In our series "Champion Born This Month", I have the pleasure of writing a story on the "Genius of Chess combinations", a world champion who got more 'First Brilliancy Prizes' than any other player and a player who 'terrorised' the Chess world for almost two decades by his brilliant combinations and apt comments. Yes, it is none other than the great Alexander Alekhine!
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was born into a wealthy Russian family in Moscow on October 31, 1892. He was introduced to Chess by his mother Anisya and his elder brother Alexei [who also played Chess tournaments.
Alekhine's motherland Russia, has had a long Chess history. The first Chess book in Russia 'Pravila dlia Shashechnoi Igry' (Rules for the Game of Chess) can be traced back to the year 1791! Though Russia flourished in Chess in the 19th Century, their champions Alexander Petrov and Mikhail Chigorin were unable to match their German contemporaries Adolf Anderssen and Wilhelm Steinitz. After Chigorin, it was Alekhine who became the strongest player in Russia and started making regular appearances in Chess tournaments in Europe.
In St. Petersburg International Chess tournament April-May 1914, Alekhine took third place, behind Emanuel Lasker (then World Champion) and José Raúl Capablanca (next world champion).
Tsar Nicholas II, a great Chess lover, was so impressed by young Alekhine's play that he chose to include Alekhine (alongwith Dr Emanuel Lasker of Germany, Jose Raul Capablanca of Cuba, Dr Sigbert Tarrasch of Germany and Frank James Marshall of USA) for a new title 'International Chess Grandmaster'. (These five all time great players are known as 'Five original Grandmasters'.)
World War I and the Soviet revolution completely changed the International Chess scenario. Chess in Germany suffered a setback while things improved considerably in the Soviet Union due to patronage by the Communist Party of the USSR. As per the stories narrated by Alexander Alekhine subsequently, he was jailed by the new Soviet administration for belonging to aristocracy but was soon released as they saw a 'potential world Chess champion' in him. [Alekhine indeed won the World Chess Crown in 1927 and retained it till his death (1946) except a short period 1935-1937, to become the first one in the legacy of Soviet Chess World Champions] Alekhine's contemporary
players called him "Genius of Chess combinations" as they were bewitched by his sparkling combinational ideas.
It took some time for even the Chess strategists to realise that Alekhine's combinations were always based on a very solid positional foundation. Sacrifices and sudden tactical blows made his strategic ideas far more effective, practical and powerful. Alekhine was, in fact, the founder of a universal playing style, where strategic and tactical means are fully integrated into a general long term game plan. Alekhine was a true master of all departments of Chess. He often boasted "In order to beat Alekhine, one has to outplay him thrice in a single game, in opening, in middlegame and in endgame". Perhaps an exaggeration but true to a great extent. Though Alekhine's strongest point was his middlegame, he had exceptional flair in the opening phase and as well as in rthe endgame technique.
Alekhine started his association with Chess as a Chess journalist. He was a truly multi-faceted personality. His annotations were often full of sarcastic humour. Once, in order to describe his opponent's poor position, he wrote "Black's position is perfectly balanced; it is weak on the King's side and equally so on the Queen's!" His brilliant combinations often demoralised his opponents who usually attributed their loss to bad health on the day. Alekhine's famous quote 'I am yet to beat a player who is physically fit!' was aimed against such opponents. Here are some of his quotes which will help the reader to understand how passionate he was about Chess.
"I believe that true beauty of Chess is more than enough to satisfy all possible demands."
"Chess first of all teaches you to be objective."
"Chess is not only knowledge and logic."
"A lifetime in not enough to learn everything about Chess".
I personally consider Alekhine to be the most intelligent person among the Chess players of all
times. Probably he wasn't a Genius but with his IQ and logical thinking prowess, he was
considered the most fearful opponent for almost three decades.
Today I have chosen a positional game by Alekhine, played against another Chess strategist, Grandmaster Akiba Rubinstein. Despite it's 'non flashy nature', this game, too, earned a 'First Brilliancy Prize' for Alekhine.
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 a6 4. c5!? Nc6?!
Black wants to make use of the 'tempo' a7-a6 by planning ....e6-e5. (White's option Bb5 has been eliminated.) Alekhine immediately guesses Black's plan and takes immediate measures. One important quality of Alekhine is that he always guessed opponents' intentions and take adequate measures immediately.
4...b6 was called for, leading to an even game. The game could go 5.cxb6 c5! (The strategic motif discovered by Wilhelm Steinitz.) 6.Nc3 cxd4 7.Na4 etc.
5.Bf4! Nge7 6.Nc3 Ng6 7.Be3!
7.Bg3 e5 8.e3! was a slower way to take advantage of space advantage.
7...b6?!
Now that the ....e6-e5 break was not possible, Black decided on the other strategic plan but this plan met with a most unexpected offensive by White.
8.cxb6! cxb6
Black seems to be doing very well, White has problem with completion of development of the King Bishop. But Alekhine had planned an unexpected way to improve his position, a way approved by the top engines today, after 99 years!!
9.h4!! Bd6?!
This leads to a strategically lost position.
