Alexander Alekhine

The fiercest attacking player of the classical era. Alekhine dethroned the invincible Capablanca and died as the only World Champion to hold the title at death.

The Russian Volcano

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was born on October 31, 1892, in Moscow, into a wealthy aristocratic family. His father was a member of the State Duma and his mother was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. Alekhine learned chess from his mother at age seven and was competing in tournaments by eleven.

Alekhine's early career was interrupted by World War I and the Russian Revolution. He served in the Red Cross on the Austrian front, was wounded, and was hospitalized. During the Russian Revolution, he was briefly imprisoned on suspicion of being a spy but was released after intervention by a chess-loving official. He eventually fled Russia, settling in Paris and taking French citizenship in 1927.

His playing style was defined by relentless aggression and extraordinary combinative vision. Where Capablanca played with crystalline clarity, Alekhine played with volcanic intensity. He would create complications, introduce tactical threats, and push positions to their breaking points, trusting that his superior calculation would prevail in the chaos. He was, in many ways, the last great Romantic player, combining 19th-century attacking spirit with 20th-century positional understanding.

Dethroning Capablanca

The 1927 World Championship match in Buenos Aires is one of the most remarkable upsets in chess history. Capablanca was considered virtually invincible; he had lost only a handful of games in the previous decade. Alekhine arrived as a talented but erratic challenger who had never beaten Capablanca in a serious game.

But Alekhine had prepared with unprecedented thoroughness, analyzing Capablanca's games deeply and developing a strategy of patient, positional play rather than his usual attacking style. He neutralized Capablanca's natural talent with disciplined preparation. The match lasted 34 games, with Alekhine winning 6-3 (25 draws), a score that stunned the chess world.

Controversially, Alekhine never granted Capablanca a rematch, despite repeated challenges. This decision tarnished his legacy and fueled accusations that he feared the Cuban's talent in a second encounter.

Alekhine vs Réti, Baden-Baden 1925

The Dark Years

Alekhine lost the title to Max Euwe in 1935, a defeat many attributed to Alekhine's alcoholism and declining health. He regained it in the 1937 rematch, defeating Euwe 15.5-9.5 in what was arguably his finest performance. During World War II, Alekhine remained in Nazi-occupied Europe, playing in tournaments organized by the German chess federation. He wrote articles for the Nazi-controlled press that contained antisemitic statements about Jewish chess players, articles that would haunt his legacy forever. The extent to which these reflected Alekhine's genuine beliefs versus opportunistic self-preservation remains debated by historians.

Alekhine died on March 24, 1946, in Estoril, Portugal, at the age of 53. He was found dead in his hotel room, apparently choked on a piece of meat, though rumors of murder have persisted. He was the only World Champion to die while holding the title.