Alexander Alekhine
Full name	Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine
Country	Russia  France
Born	October 19, 1892(1892-10-19) Moscow, Russia
Died	March 24, 1946 (aged 53) Estoril, Portugal
World Champion	1927–1935 & 1937–1946

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Events 202 BCE - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Events 1401 - Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus. 1603 - James VI of Scotland Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For the Estoril Circuit used by F1 see Autódromo do Estoril Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Algebraic chess notation is used to record and describe the moves in a game of Chess.

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine (pronounced [alʲɛkˈsandr̠ alʲɛkˈsandr̠ovʲiʨ aˈlʲɛxin]; Russian Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Але́хин)^[1] (October 19, 1892 – March 24, 1946) was the fourth World Chess Champion. Events 202 BCE - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 1401 - Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus. 1603 - James VI of Scotland Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess

At the age of twenty-two he was already among the best chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played. A tournament (IPA) is a Competition involving a relatively large number of competitors all participating in a Sport or Game. In 1927, he became the fourth World Chess Champion by defeating Capablanca, widely considered invincible, in one of the longest matches ever held up until that time. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess

In the early 1930s, Alekhine dominated tournament play and won two top-class tournaments by large margins. He also played as top board for France in four Chess Olympiads, winning individual prizes in each one. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Chess Olympiad is a Biennial Chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other His tournament record became more erratic from the mid-1930s onwards, and alcoholism is often blamed for his decline. Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions Alekhine offered Capablanca a rematch on the same demanding terms that Capablanca had set for him, and negotiations dragged on for years without making much progress. Meanwhile, Alekhine defended his title against Bogoljubov in 1929 and 1934. Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, He was defeated by Euwe in 1935, but regained his crown in his 1937 rematch with Euwe. Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster His tournament record, however, remained erratic, and rising young stars like Keres, Fine, and Botvinnik threatened his title. Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. Reuben Fine ( October 11 1914  &ndash March 26 1993) was one of the best Chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May No further title matches occurred, however, after World War II broke out in Europe in 1939. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Alekhine stayed in Nazi-occupied Europe during the War, where he played in chess tournaments the Nazis organized. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German During the War, anti-Semitic articles appeared under Alekhine's name, although he later claimed they were forged by the Nazis. Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility Forgery is the process of making adapting or imitating objects statistics or documents (see False document) with the intent to deceive. Alekhine had good relationships with several Jewish chess players, and his fourth wife was Jewish. After the War, Alekhine was ostracized by players and tournament organizers because of the anti-Semitic articles. Negotiations with Mikhail Botvinnik for a world title match were proceeding in 1946 when Alekhine died in Portugal, in unclear circumstances. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula.

Alekhine is known for his fierce and imaginative attacking style, combined with great positional and endgame skill. Statistical rating systems differ about his strength relative to other players, giving him rankings between fourth and eighteenth in their "all-time" lists. Although Alekhine was declared an "enemy of the Soviet Union" after making anti-Bolshevik statements in 1927, in the 1950s he was posthumously rehabilitated and acclaimed as one of the founders of the "Soviet School of Chess", which dominated the game after World War II. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction Rehabilitation (реабилитация in the context of Soviet or Russian topics is often a linguistic False cognate used to translate the Russian He is highly regarded as a chess theoretician (giving his name to Alekhine's Defence and several other opening variations) and as a chess writer. In 1913 preeminent Chess historian HJR Murray wrote in his 900-page magnum opus A History of Chess that "The Game possesses a Alekhine's Defence is a Chess opening beginning with the moves 1 He also composed a few endgame studies. An endgame study, or just study, is a composed Chess position — that is one that has been made up rather than one from an actual game — presented as a sort of There is strong evidence that Alekhine "improved" the published scores of some of his games, although in one case he may not have been responsible for the misrepresentation.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Early chess career (1902–1914) 1.3 Top-level grandmaster (1914–1927) 1.3.1 World War I and post-revolutionary Russia 1.3.2 1920–1927 1.4 World Chess Champion, first reign (1927–35) 1.5 Loss of the World title (1935–1937) 1.6 World Chess Champion, second reign (1937–46) 1.6.1 1937–1939 1.6.2 World War II (1939–1945) 1.6.3 His last year 2 Assessment 2.1 Playing strength and style 2.2 Influence on the game 2.3 Accusations of "improving" games 2.4 Accusations of anti-Semitism 3 Notable chess games 4 Writings 5 Summary of results in competitions 5.1 Tournament results 5.2 Match results 5.3 Chess Olympiad results 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links

Biography

Early life

Alekhine was born into a wealthy family in Moscow, Russia. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending ^[2] His father Alexander Ivanovich Alekhine was a landowner and Privy Councilor to the conservative legislative Fourth Duma. A Duma (Ду́ма is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history ^[3] His mother, Anisya Ivanovna Alekhina (born Prokhorova), was the daughter of a rich industrialist. Alekhine was first introduced to chess by his mother, an older brother Alexei, and an older sister Varvara (Barbara). ^[4][5]

Early chess career (1902–1914)

The tables at the end of this article give details of Alekhine's results.

Alekhine's first known game was from a correspondence chess tournament that began on December 3, 1902, when he was ten years old. Correspondence chess is Chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence usually through a Correspondence chess server, through email or by Events 1800 - War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Hohenlinden, French Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting He participated in several correspondence tournaments, sponsored by the chess magazine Shakhmatnoe Obozrenie, in 1902–1911. In 1907, Alexander played his first over-the-board tournament, the Moscow chess club's Spring Tournament. This page explains commonly used terms in Chess in alphabetical order Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Later that year, Alexander tied for eleventh–thirteenth in the club's Autumn Tournament; his older brother, Alexei, tied for fourth–sixth place. In 1908, Alexander won the club's Spring Tournament, at the age of fourteen. ^[6] For the next few years, he played in increasingly strong tournaments, some of them outside Russia. At first he had mixed results, but by the age of sixteen he had established himself as one of Russia's top players. ^[7] In January 1914, Alekhine won his first major Russian tournament, when he tied for first place with Aron Nimzowitsch in the All-Russian Masters Tournament at Saint Petersburg. Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Afterwards, they drew in a mini-match for first prize (they both won a game). In Chess, a draw is one of the possible outcomes of a game the others being a win for white and a win for black ^[8] Alekhine also played several matches in this period, and his results showed the same pattern: mixed at first but later consistently good.

Top-level grandmaster (1914–1927)

In April–May 1914, another major tournament was held in Saint Petersburg in which Alekhine took third place behind Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca. For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. By some accounts, Tsar Nicholas II conferred the title of "Grandmaster of Chess" on each of the five finalists (Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, and Marshall). Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. The title Grandmaster is awarded to extremely strong Chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Siegbert Tarrasch ( March 5, 1862 &ndash February 17, 1934) was one of the strongest Chess players and most influential chess Frank James Marshall ( August 10 1877 &ndash November 9 1944) was the U Chess historian Edward Winter has questioned this, stating that the earliest known sources that support this story are an article by Robert Lewis Taylor in the June 15, 1940 issue of The New Yorker and Marshall's autobiography My 50 Years of Chess (1942). Edward Winter is a British Journalist, Archivist, Historian, Collector and Author about the game of Chess. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The New Yorker is an American Magazine that publishes reportage commentary criticism essays fiction satire cartoons and poetry ^[9][10][11] Alekhine's surprising success made him a serious contender for the World Chess Championship. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess ^[7] Whether or not the title was formally awarded to him, "Thanks to this performance, Alekhine became a grandmaster in his own right and in the eyes of the audience. "^[12] In July 1914, Alekhine tied for first with Marshall in Paris. ^[13]

World War I and post-revolutionary Russia

In July–August 1914, Alekhine was leading an international chess tournament, the 19th DSB Congress (German Chess Federation Congress) in Mannheim, Germany, with nine wins, one draw and one loss, when World War I broke out. The Deutschen Schachbund (DSB had been founded in Leipzig on 18 July 1877 Mannheim is a City in Germany. With 327318 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg after the capital Stuttgart Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. ^[14] After the declaration of war against Russia, eleven "Russian" players (Alekhine, Bogoljubov, Bogatyrchuk, Flamberg, Koppelman, Maliutin, Rabinovich, Romanovsky, Saburov, Selezniev, Weinstein) were interned in Rastatt, Germany. Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Fedor Parfen'evych Bogatyrchuk (Bogatirchuk Bohatirchuk Bogatyrtschuk Bohatyrchuk Bohatyrczuk (in Russian: Фёдор Парфеньевич Богатырчук Alexander Flamberg (1880 Warsaw – 24 January 1926, Warsaw) was a Polish Chess master Boris Evgenievich Maliutin (Maljutin Malyutin Malutin (1883 – 1920 was a Russian chess master Ilya (Elias Rabinovich (Rabinowitsch Rabinovitch Rabinovitz Rabinowicz Rabinovici (1891 Saint Petersburg &ndash 1942 Perm) was a Russian chess master Peter Arsenievich Romanovsky (Пётр Арсениевич Романовский 29 July 1892, St Petersburg – 1 March 1964 Peter Petrovich Saburov (Sabouroff ( Saint Petersburg – 26 March 1932, Geneva) was a Russian chess master and organizer Alexey (Alex Selezniev (Selesniev Selesniew Selesnev Selesnieff; pronounced "selezNYOFF" (1888 Tambov, Russia – June 1967 Bordeaux France Samuil Osipovich Vainshtein (Weinstein Wainstein Vainstein Wajnsztejn (1894 – 1942 was a Russian chess master organizer publisher and editor In September 14, 17, and 29, 1914, four of them (Alekhine, Bogatyrchuk, Saburov, and Koppelman) were freed and allowed to return home. Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year ^[15] Alekhine made his way back to Russia (via Switzerland, Italy, London, Stockholm, and Finland) in the end of October 1914. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Fifth player, Flamberg was allowed to return to Warsaw in 1916. ^[16]

When Alekhine arrived back in Russia, he helped raise money to aid the Russian chess players who were still interned in Germany by giving simultaneous exhibitions. In 1915–16, Alekhine won a tournament in Moscow. In May 1916, Alekhine served in the Union of Cities (Red Cross) on the Austrian front. In September, he played five people in a blindfold display at a Russian military hospital at Tarnopol. Ternopil (Тернопіль translit Ternopil’, Tarnopol Тернополь translit In the same year Alekhine won a mini-match against Alexander Evensohn with two wins and one loss at Kiev. Alexander Evensohn (Evenson Evensson (1892 – 1919 was a Ukrainian Chess master Kiev, also known as Kyiv ( Ukrainian:, Kyiv, ˈkɪjiw Russian:, Kiyev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the In 1918, Alekhine won a "Triangular tournament" in Moscow. In June of the following year, Alekhine was briefly imprisoned in Odessa's death cell by the Odessa Cheka, suspected of being a spy. ODESSA which stands for the German phrase O rganisation d er e hemaligen SS - A ngehörigen which in turn translates The Cheka ( ЧК - чрезвычайная комиссия Chrezvychaynaya Komissiya,) was the first of a succession of Soviet State security He was charged with links with White counter-intelligence, after the Russians liberated the Ukraine from German occupation. White- (бело- a prefix used by Bolsheviks to designate their real and alleged enemies of all sorts by analogy with the White Army. Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. Rumors appeared in the West that Alekhine had been killed by the Bolesheviks. ^[6]

1920–1927

The table at the foot of this article gives details of Alekhine's results.

