My Best Games of Chess

451 Pages·2013·35.659 MB·English

by  Alexander Alekhine

My Best Games
of
Chess
1908-1937
by
Alexander Alekhine
Foreword by Igor Zaitsev
2013
Russell Enterprises, Inc.
Milford, CT USA
Copyright
Alekhine’s Best Games 1908-1937 QED stands for �uality, Excellence and
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ISBN: 978-1-936490-69-1
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Cover design by Janel Lowrance
Editing and proofreading by Taylor Kingston and Nick Luker
2 3
Table of Contents
Chapter XIV: International Tournament at
Budapest, 1921
Table of Contents Chapter XV: International Tournament at �e
Hague, 1921
Editor’s Preface by Taylor Kingston Chapter XVI: International Tournament at Pistyan,
Foreword by Igor Zaitsev 1922
Memoir of Alekhine by J. Du Mont Chapter XVII: International Tournament at
Summary of Career Results London, 1922
Chapter XVIII: International Tournament at
Part I (1908-20)
Hastings, 1922
Chapter XIX: International Tournament at Vienna,
Chapter I: St. Petersburg Amateur Tournament,
1922
1909
Chapter XX: International Tournament at Margate,
Chapter II: International Tournament at Hamburg,
1923
1910
Chapter XXI: International Tournament at
Chapter III : International Tournament at Carlsbad,
Carlsbad, 1923
1911
Chapter XXII: Major Open Tournament at
Chapter IV: International Tournament at
Portsmouth, 1923
Stockholm, 1912
Chapter XXIII: Exhibition Games and
Chapter V: All-Russian Masters’ Tournament at
Simultaneous Games
Vilna, 1912
Chapter VI: Masters’ �uadrangular Tournament at
Part III (1924-27)
St. Petersburg, 1913
Chapter VII: International Tournament at Chapter XXIV: Tournament Games and Match with
Scheveningen, 1913 Capablanca
Chapter VIII: All-Russian Masters’ Tournament at
St. Petersburg, 1914 Part IV (1929-34)
Chapter IX: International Tournament at St.
Chapter XXV: Tournament Games and Matches
Petersburg, 1914
with Bogoljubow
Chapter X: International Tournament at Mannheim,
1914 Part V (1934-37)
Chapter XI: Local Tournaments, Exhibition and
Match Games, Simultaneous and Chapter XXVI: Tournament Games and Matches
Correspondence Games, etc. with Dr. Euwe
Part II (1920-23) Part VI (1924-33)
Chapter XII: All-Russian Masters’ Tournament at Chapter XXVII: Simultaneous and Blindfold Play,
Moscow, 1920 (1st Soviet Championship) Exhibition and Consultation Games
Chapter XIII: International Tournament at Triberg,
Index of Opponents and Consultation Partners
1921
Index of Openings by Name
Index of Openings by ECO Code
4 5
TableofContents
(20) Alekhine - Leven�sh 109
Table of Contents
(21) Alekhine - Nimzowitsch 112
(22) Von Freymann - Alekhine 116
Title Page 1
(23) Nimzowitsch - Alekhine 119
Copyright 2
Chapter IX: International Tournament at St.
124
Table of Contents 4 Petersburg, April-May 1914
(24) Alekhine - Marshall 124
Editor's Preface by Taylor Kingston 7
(25) Alekhine - Tarrasch 127
Foreword by Igor Zaitsev 11
(26) Tarrasch - Alekhine 130
Memoir of Alekhine by J. Du Mont 20
Chapter X: International Tournament at Mannheim,
135
Summary of Career Results 28 July-August 1914
Matches 30 (27) Duras - Alekhine 135
(28) Flamberg - Alekhine 140
Part I (1908-20) 32
(29) Alekhine - Tarrasch 143
Chapter I: All-Russian Amateur Tournament, St.
32 (30) Mieses - Alekhine 148
Petersburg, February-March 1909
(31) Alekhine - Fahrni 152
