One of the greatest artists ever to sit down at a chessboard, Rubinstein was also the strongest player never to get a shot at the title of World Champion. The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, Volume 1: Uncrowned King focuses on the years 1882-1920, covering Rubinstein’s rise from a modest upbringing to his emergence as Emanuel Lasker’s chief challenger in the last years leading up to World War I. It also examines the effects this conflict had on his sensitive psyche and the way it influenced his play in the post-War years. The most definitive work ever done on the first part of Rubinstein’s career, this revised and expanded edition of The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, Volume 1: Uncrowned King offers almost 500 games, many of them deeply annotated with notes translated from top players of the pre-World War I era, including Lasker, Tarrasch, Schlechter and Rubinstein. The authors have also made many new annotations to the games and uncovered quite a bit of interesting material, including recent discoveries on Rubinstein’s stay in Sweden after World War I. The second edition of The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, Volume 1: Uncrowned King is 20 percent larger than its predecessor and with its wealth of crosstables, archival photos, multiple indexes and through bibliography it offers a treasure trove for the Rubinstein fan.(Second Edition, 2006 Russell Enterprises)402 pages