When conditions in Russia became more settled, Alekhine proved he was among Russia's best chess players. For example in January 1920, he swept the Moscow City Chess Championship (11/11), but was not declared Moscow Champion because he was not a resident of the city. Also in October 1920, he won the All-Russian Championship in Moscow (+9 –0 =6); this tournament was retroactively defined as the first USSR Championship. The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms throughout history His brother Alexei took third place in the tournament for amateurs. ^[6]

In 1920, Alekhine married the Russian baroness Sergewin, who was several years older. ^[17] For a short time in 1920–1921, he worked as an interpreter for the Communist International (Comintern) and was appointed secretary to the Education Department. The Comintern ( Com munist Intern ational also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organisation founded in Moscow In this capacity, he met a Swiss journalist and Comintern delegate Anneliese Rüegg (Annalisa Ruegg), who was thirteen years older than he, and they married on March 15, 1921. Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Shortly after, Alekhine was given permission to leave Russia for a visit to the West with his wife. Alekhine never returned to Russia. In June 1921, Alekhine abandoned his second wife in Paris and went to Berlin. ^[6]

In 1921–1923 Alekhine played seven mini-matches. In 1921, he won against Nikolay Grigoriev (+2 –0 =5) in Moscow, drew with Richard Teichmann (+2 –2 =2) and won against Friedrich Sämisch (+2 –0 =0), both in Berlin. Nikalai (Nikolay Dmitrievich Grigoriev was a Russian Chess player and a composer of endgame studies. Richard Teichmann (1868&ndash1925 was a leading German Chess player easily of grandmaster strength Friedrich (Fritz Sämisch ( September 20, 1896, Berlin &ndash August 16, 1975, Berlin) was a German Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. In 1922, he won against Ossip Bernstein (+1 –0 =1) and Arnold Aurbach (+1 –0 =1), both in Paris, and Manuel Golmayo (+1 –0 =1) in Madrid. Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (born 20 September 1882 at Zhytomyr, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) – died 30 November Arnold Aurbach (ca 1888 Warsaw – 31 December 1952, ? was a Polish–French Chess master Manuel Golmayo y de la Torriente ( 12 June 1883, Havana, Cuba – 7 March 1973, Madrid) was a Cuban-Spanish Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. ^[18] In 1923, he won against André Muffang (+2 –0 =0) in Paris. André Muffang (25 July 1897 St Brieuc – 1989 was a French chess master ^[19]

From 1921 to 1927, Alekhine won or shared first prize in about two-thirds of the many tournaments in which he played. His least successful efforts were: a tie for third place at Vienna 1922 behind Akiba Rubinstein and Richard Réti; and third place at New York 1924 behind ex-champion Emanuel Lasker and world champion José Raúl Capablanca (but ahead of Frank James Marshall, Richard Réti, Géza Maróczy, Efim Bogoljubov, Savielly Tartakower, Frederick Yates, Edward Lasker and David Janowski). Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein ( 12 December, 1882, in Stawiski, Poland – 15 March, 1961 in Antwerp, Richard Réti ( 28 May, 1889, Pezinok (now Slovakia) &ndash 6 June, 1929, Prague) was an Austrian For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. Frank James Marshall ( August 10 1877 &ndash November 9 1944) was the U Richard Réti ( 28 May, 1889, Pezinok (now Slovakia) &ndash 6 June, 1929, Prague) was an Austrian Géza Maróczy (ˈɡeːzɒ ˈmɒroːtsi 3 March 1870 – 29 May 1951) was a leading Hungarian Chess Grandmaster Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Ksawery Tartakower (Russian Савелий Григорьевич Тартаковер generally known as Saviely or Savielly Tartakower in English less often This article is about the chess master for the English painters see Frederic Yates (1854-1919 or Fred Yates (1922-2008 Edward Lasker ( December 3 1885 &ndash March 25 1981) was a leading American Chess and Go player Dawid Markelowicz Janowski (in English usually called David Janowski) ( 25 May, 1868, Wołkowysk, – 15 January, 1927, ^[8][20] Technically, Alekhine's play was mostly better than his competitors', even Capablanca's, but he lacked confidence when playing his major rivals. ^[7]

Alekhine's major goal throughout this period was to arrange and win a match with Capablanca. ^[7] He thought the greatest obstacle was not Capablanca's play, but the requirement under the 1922 "London rules" (at Capablanca's insistence) that the challenger raise a purse of US $10,000, of which the defending champion would receive over half even if defeated (US $10,000 in 1927 would be worth about $391,000 in 2006^[21]). ^[22] Alekhine in November 1921 and Rubinstein and Aaron Nimzowitsch in 1923 challenged Capablanca, but were unable to raise the $10,000. Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian ^[23][24] Raising the money was Alekhine's preliminary objective; he even went on tour, playing simultaneous exhibitions for modest fees day after day. ^[25] In New York on April 27, 1924, Alekhine broke the world record for blindfold play when he played twenty-six opponents (the previous record was twenty-five, set by Gyula Breyer), winning sixteen games, losing five, and drawing five after twelve hours of play. Events 1124 - David I becomes King of Scotland. 1296 - Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Gyula Breyer ( April 30, 1893 – November 9, 1921) was a Hungarian Chess player He broke his own world record on February 1, 1925 by playing twenty-eight games blindfold simultaneously in Paris, winning twenty-two, drawing three, and losing three. Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[6][26]

In 1925, he became a French citizen and entered the Sorbonne Faculty of law. The historic University of Paris (Université de Paris first appeared in the second half of the 13th century Legal education is the education of individuals who intend to become legal professionals or those who simply intend to use their law degree to some end either related to law Although sources differ about whether he completed his studies there, he was known as "Dr. Alekhine" in the 1930s. ^[6][7][27] His thesis was on the Chinese prison system. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National "He received a degree in law in Saint Petersburg in 1914 but never practiced. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society "^[28]

In October 1926, he won in Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is the Capital and largest city of Argentina. It is geographically located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern From December 1926 to January 1927, Alekhine beat Max Euwe 5½-4½ in a match. Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster In 1927, he married his third wife, Nadiezda Vasiliev (née Fabritzky) (Nadejda Fabritzky, Nadezhda Vasilieff), another older woman, the widow of the Russian general V. Vasiliev (Vassilieff). ^[29]

World Chess Champion, first reign (1927–35)

In 1927, Alekhine's challenge to Capablanca was backed by a group of Argentinian businessmen and the president of Argentina, who guaranteed the funds,^[30] and organized by the Club Argentino de Ajedrez (Argentine Chess Club) in Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is the Capital and largest city of Argentina. It is geographically located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern ^[22] In September and November 1927 at Buenos Aires, Alekhine won the title of World Chess Champion, scoring six wins, three losses, and twenty-five draws. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Alekhine's victory surprised almost the entire chess world, since he had never previously won a single game from Capablanca. ^[31] Alekhine prepared thoroughly for the title match and even changed his playing style to resemble Capablanca's most of the time, attacking rarely and only when he was certain that he had the advantage. This was also the first contest in which Capablanca had no easy wins. ^[32] As a result, the match was the longest since the series between Labourdonnais and McDonnell in 1834. Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais (1795 - 1840 was a French Chess master, possibly the strongest player in the early 19th century Alexander McDonnell (1798-1835 was an Irish Chess master who contested a series of six matches with the world’s leading player Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais ^[7]

Immediately after winning the match, Alekhine announced that he was willing to give Capablanca a return match, on the same terms that Capablance had required as champion - the challenger must provide a stake of US $10,000, of which more than half would go to the defending champion even if he was defeated. ^[22] It was especially hard for Capablanca to raise such an amount because of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the ’29 Crash, the Crash of 1929, the Great Crash of 1929, the Great Crash of October 1929 ^[33] Negotiations dragged on for several years, often breaking down when agreement seemed in sight. Their relationship became bitter, and Alekhine demanded much higher appearance fees for tournaments in which Capablanca also played. ^[7] Soon after becoming the champion, Alekhine swept a two-game exhibition match in New York against Charles Jaffe, who had supplied analysis to him during the match with Capablanca. Charles Jaffé (Jaffe (circa 1879? Dubrovna Belarus – 12 July 1941, Brooklyn, USA) was a Belarusian- American ^[34]

After the world championship match, Alekhine returned to Paris and spoke against Bolshevism. The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction Afterwards, Nikolai Krylenko, president of the Soviet Chess Federation, published an official memorandum stating that Alekhine should be regarded as an enemy of the Soviets. Nikolai Vasilyevich Krylenko (Николай Васильевич Крыленко ( May 2 1885, Bekhteevo (Бехтеево Smolensk region The Soviet Chess Federation broke all contact with Alexander Alekhine until the end of the 1930s. His older brother Alexei Alekhine, with whom Alexander Alekhine had had a very close relationship, publicly repudiated him and his anti-Soviet utterances shortly after, but Alexei may have had little choice about this decision. Alexei (Alexey Alekhine (1888 – 1939 was a Russian chess master ^[35] In August 1939, Alexei Alekhine was murdered in Russia. ^[36]

After defeating Capablanca, Alekhine dominated chess into the mid-1930s. ^[7] His most famous tournament victories were at San Remo in 1930 (no losses; 3½ points ahead of Aron Nimzowitsch) and Bled in 1931 (no losses; 5½ points ahead of Efim Bogoljubow). Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian Bled (Veldes is a Municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, He won most of his other tournaments outright, shared first place in two, and the first tournament in which he placed lower was Hastings 1933–34 (shared second place, ½ point behind Salo Flohr). Hastings is a town on the coast of East Sussex in England; it is also the administrative centre for the Borough of the same name Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr ( November 21, 1908 &ndash July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet Chess In 1933, he also swept an exhibition match against Rafael Cintron in San Juan (+4 –0 =0), but only managed to draw another match with Ossip Bernstein in Paris (+1 –1 =2). San Juan is Spanish for Saint John. It can also be the short version of San Juan Bautista ( John the Baptist) Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (born 20 September 1882 at Zhytomyr, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) – died 30 November ^[37]

Although he never agreed terms for a rematch against Capablanca, Alekhine played two world title matches with Bogoljubow, an official "Challenger of FIDE", in 1929 and 1934, winning handily both times. ^[38][39] The first match was held at Wiesbaden, Heidelberg, Berlin, The Hague, and Amsterdam from September through November 1929. Wiesbaden, a city in southwest Germany, is the capital of the state of Hesse. Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 2006 over 140000 people live within the city's area Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west Alekhine won with eleven wins, nine draws, and five losses. ^[19] From April to June 1934, Alekhine faced Bogoljubow again in a title match held in twelve German cities, defeating him by five games (+8 -3 =15). ^[19] In 1929, Bogoljubow was forty years old and perhaps already past his peak. ^[40]

Between 1930 and 1935, Alekhine played on board one for France at four Chess Olympiads, winning: the first brilliancy prize at Hamburg in 1930;^[41] gold medals for board one at Prague in 1931 and Folkestone in 1933;^[42][43] and the silver medal for board one at Warsaw in 1935. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Chess Olympiad is a Biennial Chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany Gold Medal is an Album by American band The Donnas, released in 2004 (see 2004 in music) Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. Folkestone (ˈfoʊkstən is a resort town on the south coast of Kent, England, traditionally known as "The Garden Coast" A Silver medal is a Medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests (typically athletics competitions such as the Olympic Games, Warsaw (Warszawa; also known by other names) is the Capital and Largest city of Poland. ^[44] His loss to Latvian master Hermanis Matisons at Prague in 1931 was his first loss in a serious chess event since winning the world championship. Latvia ( Latvija officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region. Hermanis Matisons (1894 – 1932 (also known as Herman Mattison) was a Latvian Chess player and one of world's most highly regarded chess masters in the ^[6]