9...Be7 10.h5 Nh4 was necessary. But not 9...h5?! due to 10.Bg5 Be7 11.e3 f6 12.Bd3 Kf7 13.Qb1!
Nf8 14.Bf4 when White has a dominating position.
10.h5 Nge7 11.h6 g6 12.Bg5 0-0
Impossible is 12...Bb7? 13.Bf6 Rg8 14.Ng5! Qd7 15.Nxh7 0-0-0 16.Ng5 when Black can resign.
13.Bf6
Alekhine, while explaining the confusing opening play by White, writes "Out of13 moves, Whitehas moved the 'c' Pawn thrice, the Queen side Bishop four times and the 'h' Pawn thrice. Yet he isn't far from winning. Black's moves ...a6,....Nge7-Ng6-Nge7,have led to irreparable weakness in his camp and this factor turns out to be much more serious than White's lack of development."
Such a hypermodern approach to Chess strategy was Alekhine's greatest contribution to Chess.
Black is indeed in a zugzwang!
13...b5 14.e3 Bd7 15.Bd3 Rc8
Black has almost no productive moves but Rubinstein seems to be defending stubbornly.
However, Alekhine launches the final assault with energetic play.
16.a4!
White plays energetically to fatally weaken Black's Queen side.
16.e4 was also strong, as Alekhine points out, but the text doesn't permit any counterplay.
16...b4 17.Ne2 Qb6 18.Nc1!
Heading for 'b3'.
18...Rc7 19.Nb3 Na5
Black, who is eager to rid the White Knight at 'b3' with the useless Na5, meets with a nasty
surprise.
20.Nc5!
Black committed a serious tactical inaccuracy here but the position was hopeless for him anyway.
20...Nc4?!
Black can't take the powerful White Knight on 'c5'. For example, 20...Bxc5?! 21.dxc5 Qxc5 22.Bd4!
Qc6 23.Ne5 Qb7 24.Ng4! Typical Alekhine, he always succeeded in shifting his aggression at the
enemy King in most unexpected manner! 24...f5 25.Nf6+ and White wins. The best option was
20...Bc8 though after 21.Ne5! Nec6 22.Ng4! Black would have been totally crushed.
21.Bxc4! dxc4
The last piece exchange has resulted in Black losing the control of 'e4' square, which proves extremely significant.
22.Ne5!!
Once again the strongest! The contemporary players claimed that
22.Ne4 was stronger but as today's engines point out, this continuation would have reduced White's advantage considerably after 22...Nd5
22...Bxe5
22...Bc8 fails 23.Nxc4 Qc6 24.Nxd6 Qxd6 25.Be5 etc.
23.Bxe7!? Bd6!
Rubinstein defends correctly. Not 23...Re8? 24.dxe5 Rxe7 due to 25.Ne4! and Black loses by force
in all possible defensive possibilities. For example, 25...f5 26.Qd6! Bc6 27.Nf6+ Kf7 28.Qd8! Be8
29.Nxh7 Rcd7 30.Ng5+ Kg8 31.h7+ Kh8 32.Nf7+! etc.
24.Bxf8 Bxf8 25.Nxd7
25.Rc1! was better. Perhaps Alekhine overlooked a combination here. 25...Bxc5 26.dxc5 Qxc5
27.Rh4! c3 28.Qd4! Qxd4 29.Rxd4 cxb2 30.Rxc7! b1Q+ 31.Rd1 Qxd1+ 32.Kxd1 Bxa4+ 33.Kd2
Be8 34.Ra7!
25...Rxd7 26.a5,Qc6 27.Qf3 Rd5 28.Rc1!
It wasn't easy to play this position against Rubinstein, a true master of endgame and technique.
Black's Queen side majority had to be checked.
28...Qc7 29.Qe2! c3 30.bxc3 bxc3 31.Qxa6 Rxa5 32.Qd3 Ba3!
32...Ra3 was inadequate due to 33.0-0! Bxh6 34.Rc2 Bf8 35.Rfc1 Bb4 36.Rb1! etc.
33.Rc2 Bb2
Perhaps a mistake or two in middlegame by White have led to a defensive setup which looks like a fortress but Alekhine breaks Black's defence effectively and efficiently.
34.Ke2!
34.0-0?! would have caused some anxious moments after 34...Rh5!
34...Qc6 35.f3 f5 36.Rb1 Qd6 37.Qc4 Kf7 38.Qc8 Qa6+ (Forced.) 39.Qxa6 Rxa6 40.e4
g5 41.Kd3 Kg6 42.d5! fxe4+ 43.fxe4 exd5 44.exd5 Ra4 45.Rd1! Kxh6? 46.d6 Kh5
47.d7 Ra8 48.Ke4 Rd8 49.Kf5!
Alekhine had a unique quality of shifting his attack from one side to another in no time, something which no other player has ever succeeded at.
49...Kh4? 50.Rh1+!
Black resigned The finish would have been 50.Rh1+ Kg3 51.Rh3# Checkmate!
Commentary by Alekhine in "My best games 1908-1923"
(Pravin Thipsay is International Chess Grandmaster and Arjuna Awardee.)