A lot has changed the last 100 years. For instance, the current world champion may not be the strongest player (at least judging by the rating list), but in 1910...it may have been the same story. Emanuel Lasker barely survived a challenge to Karl Schlechter that year, and while he (Lasker) was most likely stronger than Jose Capablanca (the closest approximation to Magnus Carlsen at the time), it's entirely possible that the best player at that moment was the great Akiba Rubinstein (1882-1961).
During the few years from around 1909 up to the beginning of WWI, Rubinstein was the dominant figure in tournament chess, winning most events and in glorious style. He was an openings innovator who could play sharp and quiet positions extremely well, and his endgame technique was fantastic by any standard - he was probably the best endgame player of the first half of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, the "Great" War put an end to his hopes of playing a title match with Lasker, and after that his nerves worsened. Although he remained a top player, he was supplanted by Capablanca and then Alexander Alekhine, and never again became the dominant player he once was.
All the same, his legacy to our game is colossal, and we'll celebrate it with a look from a game or two of his from the 1911 tournament in Karlsbad. We'll start with a victory that was decided in the middlegame - his win over Grigory Levenfish (whom we recently profiled on this show) - and then, time permitting, we'll look at the great rook ending he conducted against the aforementioned Alekhine. (If time doesn't permit, we'll look at next week - Rubinstein certainly merits back-to-back shows, and the games are very different in character.)
To tune in, it's simple. Log on to the Playchess server at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday night (that's tonight, or 3 a.m. CET Thursday morning for those on the other side of the Atlantic), go to the Broadcast room and look for Rubinstein-Levenfish under the Games tab. Hope to see you there!