In the early 1930s, Alekhine travelled the world giving simultaneous exhibitions, including Hawaii, Tokyo, Manila, Singapore,^[45] Shanghai, Hong Kong, and the Dutch East Indies. A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display (often abbreviated to "simul" is an event where one player (commonly a Chess master or grandmaster The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the officially, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The City of Manila Singapore Shanghai ( 上[[wikt 海|海]] is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest urban areas in the world with over 20 million Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders In July 1933, Alekhine played thirty-two people blindfold (a new world record) simultaneously in Chicago, winning nineteen, drawing nine and losing four games. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. ^[46]

In 1934 Alekhine married his fourth wife, Grace Freeman (née Wishard), sixteen years his senior. Grace Alekhine (née Wishard Wishart Wishaar Wishar ( 26 October 1876 – March 1956 was an American – British – French She was the American-born widow of a British tea-planter in Ceylon, who retained her British citizenship to the end of her life and remained Alekhine's wife until his death. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island ^[6][47]

Loss of the World title (1935–1937)

Alekhine accepted a challenge from Max Euwe, who in the early 1930s was regarded as one of three credible challengers (the others were Capablanca and Salo Flohr). Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr ( November 21, 1908 &ndash July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet Chess ^[7] On October 3, 1935 the world championship match began in Zandvoort, the Netherlands. Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Zandvoort ( is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Although Alekhine took an early lead, from game thirteen onwards Euwe won twice as many games as Alekhine. The challenger became the new champion on December 15, 1935 with nine wins, thirteen draws, and eight losses. Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[48] This was the first world championship match that officially had seconds: Alekhine had the services of Salo Landau, and Euwe had Geza Maroczy. Salo (Salomon Landau (born 1 April 1903, Bochnia, Galicia, Austria-Hungary – died 15 November 1943, Géza Maróczy (ˈɡeːzɒ ˈmɒroːtsi 3 March 1870 – 29 May 1951) was a leading Hungarian Chess Grandmaster ^[49] Euwe's win was a major upset and is sometimes attributed to Alekhine's alcoholism. Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions ^[47] Flohr, who also assisted Euwe during the match, thought overconfidence caused more problems than alcohol for Alekhine in this match, and Alekhine himself had previously said he would win easily. ^[50][51] Later World Champions Vassily Smyslov, Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov analyzed the match for their own benefit and concluded that Euwe deserved to win and that the standard of play was worthy of a world championship. Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Васи́лий Васильевич Смысло́в (born March 24, 1921, in Moscow) is a Russian Chess Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasskij (Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский (born January 30, 1937) is a Russian French Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Анатолий Евгеньевич Карпов born May 23, 1951) is a Russian Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov (Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров) (born as Garry Kimovich Weinstein on April 13 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet ^[50]

In the eighteen months after losing the title, Alekhine played in ten tournaments, with uneven results: tied for first with Paul Keres at Bad Nauheim in May 1936; first place at Dresden in June 1936; second behind Salo Flohr at Poděbrady in July 1936; sixth, behind Capablanca, Mikhail Botvinnik, Reuben Fine, Samuel Reshevsky, and Euwe at Nottingham in August 1936; third, behind Euwe and Fine, at Amsterdam in October 1936; tied for first with Salo Landau at Amsterdam (Quadrangular), also in October 1936; in 1936/37 he won at the Hastings New Year tournament, ahead of Fine and Erich Eliskases; first place at Nice (Quadrangular) in March 1937; third, behind Keres and Fine, at Margate in April 1937; tied for fourth with Keres, behind Flohr, Reshevsky and Vladimirs Petrovs, at Kemeri in June–July 1937; tied for second with Bogoljubow, behind Euwe, at Bad Nauheim (Quadrangular) in July 1937. Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. Bad Nauheim is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. Dresden (etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest, Drježdźany is the Capital city of the German Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr ( November 21, 1908 &ndash July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet Chess Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May Reuben Fine ( October 11 1914  &ndash March 26 1993) was one of the best Chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through Samuel Herman (Sammy Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski, November 26, 1911, Ozorków near Lodz, (then Russian Empire Nottingham ( is a city in the Ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west Salo (Salomon Landau (born 1 April 1903, Bochnia, Galicia, Austria-Hungary – died 15 November 1943, Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west Hastings is a town on the coast of East Sussex in England; it is also the administrative centre for the Borough of the same name Erich Gottlieb Eliskases ( February 15, 1913 - February 2, 1997) was a leading Chess player, a Grandmaster, of the Nice (nis Niçard Occitan: Niça norm or Nissa, Italian: Nizza or Nizza Marittima, Greek Margate is a Seaside resort town within the Thanet district of East Kent, England. Vladimirs Petrovs or Vladimir Petrov ( 27 September 1907 – 26 August 1943 at Kotlas was a Latvian chess master Bad Nauheim is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. ^[6]

World Chess Champion, second reign (1937–46)

1937–1939

Max Euwe was quick to arrange a return match with Alekhine, something José Raúl Capablanca had been unable to obtain after Alekhine won the world title in 1927. Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Alekhine regained the title from Euwe in December 1937 by a large margin (+10 –4 =11). In this match, held in the Netherlands, Euwe was seconded by Reuben Fine, and Alekhine by Erich Eliskases. Reuben Fine ( October 11 1914  &ndash March 26 1993) was one of the best Chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through Erich Gottlieb Eliskases ( February 15, 1913 - February 2, 1997) was a leading Chess player, a Grandmaster, of the The match was a real contest initially, but Euwe collapsed near the end, losing four of the last five games. ^[52][32] Fine attributed the collapse to nervous tension, possibly aggravated by Euwe's attempts to maintain a calm appearance. Alekhine played no more title matches, and thus held the title until his death. ^[7]

1938 began well for Alekhine, who won at Carrasco in Montevideo (in March) and at Margate (in April), and tied for first with Sir George Alan Thomas at Plymouth (in September). Montevideo (monteβi'ðeo is the largest city the capital and chief port of Uruguay. Margate is a Seaside resort town within the Thanet district of East Kent, England. Sir George Alan Thomas, Bart (born Therapia, Turkey; June 14, 1881 – July 23 1972) was a British Chess Plymouth ( is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England about south west of London. In November, however, he only tied for 4-6th with Max Euwe and Samuel Reshevsky, behind Paul Keres, Reuben Fine, and Mikhail Botvinnik, but ahead of José Raúl Capablanca and Salo Flohr, at the AVRO tournament in the Netherlands. Samuel Herman (Sammy Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski, November 26, 1911, Ozorków near Lodz, (then Russian Empire Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. Reuben Fine ( October 11 1914  &ndash March 26 1993) was one of the best Chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr ( November 21, 1908 &ndash July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet Chess This tournament was played in each of several Dutch cities for a few days at a time; it was therefore perhaps not surprising that rising stars took the first three places, as the older players found the travel very tiring. ^[7]

Immediately after the AVRO tournament Mikhail Botvinnik, who had finished in third place, challenged Alekhine to a match for the world championship. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May They agreed on a prize fund of US $10,000 with two-thirds going to the winner, and that if the match were to take place in Moscow, Alekhine would be invited at least three months in advance so that he could play in a tournament to get ready for the match. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Other details had not been agreed when World War II interrupted negotiations, which the two players resumed after the war. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including ^[53]

Paul Keres, who had won the AVRO tournament on tiebreak over Fine, also challenged Alekhine to a world championship match. Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. This page explains commonly used terms in Chess in alphabetical order Negotiations were proceeding in 1939 when they were disrupted by World War II. During the war Keres' home country, Estonia, was invaded first by the USSR, then by Germany, then by the USSR again. Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia ( Eesti or Eesti Vabariik) is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. At the end of the war, the Soviet government prevented Keres from continuing the negotiations, on the grounds that he had collaborated with the Germans during their occupation of Estonia. ^[54]

Alekhine was representing France at first board in the 8th Chess Olympiad at Buenos Aires 1939 when World War II broke out in Europe. The 8th Chess Olympiad, organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE comprised an 'open' tournament as well as a Women's World Championship contest Buenos Aires is the Capital and largest city of Argentina. It is geographically located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern The assembly of all team captains, with leading roles played by Alekhine (France), Savielly Tartakower (Poland), and Albert Becker (Germany), plus the president of the Argentine Chess Federation, Augusto de Muro, decided to go on with the Olympiad. Ksawery Tartakower (Russian Савелий Григорьевич Тартаковер generally known as Saviely or Savielly Tartakower in English less often Albert Becker ( 5 September 1896, Vienna – 7 May 1984, Vicente Lopez was an Austrian �� Argentine ^[55] Alekhine won the individual silver medal (nine wins, no losses, seven draws), behind Capablanca (only results from finals A and B - separately for both sections - counted for best individual scores). ^[56] Shortly after the Olympiad, Alekhine swept tournaments in Montevideo (7/7) and Caracas (10/10). Montevideo (monteβi'ðeo is the largest city the capital and chief port of Uruguay. Caracas (kaˈɾakas is the Capital and largest city of Venezuela.

World War II (1939–1945)

Unlike many participants in the 1939 Chess Olympiad,^[56] Alekhine returned to Europe in January 1940. After a short stay in Portugal,^[57] he enlisted in the French army as a sanitation officer. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. ^[47]

After the fall of France (June 1940), he fled to Marseille. Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ Alekhine tried to go to America by traveling to Lisbon and applying for an American visa. Lisbon (Lisboa liʒˈboɐ is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. In October 1940, he sought permission to enter Cuba, promising to play a match with Capablanca. This request was denied. ^[36] To protect his wife, Grace Alekhine, who was an American Jew, and her French assets (a castle at Saint Aubin-le-Cauf, near Dieppe, which the Nazis looted), he agreed to cooperate with the Nazis. Grace Alekhine (née Wishard Wishart Wishaar Wishar ( 26 October 1876 – March 1956 was an American – British – French Dieppe is a town and commune in the Seine-Maritime department and Haute-Normandie region of France. ^[58] Alekhine took part in chess tournaments in Munich, Salzburg, Krakow/Warsaw, and Prague, organised by Ehrhardt Post, President of the Nazi-controlled Grossdeutscher Schachbund ("Greater Germany Chess Federation") - Paul Keres, Efim Bogoljubow, Gösta Stoltz, and several other strong masters in Nazi-occupied Europe also played in such events. Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Kraków, in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow (ˈkrækaʊ M-W: krăk'ou krāk'ō is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland Warsaw (Warszawa; also known by other names) is the Capital and Largest city of Poland. Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. Alfred M Ehrhardt Post ( 23 September 1881, Cottbus – 1 August 1947, Berlin) was a German Chess Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Gösta Stoltz ( May 9 1904 – July 25 1963) was a Swedish Chess grandmaster. ^[59] In 1941, he tied for second-third with Erik Lundin in Munich (Europa-Turnier in September, won by Gösta Stoltz), tied for first with Paul Felix Schmidt at Krakow/Warsaw (2nd GG Tournament, in October) and won in Madrid (in December). Erik Lundin ( 2 July 1904 – 5 December 1988) a Swedish Chess master Gösta Stoltz ( May 9 1904 – July 25 1963) was a Swedish Chess grandmaster. Paul Felix Schmidt ( 20 August 1916 at Narva, Estonia – 11 August 1984 at Allentown, USA) was an Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. That same year he also won a mini-match with Lopez Esnaola in Vitoria. Vitória is the capital of the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. The following year he won in Salzburg (June 1942) and in Munich (September 1942; the Nazis named this the Europameisterschaft, which means "1st European Championship"). is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organized by the European Chess Union. ^[60][61] Later in 1942 he won at Warsaw/Lublin/Krakow (3rd GG Tournament; October 1942) and tied for first with Klaus Junge in Prague ( Duras Memorial; December 1942). Klaus Junge (born 1 January 1924 at Concepción, Chile – died 17 April 1945 at Welle, Germany) was one of the youngest German Chess Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. Oldřich Duras ( October 30, 1882, Pchery (hamlet Humny in Bohemia, then Austria-Hungary &ndash January 5, In 1943, he drew a mini-match (+1 –1 =0) with Bogoljubow in Warsaw (March 1943), he won in Prague (April 1943) and tied for first with Paul Keres in Salzburg (June 1943). Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg.