(1) Alekhine - Gregory 32
Chapter XI: Local Tournaments, Exhibition and
(2) Verlinsky - Alekhine 36 155
Match Games, Simultaneous and Correspondence, etc.
Chapter II: International Tournament at Hamburg,
39 (32) Alekhine - Zhukovsky 155
July-August 1910
(33) Vyakhirev - Alekhine 161
(3) Speyer - Alekhine 39
(34) Wygodchikoff - Alekhine 165
(4) Alekhine - Yates 43
(35) Alekhine - Rosanoff 170
Chapter III: International Tournament at Carlsbad,
47
August-September 1911 (36) Blumenfeld - Alekhine 172
(5) Alekhine - Vidmar 47 (37) Alekhine - von Freymann 176
(6) Alapin - Alekhine 51 (38) Potemkin - Alekhine 179
(7) Alekhine - Chajes 58 (39) Alekhine - Leven�sh 181
(8) Alekhine - Dus-Chotimirski 60 (40) Alekhine - Levitsky 184
Chapter IV: International Tournament at Stockholm, (41) Alekhine - Levitsky 187
63
June-July 1912 (42) Rodzinski - Alekhine 190
(9) Alekhine - Marco 63 (43) Alekhine - Prat 192
(10) Alekhine - Cohn 67 (44) Alekhine - Ed. Lasker 194
(11) Spielmann - Alekhine 73 (45) Alekhine - Em. Lasker 198
Chapter V: All-Russian Masters Tournament at Vilna, (46) Alekhine - Zubareff 200
77
August-September 1912 (47) Evenssohn - Alekhine 202
(12) Bernstein - Alekhine 77 (48) Alekhine - Feldt 206
(13) Nimzowitsch - Alekhine 81 (49) Alekhine - Gofmeister 208
(14) Alekhine - Bernstein 85 (50) Alekhine - A. Rabinovich 211
(15) Leven�sh - Alekhine 89 (51) Gonssiorovski - Alekhine 215
Chapter VI: Masters' �uadrangular Tournament at St. (52) Alekhine - Issakoff 217
93
Petersburg, April 1913
Part II (1920-23) 221
(16) Alekhine - Duras 93
Chapter XII: All-Russian Masters' Tournament at
(17) Znosko-Borovsky - Alekhine 97 221
Moscow, October 1920
Chapter VII: International Tournament at
100 (53) I. Rabinovich - Alekhine 221
Scheveningen, July-August 1913
Chapter XIII: International Tournament at Triberg,
(18) Olland - Alekhine 100 226
July 1921
(19) Mieses - Alekhine 104
(54) Selesnieff - Alekhine 226
Chapter VIII: All-Russian Masters' Tournament at St.
109 (55) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 233
Petersburg, January 1914
897 898
TableofContents
Chapter XIV: International Tournament at Budapest, 237 Portsmouth, August 1923
September 1921 (87) Alekhine - Vajda 370
(56) Alekhine - Sterk 237 (88) Alekhine -West 375
(57) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 242 (89) Alekhine - Drewitt 378
(58) E. Steiner - Alekhine 245 Chapter XXIII: Exhibition Games and Simultaneous
380
(59) Alekhine - Balla 250 Games
Chapter XV: International Tournament at �e Hague, (90) Alekhine - Teichmann 380
252
October-November 1921 (91) Alekhine - Teichmann 384
(60) Yates - Alekhine 252 (92) Alekhine - Sämisch 387
(61) Alekhine - Rubinstein 257 (93) Wegemund, Brennert, Friedrich and
390
Chapter XVI: International Tournament at Pistyan, Dreissner - Alekhine
263
April 1922 (94) A. Fleissig and H. Staehelin - Alekhine 393
(62) Tarrasch - Alekhine 263 (95) Alekhine - Golmayo 396
(63) Alekhine - Selesnieff 267 (96) Torres - Alekhine 399
(64) P. Johner - Alekhine 270 (97) Alekhine - Sämisch 402
(65) Alekhine - Wolf 273 (98) Alekhine - Prils and Blaut 405
(66) Treybal - Alekhine 278 (99) Alekhine - Muffang 411
(67) Alekhine - Hromadka 283 (100) Muffang - Alekhine 414
Chapter XVII: International Tournament at London, Part III (1924-27) 419
286
July-August 1922
Chapter XXIV (1924-1927): