Alexander Alekhine - Living Wonder

by Vidya
(India)

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was a Russian chess player. He was the fourth World chess champion. He was born on October 31st, 1892 in Moscow, in the Russian Empire. He was born into a wealthy family. His father was Mr. Alexander Ivanovich Alekhine and his mother was Mrs. Anisya Ivanovna Alekhina. His father was a land owner and Privy Councilor to the conservative legislative Fourth Duma.

He conquered the kingdom of chess at the age of 22. The 1920’s were the golden years in his career. In 1927, he became the fourth World chess champion by defeating Capablanca, known as the Human Chess Machine. That game was recorded as the longest chess championship match held until 1985.

He played his first game for France in five Chess Olympiads. He won four medals and a brilliancy prize in that game. He defeated many popular Chess champions in that period like Bogoljubov, Keres, Fine, Botvinnik, etc. Alekhine was renowned for his imaginative attacking style and endgame skill. These qualities keep him as an evergreen champion in the chess world having the rank between 4th and 18th always.

He was a famous chess writer and theoretician. He gave a lot of ideas about chess openings and described them as Alekhine's Defence in his books. He was one of the founders of the Soviet School of Chess.

He was always included in controversies regarding his title. He got third place in the St Petersburg 1914 chess tournament held in the capital of the Russian Empire. First and second place went to Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca. But due to some reasons, Tsar Nicholas II conferred the title of "Grandmaster of Chess" on each of the five finalists. They were Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, and Marshall. Another Chess champion Edward Winter had questioned this. Alekhine died in March 24, 1946 at Estoril, Portugal, while still the champion.

There are a lot of notable games that he played. One of the most popular games is quoted below.
Alexander Alekhine vs Ernst Grunfeld in 1923, Karlsbad.
Queen’s Gambit Declined; Orthodox attack.
(Annotated by Garry Kasparov)

Alexander Alekhine - Young Champion

by Krishnanand S
(Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India)

Alekhine's chess success started early

Are you a young chess player who plays a lot of chess? Are you in need of a role model who achieved greater heights at his early ages? Here is an article that will help you. When you talk to people who know lot about chess, they will definitely talk about this person, Alexander Alexanderovich. Alexander Alexanderovich was one of the world’s youngest chess champions. Yes, when he was at the age of twenty two, he was considered as one of the world’s greatest chess players. He was born on October 31, 1892. When he was young, his mother Anisya Ivanovna taught him the game of chess.

He began his game from a correspondence chess tournament sponsored by a chess magazine in the year 1902. He practiced well by playing several correspondence chess tournaments. Of course, when it comes to chess, we need to gain experience by continuously practicing it. Nowadays, due to the advent of computers and internet, practicing has become easy. Alexander made his over the board debut tournament in 1907.

He won the Moscow chess club’s spring tournament at the age of fifteen. In 1908 he produced 7 wins out of 10 against Benjamin Blumenfeld who was eight years older than him. His success story did not stop after that. He took third place in St. Petersburg 1914 chess tournament held in the capital of Russian Empire. Of course, every up has its down. That proverb suits every champion’s life and Alexander Alexanderovich is not an exception.

In 1935, he was challenged by Max Euwe, who was a Dutch chess grandmaster and mathematician, in world championship match. Unfortunately he lost the tournament to Max Euwe. The failure did not stop him from regaining the title. He dominated the chess world by beating Max Euwe in the World Chess Championship held during 1937.

Alexander Alexanderovich, during his days, had to tolerate two world wars. After World War II he was not called for any tournaments outside the lberian Peninsula. His competitors protested when he was called for the 1946 London tournament and he was withdrawn from playing it. Like all people on earth Alexander Alexanderovich lived and a heart attack took his life on March 24, 1946.

When he was a player he used to say these words often:
The purpose of human life and the sense of happiness is to give the maximum what the man is able to give. Chess for me is not a game, but an art. Yes, and I take upon myself all those responsibilities which an art imposes on its adherents.