By late 1943, Alekhine was spending all of his time in Spain and Portugal, as the German representative to chess events. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. This also allowed him to get away from the onrushing Soviet invasion into eastern Europe. ^[36][62] In 1944, he narrowly won a match against Ramón Rey Ardid in Zaragoza (+1 –0 =3; April 1944) and won in Gijon (July 1944). Ramón Rey Ardid (20 December 1903 Zaragoza – 21 January 1988 was a Spanish chess master Zaragoza, also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza province and of the autonomous community and former Gijón ( Asturian: Xixón) is a coastal industrial city The following year, he won at Madrid (March 1945), tied for second place with Antonio Medina at Gijón (July 1945; the event was won by Antonio Rico), won at Sabadell (August 1945), he tied for first with Lopez Nunez in Almeria (August 1945), won in Melilla (September 1945) and took second in Caceres, behind Francisco Lupi (Autumn 1945). Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. Antonio Angel José Medina y García ( 2 October, 1919, Barcelona - 31 October, 2003, Barcelona was a Spanish Chess master Antonio Rico (26 February 1908 – 16 December 1988 was a Spanish chess master Sabadell is the largest city in the comarca of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia. Melilla is an autonomous city of Spain located on the Mediterranean, on the North African coast Francisco Lupi (died January 1954 was a Portuguese chess master Alekhine's last chess match was with Lupi at Estoril near Lisbon, Portugal, in January 1946. For the Estoril Circuit used by F1 see Autódromo do Estoril Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese Lisbon (Lisboa liʒˈboɐ is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. Alekhine won two games, lost one, and drew one. ^[63]

Alekhine took an interest in the development of the chess prodigy Arturo Pomar and devoted a section of his last book (¡Legado! 1946) to him. Arturo Pomar Salamanca (born 1 September 1931 Palma de Mallorca) a Spanish chess Grandmaster. They played at Gijon 1944, when Pomar, aged twelve, achieved a creditable draw with the champion. ^[64]

His last year

After World War II, Alekhine was not invited to chess tournaments outside the Iberian Peninsula, because of his alleged Nazi affiliation. His original invitation to the London 1946 tournament was withdrawn when the other competitors protested. ^[3] While planning for a World championship match against Botvinnik,^[53] he died in his hotel room in Estoril, Portugal. For the Estoril Circuit used by F1 see Autódromo do Estoril Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. The circumstances of his death are still a matter of debate. It is usually attributed to a heart attack, but a letter in Chess Life magazine from a witness to the autopsy stated that choking on meat was the actual cause of death. Chess Life is a monthly Chess magazine published in the United States. Some have speculated that he was murdered by a French "Death Squad" or possibly by the NKVD (later KGB). The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat His burial was sponsored by FIDE, and the remains were transferred to the Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris, France in 1956. Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the Montparnasse Cemetery ( French: Cimetière de Montparnasse) is a famous cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, part of the Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city ^[65][66]

Assessment

Playing strength and style

Main article: Comparing top chess players throughout history

Statistical ranking systems differ sharply in their views of Alekhine. "Warriors of the Mind" rates him only the eighteenth strongest of player all time and comments that victories over players like Efim Bogoljubov and Max Euwe are not a strong basis for an "all time" ranking. Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster ^[67] But the website "Chessmetrics" ranks him between the fourth and eighth best of all time, depending on the lengths of the peak periods being compared, and concludes that at his absolute peak he was a little stronger than Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca, although a little weaker than Mikhail Botvinnik. Chessmetrics is a system for rating Chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May ^[68] Jeff Sonas, the author of the website "Chessmetrics", rates Alekhine as the sixth best player of all-time on the basis of comparable ratings. ^[69] He also assesses Alekhine's victory at the tournament of San Remo in 1930 as the sixth best performance ever in tournaments. ^[69] In his 1978 book The Rating of Chessplayers, Past and Present, Arpad Elo gave retrospective ratings to players based on their performance over the best five-year span of their career. Arpad Emrick Elo (born Élő Árpád Imre, August 25, 1903 in Egyházaskesző, Hungary &ndash November 5, 1992 He concluded that Alekhine was the joint fifth strongest player of those surveyed (tied with Paul Morphy and Vasily Smyslov), behind Capablanca, Botvinnik, Emanuel Lasker and Mikhail Tal. Disambiguation Morphy redirects here For the fictional character nicknamed Morphy see King Morpheus. Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Васи́лий Васильевич Смысло́в (born March 24, 1921, in Moscow) is a Russian Chess Mikhail Tal (Mihails Tāls Михаил Нехемьевич Таль Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal, mʲixa'iɫ̺ n̻ʲɛ'xɛmjɛvʲiʨ t̺al̻ sometimes transliterated Mihails ^[70]

Alekhine's peak period was in the early 1930s, when he won almost every tournament he played, sometimes by huge margins. Afterward, his play declined, and he never won a top-class tournament after 1934. After Alekhine regained his world title in 1937, there were several new contenders, all of whom would have been serious challengers. ^[7]

Alekhine was one of the greatest attacking players and could apparently produce combinations at will. In Chess, a combination is a relatively long sequence of moves often initiated by a sacrifice which leaves the opponent few options and results in tangible gain What set him apart from most other attacking players was his ability to see the potential for an attack and prepare for it in positions where others saw nothing. As Richard Réti puts it, "he beats his opponents by analysing simple and apparently harmless sequences of moves in order to see whether at some time or another at the end of it an original possibility, and therefore one difficult to see, might be hidden. Richard Réti ( 28 May, 1889, Pezinok (now Slovakia) &ndash 6 June, 1929, Prague) was an Austrian "^[71] Rudolf Spielmann, a master tactician who produced many brilliancies, said this ability to create positions in which brilliancies were possible was Alekhine's great strength. Rudolf Spielmann ( 5 May 1883 - 20 August 1942) was an Austrian - Jewish Chess player of the romantic school ^[7] Max Euwe said, "Alekhine is a poet who creates a work of art out of something that would hardly inspire another man to send home a picture post-card. Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster "^[72] John Nunn commented that "Alekhine had a special ability to provoke complications without taking excessive risks",^[73] and Edward Winter called him "the supreme genius of the complicated position. John Denis Martin Nunn (born April 25, 1955 in London) is one of England 's strongest Chess players and once belonged to the world's Edward Winter is a name shared by the following individuals Edward Winter (British administrator (1622&ndash1686 English royal administrator in British "^[74] Some of Alekhine's combinations are so complex that even modern champions and contenders disagree in their analyses of them. ^[75]

Nevertheless, Garry Kasparov said that Alekhine's attacking play was based on solid positional foundations,^[75] and Harry Golombek went further, saying that "Alekhine was the most versatile of all chess geniuses, being equally at home in every style of play and in all phases of the game. Garry Kasparov (Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров) (born as Garry Kimovich Weinstein on April 13 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Harry Golombek OBE ( March 1[[ 911]]– January 7 1995) was a British Chess International Master and honorary grandmaster "^[76] Reuben Fine, a serious contender for the world championship in the late 1930s, wrote in the 1950s that Alekhine's collection of best games was one of the three most beautiful that he knew. Reuben Fine ( October 11 1914  &ndash March 26 1993) was one of the best Chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through ^[7] Golombek was equally impressed. ^[76]

Alekhine's games have a higher percentage of wins than those of any other World Champion, and his drawn games are on average among the longest of all champions'. ^[77] Alekhine's desire to win extended beyond formal chess competition. When Fine beat him in some casual games in 1933, Alekhine demanded a match for a small stake. And in table tennis, which Alekhine played enthusiastically but badly, he would often crush the ball when he lost. ^[7]

Bobby Fischer, in a 1964 article, ranked Alekhine as one of the ten greatest chessplayers in history. Robert James "Bobby" Fischer ( March 9 1943 – January 17 2008) was an American -born Chess Grandmaster ^[78] Fischer, who was famous for the clarity of his play,^[79] wrote of Alekhine, "Alekhine has never been a hero of mine, and I've never cared for his style of play. There's nothing light or breezy about it; it worked for him, but it could scarcely work for anyone else. He played gigantic conceptions, full of outrageous and unprecedented ideas. . . . [H]e had great imagination; he could see more deeply into a situation than any other player in chess history. . . . It was in the most complicated positions that Alekhine found his grandest concepts. ^[78]

Alekhine's style had a profound influence on Garry Kasparov, who said: "Alexander Alekhine is the first luminary among the others who are still having the greatest influence on me. Garry Kasparov (Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров) (born as Garry Kimovich Weinstein on April 13 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet I like his universality, his approach to the game, his chess ideas. I am sure that the future belongs to Alekhine chess. "^[80]

Influence on the game

Several openings and opening variations are named after Alekhine. In Chess the word " opening " has two common meanings both of which are discussed in this article In addition to the well-known Alekhine's Defence (1. Alekhine's Defence is a Chess opening beginning with the moves 1 e4 Nf6) and the Albin-Chatard-Alekhine attack in the "orthodox" Paulsen variation of the French Defense,^[81] there are Alekhine Variations in: the Vienna Game, the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez, the Winawer Variation of the French Defense; the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense, the Queen's Gambit Accepted, the Slav Defense, the Queen's Pawn Game, the Catalan Opening and the Dutch Defense (where three different lines bear his name). The French Defence is a Chess opening. It is characterized by the moves 1 The Vienna Game is a Chess opening characterised by the moves 1 The Ruy Lopez, called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game outside English speaking countries, is a Chess opening characterised by the moves The Sicilian Defence is a Chess opening that begins with the moves 1 The Queen's Gambit Accepted, commonly abbreviated to QGA, is a Chess opening characterized by the opening moves 1 The Slav Defense is a Chess opening that begins with the moves 1 In the most general sense the term Queen's Pawn Game can refer to any Chess opening which starts with 1 The Catalan is a Chess opening which can be considered to be White adopting a mixture of the Queen's Gambit and Réti Opening: White plays d4 The Dutch Defence is a Chess opening characterised by the moves 1 ^[82]

