Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine was a legendary chess player of Russian and French nationality.

He served as the fourth World Chess Champion, holding the title during two separate reigns. Alekhine was famous for a fierce and imaginative attacking style. He combined this aggression with exceptional positional skill and endgame mastery. This means he was excellent at controlling the board and winning in the final stages of a match. He was also a respected theoretician, or person who studies the science of the game. He created many new opening variations, including the famous Alekhine's Defence.

Alekhine's journey began in Moscow, Russia, where he was born on October 31, 1892. He was born into a wealthy family with a father who was a landowner and Privy Councilor. His mother, Anisya Ivanovna Alekhina, introduced him to the game along with his siblings. His first recorded game occurred in 1902 during a correspondence chess tournament. In correspondence chess, players send their moves to each other by mail rather than sitting across a board. By age 15, he won the Moscow chess club's Spring Tournament in 1907. By 1914, he tied for first place at the All-Russian Masters Tournament in St. Petersburg. This victory established him as a major force in Russian chess.

His early career was marked by significant political and personal shifts. In 1914, he was leading a major tournament in Mannheim, Germany, when World War I began. This war led to him being interned in Rastatt, Germany, along with other Russian players. After returning to Russia, he helped raise money for interned players through simultaneous exhibitions. In 1921, Alekhine emigrated from Soviet Russia to France. He lived there for most of the next two decades and eventually gained French citizenship in November 1927. During this time, he also pursued higher education at the Sorbonne Faculty of Law. While he was known as "Dr. Alekhine," there is no record that he completed his PhD.

Alekhine's path to the world championship required immense determination and financial struggle. He spent years trying to arrange a match against the champion, José Raúl Capablanca. One major obstacle was the "London rules" from 1922. These rules required a challenger to raise a purse of $10,000 for the match. In today's money, that is roughly $162,000. To raise these funds, Alekhine traveled extensively and played many simultaneous exhibitions. He also demonstrated incredible mental strength through blindfold chess. In 1925, he set a world record in Paris by playing 28 games simultaneously while blindfolded. He won 22 of those games and drew three.

In 1927, Alekhine finally achieved his goal by defeating Capablanca to become World Chess Champion. He successfully defended his title against Efim Bogoljubov in 1929 and 1934. Although he lost the title to Max Euwe in 1935, he regained it in a 1937 rematch.

During the 1930s, he dominated tournament play, often winning by very large margins. He also represented France in five Chess Olympiads. In these international team competitions, he won four individual medals and a brilliancy prize. His ability to maintain such high levels of play across different decades was quite rare.

As his career progressed, Alekhine faced challenges from a new generation of players. Rising stars such as Paul Keres, Reuben Fine, and Mikhail Botvinnik began to threaten his dominance. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 halted negotiations for a title match between Alekhine and Keres.

Despite these pressures, Alekhine remained a central figure in the chess world. He continued to write and compose endgame studies, which are complex chess puzzles focused on the end of a game. His theoretical contributions continue to influence how players approach the game today.

Alekhine's life ended under unclear circumstances in Portugal in 1946. At the time of his death, he was in the middle of negotiating a world title match with Mikhail Botvinnik. He holds the unique distinction of being the only World Chess Champion to die while holding his title.

His legacy is found in the many players who use his namesake openings. He transformed chess from a simple game into a deep, scientific, and highly competitive art form. His life remains a testament to the intense dedication required to reach the very top of any field.