Being Jewish, he fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and went to Sweden. There are two versions of his demise. One is that he locked himself in his room and was later found starved to death. The other version is that he suffered from a Parkinson's disease which rapidly worsened and he died after being admitted to a hospital.
Parkinson’s is a disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement and often including tremors. It often starts with a tremor in one hand. Other symptoms are slow movement, stiffness, and loss of balance. These days medications can help control the symptoms.
His opponent in the following game was Georg F. W. Schories (1874-1934, 60 years old). He was born in Berlin,Germany, but spent a few years of his life in Sheffield, England. However, during the First World War, being German, he was internment in an English prison camp. After the war he returned home to Germany.
The game was played in Scheveningen in 1905. Most of the world’s top players didn’t play, Frank Marshall being the only exception.
Marshall lost badly to Dirk Bleijkmans in the first round, but recovered and proceeded to reel off ten consecutive wins!
The surprise of the tournament was the virtually unknown, but brilliant, Dutch player Benjamin Leussen (1876-1924). Supposedly not long after this tournament he lost interest in chess and gave it up. There is an interesting article on him HERE, but it’s in Dutch.
If you have the "must have" browser addon Copyfish (free OCR software) installed on your computer you can copy the article and use Google translate. You can (and should!) download Copyfish...just do a Google search to locate the program.
Spielmann’s classic book, The Art of Sacrifice, is still worth reading. In the book he gives the following game as an example of a “real” sacrifice which is, as he so eloquently described it, is “turning matter into energy." That is, the sacrifice of material for the sake of dynamic advantages.
“Real" sacrifices are those which are characterized by the element of risk and the benefits of such a sacrifice cannot be assumed with a certain degree of probability. The likelihood of their success is not necessarily based on the position. They can even be based upon a psychological motive such as an opponent's individual failings. Or, one can speculate on his time trouble, etc. Or, they are simply made with the desire to take a sporting chance. A simplest example of a real sacrifice is in the opening where material is given up for the sake of development.
[Event "Scheveningen"]
[Site "Scheveningen NED"]
[Date "1905.08.05"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Georg Schories"]
[Black "Rudolf Spielmann"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C82"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "1905.07.31"]
{C82: Open Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 {
In thid, the seldom seen Open Variation of the Morphy Defense (4...a6), black
tries to make use of the time white will take to regain the P to gain a
foothold in the centrer.} 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 {Spielmann was fond
of this defense because of its aggressive character.} 9. c3 Bc5 10. a4 b4 11.
Qe2 {Best.} (11. a5 O-O 12. Ba4 Ne7 13. Nd4 Rb8 14. Be3 {Black is slightly
better. Polgar,J (2630)-Piket,J (2605) Monaco blindfold 1994}) 11... O-O 12.
Bc2 {Spielmann explains: Black is threatened with the loss of a P because his
N on e4 is attacked twice. It can be supported by 12...Bf5 when no further
attack on the N will succeed. See the variation. It is clear that black can
easily defend his position, but according to Spielmann the situation seems to
call for a Pawn sacrifice. The reason is that if white can capture twice in e4
he gives up his best attacking piece (the light-squared B), exposes his Q on
e4 and leaves black with the two Bs. Another observation is that at the moment
black is a tempo ahead although this is momentarily offset by white's superior
P-formation. If it were white's move he could play as in the note. Note that
today 12.Bc2 is considered the correct move and it is confirmed by Stockfish.}
f5 {Interesting! Spielmann explains: Now white is faced with a difficult
problem. He must either concede the consolidation of black's position at e4
and thus admit his move 12.Bc2 was defective; or else he must go on with the
P-winning expedition, whereby he neglects his development and substantially
promotes that of his opponent. Such is the reasoning of a truly great play.
Stockfish's clodblooded evaluation is that the position is dead equal.} (12...
bxc3 13. Nxc3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Qd7 15. a5 Bf5 16. Ra4 Rfe8 {equals. Souhardo,B
(2301)-Aagam,A (1715) Ahmedabad IND 2019}) (12... Bf5 13. Nbd2 {This loses.