Alekhine also composed a few endgame studies. An endgame study, or just study, is a composed Chess position — that is one that has been made up rather than one from an actual game — presented as a sort of One of them is shown on the right, a miniature (a study with a maximum of seven pieces). Solution: 1. g5! Kc6 2. Ke5 Kd7 3. Kd5! (3. Kf6? Kxd6 4. Kxf7 Ke5) 3. . . . Kd8 4. Kc6 and White wins. ^[83]

Alekine wrote over twenty books on chess, mostly annotated editions of the games in a major match or tournament, plus collections of his best games between 1908 and 1937. ^[84] Unlike Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca and Max Euwe, he wrote no books that explained his ideas about the game or showed beginners how to improve their play. Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz ( May 17, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian - American For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster ^[74] His books appeal to expert players rather than beginners:^[7] they contain many long analyses of variations in critical positions and "singularities and exceptions were his forte, not rules and simplifications". ^[74]

Although Alekhine was declared an enemy of the Soviet Union after his anti-Bolshevik statement in 1928,^[35] he was gradually rehabilitated by the Soviet chess elite following his death in 1946. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Alexander Kotov's research on Alekhine's games and career, culminating in a biography,^[85] led to a Soviet series of Alekhine Memorial tournaments, with the first being at Moscow 1956, won jointly by Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov. Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Александр Александрович Котов ( &ndash January 8, 1981) was a Russian Chess grandmaster Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Васи́лий Васильевич Смысло́в (born March 24, 1921, in Moscow) is a Russian Chess ^[86] In their book The Soviet School of Chess Kotov and Yudovich devoted a chapter to Alekhine and called him "Russia's greatest player" and praised his capacity for seizing the initiative by concrete tactical play in the opening. ^[87] Botvinnik wrote that the Soviet School of chess learned from Alekhine's fighting qualities, capacity for self-criticism and combinative vision. ^[88] Alekhine had written that success in chess required "Firstly, self-knowledge; secondly, a firm comprehension of my opponent’s strength and weakness; thirdly, a higher aim – . . . artistic and scientific accomplishments which accord our chess equal rank with other arts. "^[89]

Accusations of "improving" games

"He allegedly made up games against fictitious opponents in which he came out the victor and had these games published in various chess magazines. "^[90] In a recent book Andy Soltis lists "Alekhine’s 15 Improvements". Andrew Soltis (born May 28 1947) is a Chess author and columnist as well as a Grandmaster. ^[91] The most famous example is his game with five queens in Moscow in 1915. Promotion to various pieces Promotion to a queen is the most common in practical play since the queen is the most powerful piece The queen (♕♛ is the most powerful piece in the game of Chess. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of In the actual game, Alekhine, playing as Black, beat Grigoriev in the Moscow 1915 tournament; but in one of his books he presented the "five Queens" variation (starting with a move he rejected as Black in the original game) as an actual game won by the White player in Moscow in 1915 (he did not say in who was who in this version, nor that it was in the tournament). Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of ^[92]

Chess historian Edward Winter investigated a game Alekhine allegedly won in fifteen moves via a Queen sacrifice at Sabadell in 1945. Edward Winter is a name shared by the following individuals Edward Winter (British administrator (1622&ndash1686 English royal administrator in British In the game of Chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece or pawn in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms Sabadell is the largest city in the comarca of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia. ^[93] Some photos of the game in progress were discovered that showed the players during the game and their chessboard. Based on the position that the chess pieces had taken on the chessboard in this photo, the game could never have taken the course that was stated in the published version. This raised suspicions that the published version was made up. Even if the published version is a fake, however, there is no doubt that Alekhine did defeat his opponent in the actual game, and there is no evidence that Alekhine was the source of the spectacular fifteen-move win whose authenticity is doubted. ^[94]

Accusations of anti-Semitism

During World War II, Alekhine played in several tournaments held in Germany or German-occupied territory, as did many strong players in occupied and neutral countries. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. ^[95][59] In March 1941, a series of articles appeared under Alekhine's name in the Pariser Zeitung, a German-language newspaper published in Paris by the occupying German forces. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Among other things these articles said that Jews had a great talent for exploiting chess but showed no signs of chess artistry; described the hypermodern theories of Aron Nimzowitsch and Richard Réti as "this cheap bluff, this shameless self-publicity", hyped by "the majority of Anglo-Jewish pseudo-intellectuals"; and described his 1937 match with Euwe as "a triumph against the Jewish conspiracy". Hypermodernism is a school of Chess thought which advocates controlling the centre of the board with distant pieces rather than with pawns, thus inviting the opponent Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian Richard Réti ( 28 May, 1889, Pezinok (now Slovakia) &ndash 6 June, 1929, Prague) was an Austrian ^[96] Alekhine was reported as making further anti-Semitic statements in interviews for two Spanish newspapers in September 1941; in one of these it was said that "Aryan chess was aggressive chess . . . on the other hand, the Semitic concept admitted the idea of pure defence. "^[96]

Almost immediately after the liberation of Paris, Alekhine publicly stated that "he had to write two chess articles for the Pariser Zeitung before the Germans granted him his exit visa . . . Articles which Alekhine claims were purely scientific were rewritten by the Germans, published and made to treat chess from a racial viewpoint. " He wrote at least two further disavowals, in an open letter to the organizer of the 1946 London tournament (W. Hatton-Ward) and in his posthumous book ¡Legado!. These three denials are phrased differently.

Extensive investigations by Ken Whyld have not yielded conclusive evidence of the authenticity of the articles. Kenneth Whyld ( March 6, 1926 - July 11, 2003) was a British Chess author and researcher best known as the co-author (with Chess writer Jacques Le Monnier claimed in a 1986 issue of Europe Échecs that in 1958 he saw some of Alekhine's notebooks and found, in Alekhine’s own handwriting, the exact text of the first anti-Semitic article, which appeared in Pariser Zeitung on March 18, 1941. Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In his 1973 book 75 parties d’Alekhine ("75 of Alekhine's games"), however, Le Monnier had written "It will never be known whether Alekhine was behind these articles or whether they were manipulated by the editor of the Pariser Zeitung. "

British chess historian Edward G. Winter notes that the articles in the Pariser Zeitung mis-spelled the names of several famous chess masters, which could be interpreted as evidence of forgery or as attempts by Alekhine to signal that he was being forced to write things that he did not believe; but these could simply have been typesetting errors, as Alekhine's handwriting was not easy to read. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Edward Winter is a British Journalist, Archivist, Historian, Collector and Author about the game of Chess. Typesetting involves the presentation of textual material in graphic form on Paper or some other medium. The articles also contained incorrect claims that that Carl Schlechter was a Jew and that Lionel Kieseritzky was a Polish Jew (his name was spelt "Kienezitzky", and Kieseritzky was neither Polish nor Jewish). Carl Schlechter ( March 2, 1874 - December 27, 1918) was a leading Austrian Chess master at the turn of the 20th century Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky ( January 1, 1806 – May 18, 1853) was a 19th century Chess master, famous primarily for Winter comcludes: "Although, as things stand, it is difficult to construct much of a defence for Alekhine, only the discovery of the articles in his own handwriting will settle the matter beyond all doubt. " Under current French copyright law, Alekhine's notebooks will not enter the public domain until January 1, 2017. Copyright is a legal concept enacted by Governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship Exclusive rights to control its distribution usually for The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC 2017 ( MMXVII) will be a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[96]

There is evidence that Alekhine was not anti-Semitic in his personal or chess relationships with Jews. In June 1919, he was arrested by the Cheka, imprisoned in Odessa and sentenced to death. The Cheka ( ЧК - чрезвычайная комиссия Chrezvychaynaya Komissiya,) was the first of a succession of Soviet State security ODESSA which stands for the German phrase O rganisation d er e hemaligen SS - A ngehörigen which in turn translates Yakov Vilner, a Jewish master, saved him by sending a telegram to the chairman of the Ukrainian Council of People's Commissars, who knew of Alekhine and ordered his release. Yakov Vilner (born 1899 Odessa – died 29 june 1931 Leningrad) was a Ukrainian chess master Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. ^[97] Alekhine accepted and apparently used chess analysis from Charles Jaffe in his World Championship match against Capablanca. Charles Jaffé (Jaffe (circa 1879? Dubrovna Belarus – 12 July 1941, Brooklyn, USA) was a Belarusian- American Jaffe was a Jewish master who lived in New York, where Alekhine often visited, and upon his return to New York after defeating Capablanca, Alekhine played a short match as a favour to Jaffe, without financial remuneration. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous ^[34] Alekhine's second for the 1935 match with Max Euwe was the master Salo Landau, a Dutch Jew. Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Salo (Salomon Landau (born 1 April 1903, Bochnia, Galicia, Austria-Hungary – died 15 November 1943, The American Jewish grandmaster Arnold Denker wrote that he found Alekhine very friendly in chess settings, with productive analysis sessions and consultation games. Arnold Sheldon Denker ( February 20 1914 – January 2 2005) was an American Chess player a Grandmaster Denker also wrote that Alekhine treated the younger and (at that time) virtually unproven Denker to dinner on many occasions in New York during the 1930s, when the economy was very weak because of the Great Depression. Denker added that Alekhine, during the early 1930s, opined that the American Jewish grandmaster Isaac Kashdan might be his next challenger (this did not in fact occur). Isaac Kashdan ( 19 November, 1905, New York – 20 February, 1985, Los Angeles) was an American Chess ^[98] Alekhine also married an American Jew, Grace Wishard, as his fourth wife (Mrs. Grace Alekhine (née Wishard Wishart Wishaar Wishar ( 26 October 1876 – March 1956 was an American – British – French Grace Alekhine was the women’s champion of Paris in 1944). ^[99]

Notable chess games

• Efim Bogolyubov vs Alexander Alekhine, Hastings 1922, Dutch Defence, Classical Variation (A91), 0-1 This has been called one of the greatest games ever played, with some incredibly deep variations as Black prepares to queen a pawn.
• Ernst Gruenfeld vs Alexander Alekhine, Karlsbad 1923, Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense. Rubinstein Attack (D64) Gruenfeld makes no obvious mistakes but his slow build-up lets Alekhine take the initiative and start squeezing him off the board. Gruenfeld desperately tries to free his position and is crushed by a series of sacrifices that forces the win of a piece or checkmate.
• Richard Reti vs Alexander Alekhine, Baden Baden 1925, Hungarian Opening: Reversed Alekhine (A00) A tactically complex game in which Alekhine unleashes a 12-move combination that wins a Knight.
• Jose Raul Capablanca vs Alexander Alekhine, World Championship match, Buenos Aires 1927, Queen's Gambit Declined (D52), 0-1 The game ends in an interesting position with four queens on the board.
• Alexander Alekhine vs Aron Nimzowitsch, San Remo 1930, French Defence, Winawer Variation (C17), 1-0 One of the shortest games ending in a zugzwang -- by the 26th move, Black is already strategically lost and has no good moves. Zugzwang ' is also a musical work by Juan Maria Solare. Zugzwang' ( German for "compulsion to move" ˈtsuːktsvaŋ
• Gideon Stahlberg vs Alexander Alekhine, Hamburg 1930, 3rd Olympiad, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Spielmann Variation (E23), 0-1 1st best game prize.
• Alexander Alekhine vs Emanuel Lasker, Zurich 1934, Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line (D67), 1-0 A short game ending with a queen sacrifice. After the tournament Lasker said: "Alekhine's attacking genius has no equal in the history of the game".
• Max Euwe vs Alexander Alekhine, World Championship Match, game 4, The Hague 1935, Grunfeld Defence, Russian Variation (D81), 0-1 Alekhine sacrifices two rooks, but traps up Euwe's King in the centre, wins the queen, then finishes elegantly.

