Alexander Alekhine

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Alexander Alekhine bigraphy, stories - Chess player

Alexander Alekhine : biography

October 31, 1892 – March 24, 1946

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine, PhD ( ;When he became a French citizen, "Alekhine" became the correct way to spell his name in the Latin alphabet. He became angry when Russians sometimes pronounced the ⟨е⟩ ye of Alekhin as ⟨ё⟩ yo, , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was "Al-YEH-khin". See October 19 (October 31) 1892March 24, 1946) was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.

By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played. In 1927, he became the fourth World Chess Champion by defeating José Raúl Capablanca, widely considered invincible, in what would stand as the longest chess championship match held until 1985.

In the early 1930s, Alekhine dominated tournament play and won two top-class tournaments by large margins. He also played first board for France in five Chess Olympiads, winning individual prizes in each (four medals and a brilliancy prize). 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 with ease against Bogoljubov in 1929 and 1934. He was defeated by Euwe in 1935, but regained his crown in the 1937 rematch. His tournament record, however, remained uneven, and rising young stars like Keres, Fine, and Botvinnik threatened his title. Negotiations for a title match with Keres or Botvinnik were halted by the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939. Negotiations with Botvinnik for a world title match were proceeding in 1946 when Alekhine died in Portugal, in unclear circumstances.

Alekhine is known for his fierce and imaginative attacking style, combined with great positional and endgame skill. Alekhine is highly regarded as a chess writer and theoretician, producing innovations in a wide range of chess openings, and giving his name to Alekhine’s Defence and several other opening variations. He also composed some endgame studies.

Writings

Alekine wrote over twenty books on chess. Some of the best-known are:

  • Originally published in two volumes as My Best Games of Chess 1908–1923 and My Best Games of Chess 1924–1937.

Games analysis published after 1938 were edited by Edward Winter and published in 1980 in the book:

Notable chess games

  • Alekhine conjures up an attack in the endgame, and his King joins the fray.
  • This has been called one of the greatest games ever played, with some incredibly deep variations as Black prepares to queen a pawn.
  • 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.
  • A tactically complex game in which Alekhine unleashes a 12-move combination that wins a Knight.
  • The game ends in a position with four queens on the board.
  • One of the shortest games ending in a zugzwang – by the 26th move, Black is already strategically lost and has no good moves. This game also spawned the term ‘Alekhine’s gun’ for the formation where the queen lines up behind the two rooks.
  • 1st best game prize.
  • 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".
  • Alekhine sacrifices two rooks, but traps Euwe’s King in the centre, wins the queen, then finishes elegantly.

World Chess Champion, first reign (1927–35)

1927 title match

In 1927, Alekhine’s challenge to Capablanca was backed by a group of Argentinian businessmen and the president of Argentina, who guaranteed the funds, and organized by the Club Argentino de Ajedrez (Argentine Chess Club) in Buenos Aires. Original sources include: