Sammy Rubinstein, a Simultaneous Display by his Father, and the Need for Sources

 

Boylston Chess Club shield. Source: see below.

Terje Kristiansen points out to that the Boylston Chess Club posted on its blog (see link) an interesting history of Akiba Rubinstein's family. In particular, it notes that Samuel "Sammy" Rubinstein also was a strong player, with a FIDE rating of 2380, being champion of Brussels in 1949. 

It should be added that while the blog post attempts to give sources and be accurate, some of the information or photos are unsourced and there are some mistakes. For example, Akiba Rubinstein did not visit Palestine twice, in April and May 1931, but only once - in April and May. Also, the photo included as a "simul in Palestine" is - probably - not from Palestine, despite appearing as such in Donaldson and Minev's book on Rubinstein (The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, vol. 2, p. 370). 

As it happens, I was asked about this very photo by Philip Jurgens in an email from 27 September 2021. He noted the similarity of the photo to the following one, which was taken in Palestine. I wrote back that I am skeptical for reasons that may be worth repeating here. Mr Jurgens agreed, but pointed out that my skepticism is circumstantial (i.e., there is no exact location known that proves it is not from Palestine).  

Rubinstein gives a simultaneous display. Source: see above.

Here is a version of my reply to Mr. Jurgens, noting the reason for my skepticism. It had been shortened and edited for clarity.

1. While superficially similar, the photograph here is not actually in the same room. 

2. The people in the photo are dressed in conservative black - not how people would dress in Palestine back then (although the difference is somewhat subtle). Similarly, golden watches and pipes, while not unknown, were not common in Palestine. In short, the Palestine simuls were much more "working class" than this display.

3. All the sets are matching sets, of the same size/making. This would not be typical of Palestine of the time, where it was customary for players in simultaneous displays to bring their own sets. Local chess clubs simply didn't have 50 or 100 matching sets available.

4. The demonstration board in the back seems to be in German or another European language, not Hebrew. 

5. I do not recognize any of the players/personalities in your photo. 

6. In many of Rubinstein's simuls in Palestine, the players were mobbed and assisted by their neighbors/onlookers - very typical of the time in Palestine, but not in Europe (to the great chagrin of Palestine chess column editors, who tried to uproot this "uncivilized" practice...). Here the onlookers are not doing so.

The Boylston Chess Club's blog post is sloppy with sources for its photos. It mentions Donaldson and Minev's book but does not give the exact location of the photograph from it (this was given to me by Mr. Jurgens). 

Why does this matter? Because this is how mistakes are perpetuated. That Donaldson and Minev made a mistake about a photograph in their two-volume work is not the issue. No book is free from mistakes, and their two-volume biography and game collection of Rubinstein is a very serious work with a great deal of original material. But when a photo from their book is posted elsewhere, as in the blog in question, without giving the exact source, then the mistake sticks and becomes a "fact" that is hard to eradicate.