Writings

Alekine wrote over 20 books on chess. ^[84] Some of the best-known are:

• Alekhine, Alexander (1985). My Best Games of Chess 1908-1937. Dover. ISBN 0-486-24941-7.   Originally published in two volumes as My Best Games of Chess 1908-1923 and My Best Games of Chess 1924-1937
• Alekhine, Alexander (1992). 107 Great Chess Battles 1939-1945. Dover. ISBN 0-486-27104-8.  
• Alekhine, Alexander (1968). The Book of the Hastings International Masters' Chess Tournament 1922. Dover. ISBN 0-486-21960-7.  
• Alekhine, Alexander (1961). The Book of the New York International Chess Tournament 1924. Dover. ISBN 0-486-20752-8.  
• Alekhine, Alexander (1962). The Book of the Nottingham International Chess Tournament. Dover. ISBN 0-486-20189-9.  
• Alekhine, Alexander (1973). The World's Chess Championship, 1937. Dover. ISBN 0-486-20455-3.  

Summary of results in competitions

Tournament results

Here are Alekhine's placings and scores in tournaments:^{[6][19][8][100][101][102][103]}

• Under Score, + games won, = games drawn, − games lost

Date	Location	Place	Score		Notes
1907	Moscow	11–13	5½/15	+5=1−9	his brother Alexei Alekhine tied for 4-6th
1908	Moscow	1st	6½/9	+5=3−1
1908	Düsseldorf	3–4	9/13	+8=2−3	16th DSB Congress, A Tournament
1909	Saint Petersburg	1st	13/16	+12=2−2	Amateur Tournament
1910	Hamburg	7–8	8½/16	+5=7−4	17th DSB Congress, Schlechter won
1911	Cologne	1st	3/3	+3=0−0	Quadrangular
1911	Carlsbad	8–9	13½/25	+11=5−9	Teichmann won
1912	Stockholm	1st	8½/10	+8=1−1	8th Nordic Championship, ahead of Spielmann
1912	Vilnius	6–7	8½/18	+7=3−8	7th Russian Championship (All-Russian Masters' Tournament), Rubinstein won
1912	Saint Petersburg	1st	7/9	+5=4−0
1913	Saint Petersburg	1–2	2/3	+2=0−1	Quadrangular, tied with Levenfish
1913	Scheveningen	1st	11½/13	+11=1−1	ahead of Janowski
1913/4	Saint Petersburg	1–2	13½/17	+13=1−3	8th Russian Championship (All-Russian Masters' Tournament), tied with Nimzowitsch
1914	Saint Petersburg	3rd	10/18	+6=8−4	Lasker 13½, Capablanca 13, Alekhine 10, Tarrasch 8½, Marshall 8
1914	Paris	1–2	2½/3	+2=1−0	Cafe Continental Quadrangular, tied with Marshall, third Muffang, fourth Hallegua
1914	Mannheim	leading	9½/11	+9=1−1	19th DSB Congress, interrupted by the start of World War I
1915/6	Moscow	1st	10½/11	+10=1−0
1920	Moscow	1st	11/11	+11=0−0	Moscow City Championship, not declared Moscow Champion because he was not a resident of Moscow
1920	Moscow	1st	12/15	+9=6−0	later recognised as the 1st USSR Championship
1921	Triberg	1st	7/8	+6=2−0	ahead of Bogoljubov
1921	Budapest	1st	8½/11	+6=5−0	ahead of Grünfeld
1921	The Hague	1st	8/9	+7=2−0	ahead of Tartakower
1922	Pistyan	2–3	14½/18	+12=5−1	tied with Spielmann, behind Bogoljubov
1922	London	2nd	11½/15	+8=7−0	Capablanca 13, Alekhine 11½, Vidmar 11, Rubinstein 10½
1922	Hastings	1st	7½/10	+6=3−1	Rubinstein 7, Bogoljubov and Thomas 4
1922	Vienna	3–6	9/14	+7=4−3	Rubinstein won
1923	Margate	2–5	4½/7	+3=3−1	Grünfeld won
1923	Carlsbad	1–3	11½/17	+9=5−3	tied with Capablanca and Bogoljubov
1923	Portsmouth	1st	11½/12	+11=1−0	ahead of Vajda
1924	New York	3rd	12/20	+6=12−2	Lasker 16, Capablanca 14½, Alekhine 12, Marshall 11, Réti 10½. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Alexei (Alexey Alekhine (1888 – 1939 was a Russian chess master Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Düsseldorf (ˈdʏsəldɔɐf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Deutschen Schachbund (DSB had been founded in Leipzig on 18 July 1877 Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany The Deutschen Schachbund (DSB had been founded in Leipzig on 18 July 1877 Carl Schlechter ( March 2, 1874 - December 27, 1918) was a leading Austrian Chess master at the turn of the 20th century Karlovy Vary ( pronounced, Karlsbad also known in English as Carlsbad) is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic Richard Teichmann (1868&ndash1925 was a leading German Chess player easily of grandmaster strength ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the The first Nordic Chess Championship ( Nordiska Schackkongressen) took place in Stockholm in 1897 Rudolf Spielmann ( 5 May 1883 - 20 August 1942) was an Austrian - Jewish Chess player of the romantic school The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms throughout history Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein ( 12 December, 1882, in Stawiski, Poland – 15 March, 1961 in Antwerp, Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish ( March 9, 1889, Piotrków - February 9, 1961, Moscow) was a leading Jewish[http Scheveningen (ˈsxeːfənɪŋə is one of the eight Districts of The Hague, as well as one of its subdistricts ( wijken) Dawid Markelowicz Janowski (in English usually called David Janowski) ( 25 May, 1868, Wołkowysk, – 15 January, 1927, Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms throughout history Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. Siegbert Tarrasch ( March 5, 1862 &ndash February 17, 1934) was one of the strongest Chess players and most influential chess Frank James Marshall ( August 10 1877 &ndash November 9 1944) was the U Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Frank James Marshall ( August 10 1877 &ndash November 9 1944) was the U André Muffang (25 July 1897 St Brieuc – 1989 was a French chess master Mannheim is a City in Germany. With 327318 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg after the capital Stuttgart The Deutschen Schachbund (DSB had been founded in Leipzig on 18 July 1877 World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of This is a list of all the winners of the USSR Chess Championship. Triberg im Schwarzwald is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in the Black Forest. Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Budapest ( also /ˈbʊ-/) is the capital city of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary it serves as the country's principal Political, Ernst Franz Grünfeld ( November 21 1893 &ndash April 3 1962) an Austrian Chess player and writer specializing in Ksawery Tartakower (Russian Савелий Григорьевич Тартаковер generally known as Saviely or Savielly Tartakower in English less often Piešťany ( Pistyan Pöstyén Pieszczany is a town in Slovakia. Rudolf Spielmann ( 5 May 1883 - 20 August 1942) was an Austrian - Jewish Chess player of the romantic school Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Milan Vidmar ( June 22 1885 – October 9 1962) was a Slovene Electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein ( 12 December, 1882, in Stawiski, Poland – 15 March, 1961 in Antwerp, The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual Chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein ( 12 December, 1882, in Stawiski, Poland – 15 March, 1961 in Antwerp, Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Sir George Alan Thomas, Bart (born Therapia, Turkey; June 14, 1881 – July 23 1972) was a British Chess Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein ( 12 December, 1882, in Stawiski, Poland – 15 March, 1961 in Antwerp, Margate is a Seaside resort town within the Thanet district of East Kent, England. Ernst Franz Grünfeld ( November 21 1893 &ndash April 3 1962) an Austrian Chess player and writer specializing in Karlovy Vary ( pronounced, Karlsbad also known in English as Carlsbad) is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, History See also History of Portsmouth There have been settlements in the area since before Roman times mostly being offshoots of Portchester, which Árpád Vajda ( 2 May 1896, Rimaszombat (Rimavská Sobota – 25 October 1967, Budapest was a Hungarian Chess master New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. Frank James Marshall ( August 10 1877 &ndash November 9 1944) was the U Richard Réti ( 28 May, 1889, Pezinok (now Slovakia) &ndash 6 June, 1929, Prague) was an Austrian Maróczy 10, Bogoljubov 9½
1925	Paris	1st	6½/8	+5=3−0	ahead of Tartakower
1925	Berne	1st	4/6	+3=2−1	Quadrangular
1925	Baden-Baden	1st	16/20	+12=8−0	ahead of Rubinstein
1925/6	Hastings	1–2	8½/9	+8=1−0	tied with Vidmar
1926	Semmering	2nd	12½/17	+11=3−3	Spielmann won
1926	Dresden	2nd	7/9	+5=4−0	Nimzowitsch won
1926	Scarborough	1st	5½/6	+5=1−0	Alekhine won a play-off match against Colle 2-0
1926	Birmingham	1st	5/5	+5=0−0	ahead of Znosko-Borovsky
1926	Buenos Aires	1st	10/10	+10=0−0	ahead of Villegas and Illa
1927	New York	2nd	11½/20	+5=13−2	Capablanca 14, Alekhine 11½, Nimzowitsch 10½, Vidmar 10, Spielmann 8, Marshall 6
1927	Kecskemet	1st	12/16	+8=8−0	ahead of Nimzowitsch and Steiner
1929	Bradley Beach	1st	8½/9	+8=1−0	ahead of Lajos Steiner
1930	San Remo	1st	14/15	+13=2−0	Nimzowitsch 10½; Rubinstein 10; Bogoljubov 9½; Yates 9
1931	Nice	1st	6/8	+4=4−0	consultation tournament
1931	Bled	1st	20½/26	+15=11−0	Bogoljubov 15; Nimzowitsch 14; Flohr, Kashdan, Stoltz and Vidmar 13½
1932	Berne	1–3	2/3	+2=0−1	Quadrangular, tied with Voellmy and Naegeli
1932	Berne	1st	12½/15	+11=3−1	Swiss Championship (title awarded to Hans Johner and Paul Johner)
1932	London	1st	9/11	+7=4−0	ahead of Flohr
1932	Pasadena	1st	8½/11	+7=3−1	ahead of Kashdan
1932	Mexico City	1–2	8½/9	+8=1−0	tied with Kashdan
1933	Paris	1st	8/9	+7=2−0	ahead of Tartakower
1933/4	Hastings	2nd	6½/9	+4=5−0	Flohr 7, Alekhine and Andor Lilienthal 6½, C.H.O'D. Alexander and Eliskases 5
1934	Rotterdam	1st	3/3	+3=0−0	Quadrangular
1934	Zürich	1st	13/15	+12=2−1	Swiss Championship (title awarded to Hans Johner)
1935	Örebro	1st	8½/9	+8=1−0	ahead of Lundin
1936	Bad Nauheim	1–2	6½/9	+4=5−0	tied with Keres
1936	Dresden	1st	6½/9	+5=3−1	ahead of Engels
1936	Poděbrady	2nd	12½/17	+8=9−0	Flohr won
1936	Nottingham	6th	9/14	+6=6−2	Botvinnik and Capablanca 10; Euwe, Fine and Reshevsky 9½
1936	Amsterdam	3rd	4½/7	+3=3−1	Euwe and Fine won
1936	Amsterdam	1–2	2½/3	+2=1−0	Quadrangular, tied with Landau
1936/7	Hastings	1st	8/9	+7=2−0	Fine 7½, Eliskases 5½, Vidmar and Feigins 4½
1937	Margate	3rd	6/9	+6=0−3	tied for 1–2 were Keres and Fine
1937	Kemeri	4–5	11½/17	+7=9−1	tied for 1–3 were Flohr, Petrovs and Reshevsky
1937	Bad Nauheim	2–3	3½/6	+3=1−2	Quadrangular, Euwe won, the other players were Bogoljubov and Sämisch
1937	Nice	1st	2½/3	+2=1−0	Quadrangular
1938	Montevideo	1st	13/15	+11=4−0	ahead of Guimard
1938	Margate	1st	7/9	+6=2−1	ahead of Spielmann
1938	The Netherlands (ten cities)	4–6	7/14	+3=8−3	AVRO tournament, Keres and Fine 8½; Botvinnik 7½; Alekhine, Euwe and Reshevsky 7; Capablanca 6
1939	Montevideo	1st	7/7	+7=0−0	ahead of Golombek
1939	Caracas	1st	10/10	+10=0−0
1941	Munich	2–3	10½/15	+8=5−2	tied with Lundin, behind Stoltz
1941	Cracow, Warsaw	1–2	8½/11	+6=5−0	tied with Schmidt
1941	Madrid	1st	5/5	+5=0−0
1942	Salzburg	1st	7½/10	+7=1−2	ahead of Keres
1942	Munich	1st	8½/11	+7=3−1	1st European Championship, ahead of Keres
1942	Warsaw,Lublin,Cracow	1st	7½/11	+6=3−1	ahead of Junge
1942	Prague	1–2	8½/11	+6=5−0	tied with Junge
1943	Prague	1st	17/19	+15=4−0	ahead of Keres
1943	Salzburg	1–2	7½/10	+5=5−0	tied with Keres
1944	Gijón	1st	7½/8	+7=1−0
1945	Madrid	1st	8½/9	+8=1−0
1945	Gijón	2–3	6½/9	+6=1−2	tied with Medina, behind Rico
1945	Sabadell	1st	7½/9	+6=3−0
1945	Almeria	1–2	5½/8	+4=3−1	tied with Lopez Nunez
1945	Melilla	1st	6½/7	+6=1−0