Correct is 13.Be3} Nxc3 14. bxc3 Bxc2 15. cxb4 Nxb4 {Though only a P up, black
is much better.}) (12... Rb8 {A pass to demonstrate the possibility if it were
white's move and he wanted to snatch a P.} 13. Bxe4 dxe4 14. Qxe4 Bd5 15. Qe2
Bxf3 {Now if white wishes to keep his extra P he must break up his K-side with
16.gxf3} 16. gxf3 (16. Qxf3 Nxe5 17. Qe2 Re8 18. Be3 Qh4 {with an excellent
position. Note that the B cannot be captured.} 19. Bxc5 Ng4 {threatening mate
so...} 20. Qxe8+ Rxe8 21. h3 Nh2 22. Kxh2 Qc4 23. Kg1 Qxc5 {and black whould
win.}) 16... Qd5 17. Bf4 Rfe8 {with a good position.}) 13. exf6 {White
correctly decides to accept the offer.} (13. Be3 {This tranquil continuation
favors black after} Be7 14. a5 Kh8 15. Rd1 Qc8 {with all the paly.}) 13... Qxf6
{Black is splendidly developed and must obtain a strong at tack no matter how
play proceeds - Spielmann} 14. Bxe4 {White might just as well accept the
sacrifice, as a quiet continuation (14.Be3 Bd6) leaves black with the
advantage and no risk involved - Spielmann} dxe4 15. Qxe4 Bb3 {A multipurpose
move. The black N remains protected, \white's Q is prevented from reaching c2
and it also preventing the possible Qc4+ at a later stage. As Spielmann
observed, black has secured a very promising and menacing game which, however,
he has yet to win. True enough...the engine evaluation is that the position is
dead equal..} 16. c4 {Bit, this is not good! Just as the battle between the
numerically superior side and the better developed side was shaping up white
makes a mistake which tips the scales clearly in the black's (the attacker)
favor. Here Spiel;mann makes the observation that this game is a good
illustration because of the mistake because it is the kind that happens far
more frequently (and the consequences are greater) when one is defending
rather that attacking! In this game white (the defender) has the ptoblem that
not only is he behinf in development., but he would also like to maintai n his
material plus as compensation. Obviously white would like to to expedite his
development by giving back the P, but in that case black would still have his
two Bs.Bishop.} (16. Be3 {keeps the balance.} Rfe8 17. Qd3 Bxe3 18. fxe3 Bf7
19. e4 Ne5 20. Nxe5 Qxe5 21. cxb4 Qxe4 22. Qxe4 Rxe4 23. b5 Re2 {is completely
equal.}) 16... Qd6 {An excellent move that parries the threats of 17.Qd5+
winng the B and at the same time prepares an attack on the c-Pawn.} 17. Nbd2 {
[%mdl 8192] Oddly, Spielmann made no comment on this move which is a losing
blunder!} (17. Be3 {is the only move, but it keeps black's advantage at a
minimum.} Rae8 18. Bxc5 Qxc5 19. Qd5+ Qxd5 20. cxd5 Bxd5 {and blacj is only
slightly better.}) 17... Rae8 18. Qb1 {This is a horrible retreat, but white's
position was very bad in any case. Now black's light squared B is firmly
trapped; but white failed to realize that he will never have an opportunity to
capture it!} (18. Qg4 Bc2 19. b3 Bf5 20. Qg3 Qxg3 21. hxg3 Bd3 22. Rd1 Re2 {
and white is in serious trouble...losing in fact.}) 18... Nd4 {Beginning the
final assault. White has multiple possibilities, but none that are at all
promising!} 19. Ne4 (19. Nxd4 Qxd4 20. Nxb3 {As note earlier, white is unable
to capture this B.} Qxf2+ 21. Rxf2 Re1#) (19. Nxb3 Nxf3+ 20. gxf3 Rxf3 21. Nxc5
Rh3 22. f4 Qxc5+ 23. Be3 Rexe3 24. Rf2 Rhg3+ 25. hxg3 Rxg3+ 26. Kf1 Qxc4+ 27.
Re2 Qxf4+ 28. Rf2 Qg4 29. Ke1 Rg1+ 30. Kd2 Qd4+ 31. Ke2 Qe5+ 32. Kd2 Qd4+ 33.
Ke2 Rxb1 34. Rxb1 Qe4+ {wins}) 19... Nxf3+ (19... Qg6 {Ig this was whar white
was expecting black still wins. For example...} 20. Nxd4 Bxd4 21. Ng3 Rxf2 22.
Be3 Bxe3 23. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 24. Kxf2 Qb6+ 25. Kf3 {Black mates in 16!} (25. Kf1
Bxc4+ 26. Ne2 Rxe2 {mates in 2}) 25... Qe3+ 26. Kg4 Bxc4 27. Qf5 Be6 28. Rf1 g6
29. Qxe6+ Qxe6+ 30. Kg5 h6+ 31. Kxh6 Qg4 32. Rf6 Qh4+ 33. Kxg6 Qg4+ 34. Kh6
Qg7+ 35. Kh5 Qxf6 36. Kg4 Kh7 37. Nf5 Re4+ 38. Kg3 Qg5+ 39. Kf2 Qf4+ 40. Kg1
Re1#) 20. gxf3 Qg6+ 21. Kh1 Rxf3 22. Re1 Rxf2 23. Bg5 Qh5 24. Nf6+ gxf6 25.
Rxe8+ Kf7 {Ut's mate in 5} (25... Kf7 26. Qxh7+ Qxh7 27. Bf4 Qh3 28. Re7+ Bxe7
29. Rg1 Qf3+ 30. Rg2 Qxg2#) 0-1
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