1945	Caceres	2nd	3. Géza Maróczy (ˈɡeːzɒ ˈmɒroːtsi 3 March 1870 – 29 May 1951) was a leading Hungarian Chess Grandmaster Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Ksawery Tartakower (Russian Савелий Григорьевич Тартаковер generally known as Saviely or Savielly Tartakower in English less often The city of Berne or Bern (, Berne, Berna, Romansh: Berna, Bernese German: Bärn) is the Bundesstadt ( Federal Baden-Baden is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein ( 12 December, 1882, in Stawiski, Poland – 15 March, 1961 in Antwerp, The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual Chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year Milan Vidmar ( June 22 1885 – October 9 1962) was a Slovene Electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist For the town of the same name see Semmering Austria. Semmering (el Rudolf Spielmann ( 5 May 1883 - 20 August 1942) was an Austrian - Jewish Chess player of the romantic school Dresden (etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest, Drježdźany is the Capital city of the German Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian Scarborough is a town on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire, England. Edgard Colle ( Ghent, May 18 1897 &ndash Ghent, April 20 1932) was a Belgian Chess master who pioneered Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um Eugene Alexandrovich Znosko-Borovsky ( August 16, 1884 - December 31, 1954) was a Russian Chess master, writer teacher and Buenos Aires is the Capital and largest city of Argentina. It is geographically located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern Benito Higinio Villegas (11 January 1877 &ndash 27 April 1952 was an Argentine chess master Rolando Illa ( 6 September 1880, New York – 3 May 1937, Buenos Aires) was a Cuban–Argentine Chess master The City of New York Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian Milan Vidmar ( June 22 1885 – October 9 1962) was a Slovene Electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist Rudolf Spielmann ( 5 May 1883 - 20 August 1942) was an Austrian - Jewish Chess player of the romantic school Frank James Marshall ( August 10 1877 &ndash November 9 1944) was the U Kecskemét (kɛtʃkɛmet (approximate pronunciation Kech-ke-mate is a city in the central part of Hungary. Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian Lajos Steiner (born 14 June 1903, Nagyvárad ( Oradea) – died 22 April 1975, Sydney) was a Hungarian Bradley Beach is a Borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Lajos Steiner (born 14 June 1903, Nagyvárad ( Oradea) – died 22 April 1975, Sydney) was a Hungarian Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein ( 12 December, 1882, in Stawiski, Poland – 15 March, 1961 in Antwerp, Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, This article is about the chess master for the English painters see Frederic Yates (1854-1919 or Fred Yates (1922-2008 Nice (nis Niçard Occitan: Niça norm or Nissa, Italian: Nizza or Nizza Marittima, Greek Bled (Veldes is a Municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr ( November 21, 1908 &ndash July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet Chess Isaac Kashdan ( 19 November, 1905, New York – 20 February, 1985, Los Angeles) was an American Chess Gösta Stoltz ( May 9 1904 – July 25 1963) was a Swedish Chess grandmaster. Milan Vidmar ( June 22 1885 – October 9 1962) was a Slovene Electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist The city of Berne or Bern (, Berne, Berna, Romansh: Berna, Bernese German: Bärn) is the Bundesstadt ( Federal Erwin Voellmy (9 September 1886 Herzogenbuchsee – 15 January 1951 Basel was a Swiss chess master Prof Dr Oskar Naegeli (born February 25 1885 in Ermatingen; died November 19 1959 in Fribourg) a Dermatologist The city of Berne or Bern (, Berne, Berna, Romansh: Berna, Bernese German: Bärn) is the Bundesstadt ( Federal The Swiss Chess Championship is held annually during two weeks of July Hans Johner ( 7 January 1889 in Basle, Switzerland — 2 December 1975 in Thalwil, Switzerland) was Paul Johner ( 10 September 1887, Zürich, Switzerland – 25 October 1938, Berlin, Germany was a Swiss chess London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr ( November 21, 1908 &ndash July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet Chess Pasadena ( is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Isaac Kashdan ( 19 November, 1905, New York – 20 February, 1985, Los Angeles) was an American Chess Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México DF, México or simply Méjico) is the Capital city of Mexico Isaac Kashdan ( 19 November, 1905, New York – 20 February, 1985, Los Angeles) was an American Chess Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Ksawery Tartakower (Russian Савелий Григорьевич Тартаковер generally known as Saviely or Savielly Tartakower in English less often The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual Chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr ( November 21, 1908 &ndash July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet Chess Andor (Andre Andrea Arnoldovich Lilienthal (born May 5 1911) is a Hungarian Chess Grandmaster. Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander, CMG, CBE ( 19 April 1909 &ndash 15 February 1974) was a Irish-born British Cryptanalyst Erich Gottlieb Eliskases ( February 15, 1913 - February 2, 1997) was a leading Chess player, a Grandmaster, of the Rotterdam (pronounced) is the 2nd-largest City by population in the Netherlands, located in the province of Zürich (, Zürich German: Züri, Zurich, Zurigo; in English generally Zurich) is the largest city in Switzerland and capital of the The Swiss Chess Championship is held annually during two weeks of July Hans Johner ( 7 January 1889 in Basle, Switzerland — 2 December 1975 in Thalwil, Switzerland) was Örebro is a city in Närke in central Sweden. Örebro is the seat of Örebro Municipality and the capital of Örebro County. Erik Lundin ( 2 July 1904 – 5 December 1988) a Swedish Chess master Bad Nauheim is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. Dresden (etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest, Drježdźany is the Capital city of the German Ludwig Engels (11 December 1905 Düsseldurk, Germany – 10 January 1967 São Paulo, Brazil was a German–Brazilian chess master Poděbrady (ˈpoɟɛbradɪ is a beautiful historical spa town in the Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr ( November 21, 1908 &ndash July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet Chess Nottingham ( is a city in the Ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Reuben Fine ( October 11 1914  &ndash March 26 1993) was one of the best Chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through Samuel Herman (Sammy Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski, November 26, 1911, Ozorków near Lodz, (then Russian Empire Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Reuben Fine ( October 11 1914  &ndash March 26 1993) was one of the best Chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west Salo (Salomon Landau (born 1 April 1903, Bochnia, Galicia, Austria-Hungary – died 15 November 1943, The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual Chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year Reuben Fine ( October 11 1914  &ndash March 26 1993) was one of the best Chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through Erich Gottlieb Eliskases ( February 15, 1913 - February 2, 1997) was a leading Chess player, a Grandmaster, of the Milan Vidmar ( June 22 1885 – October 9 1962) was a Slovene Electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist Movsas Feigins or Movsa Feigin ( 28 February 1908 - 11 August 1950) was a Latvian Chess master Margate is a Seaside resort town within the Thanet district of East Kent, England. Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. Reuben Fine ( October 11 1914  &ndash March 26 1993) was one of the best Chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through Jūrmala (jurmala) meaning "seaside" or "beach" in Latvian, is a city in Latvia, not far from Riga. Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr ( November 21, 1908 &ndash July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet Chess Vladimirs Petrovs or Vladimir Petrov ( 27 September 1907 – 26 August 1943 at Kotlas was a Latvian chess master Samuel Herman (Sammy Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski, November 26, 1911, Ozorków near Lodz, (then Russian Empire Bad Nauheim is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Friedrich (Fritz Sämisch ( September 20, 1896, Berlin &ndash August 16, 1975, Berlin) was a German Nice (nis Niçard Occitan: Niça norm or Nissa, Italian: Nizza or Nizza Marittima, Greek Montevideo (monteβi'ðeo is the largest city the capital and chief port of Uruguay. Carlos Enrique Guimard ( 6 April 1913 –1998 was an Argentine chess Grandmaster. Margate is a Seaside resort town within the Thanet district of East Kent, England. Rudolf Spielmann ( 5 May 1883 - 20 August 1942) was an Austrian - Jewish Chess player of the romantic school The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. Reuben Fine ( October 11 1914  &ndash March 26 1993) was one of the best Chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Samuel Herman (Sammy Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski, November 26, 1911, Ozorków near Lodz, (then Russian Empire Montevideo (monteβi'ðeo is the largest city the capital and chief port of Uruguay. Harry Golombek OBE ( March 1[[ 911]]– January 7 1995) was a British Chess International Master and honorary grandmaster Caracas (kaˈɾakas is the Capital and largest city of Venezuela. Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Erik Lundin ( 2 July 1904 – 5 December 1988) a Swedish Chess master Gösta Stoltz ( May 9 1904 – July 25 1963) was a Swedish Chess grandmaster. Kraków, in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow (ˈkrækaʊ M-W: krăk'ou krāk'ō is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland Warsaw (Warszawa; also known by other names) is the Capital and Largest city of Poland. Paul Felix Schmidt ( 20 August 1916 at Narva, Estonia – 11 August 1984 at Allentown, USA) was an Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organized by the European Chess Union. Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. Warsaw (Warszawa; also known by other names) is the Capital and Largest city of Poland. Lublin is the largest city in eastern Poland and the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 355954 Kraków, in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow (ˈkrækaʊ M-W: krăk'ou krāk'ō is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland Klaus Junge (born 1 January 1924 at Concepción, Chile – died 17 April 1945 at Welle, Germany) was one of the youngest German Chess Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. Klaus Junge (born 1 January 1924 at Concepción, Chile – died 17 April 1945 at Welle, Germany) was one of the youngest German Chess Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Paul Keres ( January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) was an Estonian Chess grandmaster. Gijón ( Asturian: Xixón) is a coastal industrial city Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. Gijón ( Asturian: Xixón) is a coastal industrial city Antonio Angel José Medina y García ( 2 October, 1919, Barcelona - 31 October, 2003, Barcelona was a Spanish Chess master Antonio Rico (26 February 1908 – 16 December 1988 was a Spanish chess master Sabadell is the largest city in the comarca of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia. Melilla is an autonomous city of Spain located on the Mediterranean, on the North African coast 5/5	+3=1−1	Lupi won

Match results

Here are Alekhine's results in matches:^{[6][19][101][104]}

• Under Score, + games won, = games drawn, − games lost

Date	Opponent	Result	Location	Score		Notes
1908	Curt von Bardeleben	Won	Düsseldorf	4½/5	+4=1−0
1908	Hans Fahrni	Drew	Munich	1½/3	+1=1−1
1908	Benjamin Blumenfeld	Won	Moscow	4½/5	+4=1−0
1908	Vladimir Nenarokov	Lost	Moscow	0/3	+0=0−3
1911	Stepan Levitsky	Won	Saint Petersburg	7/10	+7=0−3
1913	Edward Lasker	Won	Paris, London	3/3	+3=0−0
1913	José Raúl Capablanca	Lost	Saint Petersburg	0/2	+0=0−2	exhibition match
1914	Aron Nimzowitsch	Drew	Saint Petersburg	1/2	+1=1−0	play-off match
1916	Alexander Evensohn	Won	Kiev	2/3	+2=0−1
1918	Boris Verlinsky	Won	Odessa	6/6	+6=0−0
1920	Nikolay Pavlov-Pianov	Drew	Moscow	1/2	+1=0−1
1921	Nikolay Grigoriev	Won	Moscow	4½/7	+2=5−0
1921	Efim Bogoljubow	Drew	Triberg	2/4	+1=2−1	"secret match"
1921	Richard Teichmann	Drew	Berlin	3/6	+2=2−2
1921	Friedrich Sämisch	Won	Berlin	2/2	+2=0−0
1922	Ossip Bernstein	Won	Paris	1½/2	+1=1−0
1922	Arnold Aurbach	Won	Paris	1½/2	+1=1−0
1922	Manuel Golmayo	Won	Madrid	1½/2	+1=1−0
1923	André Muffang	Won	Paris	2/2	+2=0−0
1926	Edgar Colle	Won	Scarborough	2/2	+2=0−0	play-off match
1926/7	Max Euwe	Won	Amsterdam	5½/10	+3=5−2
1927	José Raúl Capablanca	Won	Buenos Aires	18½/34	+6=25−3	Alekhine became world champion
1927	Charles Jaffe	Won	New York	2/2	+2=0−0	exhibition match
1929	Efim Bogoljubow	Won	Wiesbaden, Berlin, Amsterdam	15½/25	+11=9−5	retained world championship
1933	Rafael Cintron	Won	San Juan	4/4	+4=0−0	exhibition match
1933	Ossip Bernstein	Drew	Paris	2/4	+1=2−1
1934	Efim Bogoljubow	Won	Baden-Baden, Villingen, Pforzheim, Bayreuth, Kissingen, Berlin	15½/25	+8=15−3	retained world championship
1935	Max Euwe	Lost	Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht	14½/30	+8=13−9	lost world championship
1937	Max Euwe	Won	Rotterdam, Haarlem, Leiden, Zwolle, Amsterdam, Delft, The Hague	15½/25	+10=11−4	regained world championship
1937	Max Euwe	Lost	The Hague	2/5	+1=2−2	exhibition match
1941	Lopez Esnaola	Won	Vitoria	2/2	+2=0−0
1943	Efim Bogoljubow	Drew	Warsaw	1/2	+1=0−1
1944	Ramón Rey Ardid	Won	Zaragoza	2½/4	+1=3−0
1946	Francisco Lupi	Won	Estoril	2½/4	+2=1−1

Chess Olympiad results

Here are Alekhine's results in Chess Olympiads. Francisco Lupi (died January 1954 was a Portuguese chess master Curt von Bardeleben ( Berlin, March 4 1861 – Berlin, January 31, 1924) was a Count and a German Hans Fahrni (1 October 1874 Prague – 28 May 1939 Ostermundigen) was a Swiss chess master Benjamin Blumenfeld ( 24 May 1884, Volkovysk – 5 March 1947, Moscow) was a Russian Chess master Vladimir Ivanovich Nenarokov (1880 – 13 December 1953) was a Russian chess master and theoretician Stepan (Stefan Levitsky (Levitski Lewitzki ( 25 April 1876, Serpukhov – 21 March 1924, Glubokaya was a Russian chess master Edward Lasker ( December 3 1885 &ndash March 25 1981) was a leading American Chess and Go player Aron Nimzowitsch ( Ārons Ņimcovičs; born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as Nimzovich) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935 was a Latvian Alexander Evensohn (Evenson Evensson (1892 – 1919 was a Ukrainian Chess master Boris Markovich Verlinsky ( 8 January 1888, Bakhmut, Ukraine – 30 October 1950, Moscow, Russia was a Ukrainian-Russian Nikalai (Nikolay Dmitrievich Grigoriev was a Russian Chess player and a composer of endgame studies. Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Richard Teichmann (1868&ndash1925 was a leading German Chess player easily of grandmaster strength Friedrich (Fritz Sämisch ( September 20, 1896, Berlin &ndash August 16, 1975, Berlin) was a German Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (born 20 September 1882 at Zhytomyr, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) – died 30 November Arnold Aurbach (ca 1888 Warsaw – 31 December 1952, ? was a Polish–French Chess master Manuel Golmayo y de la Torriente ( 12 June 1883, Havana, Cuba – 7 March 1973, Madrid) was a Cuban-Spanish André Muffang (25 July 1897 St Brieuc – 1989 was a French chess master Edgard Colle ( Ghent, May 18 1897 &ndash Ghent, April 20 1932) was a Belgian Chess master who pioneered Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Charles Jaffé (Jaffe (circa 1879? Dubrovna Belarus – 12 July 1941, Brooklyn, USA) was a Belarusian- American Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (born 20 September 1882 at Zhytomyr, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) – died 30 November Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubow (Bogoljubov Bogolyubov (Ефи́м Дми́триевич Боголю́бов April 14, 1889 &ndash June 18, Ramón Rey Ardid (20 December 1903 Zaragoza – 21 January 1988 was a Spanish chess master Francisco Lupi (died January 1954 was a Portuguese chess master The Chess Olympiad is a Biennial Chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other He played top board for France in all these events. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

• Under Score, + games won, = games drawn, − games lost

Date	Location	Number	Score		Notes
1930	Hamburg	3	9/9	+9=0−0	Alekhine won the brilliancy prize for his game against Gideon Ståhlberg (Sweden). Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany Gideon Ståhlberg (or Stahlberg) (1908–1967 was a Swedish Chess grandmaster. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. He did not win a medal because the medallists played 17 games each. [41]
1931	Prague	4	13½/18	+10=7−1	Alekhine won the gold medal for 1st board. Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. Gold Medal is an Album by American band The Donnas, released in 2004 (see 2004 in music) His loss to Hermanis Matisons (Latvia) was his first loss in a serious chess event since winning the world championship. Hermanis Matisons (1894 – 1932 (also known as Herman Mattison) was a Latvian Chess player and one of world's most highly regarded chess masters in the Latvia ( Latvija officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region. [42]
1933	Folkestone	5	9½/12	+8=3−1	Alekhine won the gold medal for 1st board. Folkestone (ˈfoʊkstən is a resort town on the south coast of Kent, England, traditionally known as "The Garden Coast" Gold Medal is an Album by American band The Donnas, released in 2004 (see 2004 in music) His loss to Savielly Tartakower (Poland) was his second and last loss in chess olympiads. Ksawery Tartakower (Russian Савелий Григорьевич Тартаковер generally known as Saviely or Savielly Tartakower in English less often Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland [43]
1935	Warsaw	6	12/17	+7=10−0	Alekhine won the silver medal for 1st board (Salo Flohr of Czechoslovakia took the gold by scoring 13/17). Warsaw (Warszawa; also known by other names) is the Capital and Largest city of Poland. A Silver medal is a Medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests (typically athletics competitions such as the Olympic Games, Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr ( November 21, 1908 &ndash July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet Chess Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. [44]
1939	Buenos Aires	8	7½/10 (12½/16)	+9=7−0	Alekhine won the silver medal for 1st board (José Raúl Capablanca of Cuba took the gold by scoring 8½/11). Buenos Aires is the Capital and largest city of Argentina. It is geographically located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern A Silver medal is a Medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests (typically athletics competitions such as the Olympic Games, The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la Only games in the final stage were counted for awarding the medals. The first score is for the final stage, the one in parentheses is Alekhine's total score. [56]

See also

• List of people who have beaten Alexander Alekhine in chess

Notes

References

• Winter, Edward (1981). Edward Winter is a British Journalist, Archivist, Historian, Collector and Author about the game of Chess. World Chess Champions. Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-024094-1.  
• Hooper, David and Whyld, Kenneth (1996). David Vincent Hooper ( 31 August 1915 - May 1998 born in Reigate, was a British Chess player and writer Kenneth Whyld ( March 6, 1926 - July 11, 2003) was a British Chess author and researcher best known as the co-author (with The Oxford Companion To Chess. The Oxford Companion to Chess is a reference Book on Chess written by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld. Oxford University. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.  
• Kasparov, Garry (2003). Garry Kasparov (Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров) (born as Garry Kimovich Weinstein on April 13 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors: Part 1. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-330-6.  
• Kotov, Alexander (1975). Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Александр Александрович Котов ( &ndash January 8, 1981) was a Russian Chess grandmaster Alexander Alekhine. R. H. M. Press. ISBN 0-89058-007-3.  

External links

• Alekhine at www.chessgames.com
• Alekhine rare interview (sound clip)
• Hans Kmoch talks about Alekhine
• Alekhine's death. An unresolved mystery

Preceded by José Raúl Capablanca	World Chess Champion 1927 – 1935	Succeeded by Max Euwe
Preceded by Max Euwe	World Chess Champion 1937 – 1946	Vacant Interregnum of World Chess Champions Title next held by Mikhail Botvinnik

Persondata
NAME	Alekhine, Alexander Alexandrovich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Але́хин; Alexandre Alekhine
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Chess player
DATE OF BIRTH	October 31, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH	Moscow, Russia
DATE OF DEATH	March 24, 1946
PLACE OF DEATH	Estoril, Portugal

See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess The Interregnum of World Chess Champions was the period between March 24, 1946 (the date of Alexander Alekhine 's death and May 17, 1948 Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲiʧʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) ( &ndash May Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 1401 - Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus. 1603 - James VI of Scotland Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For the Estoril Circuit used by F1 see Autódromo do Estoril Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula.

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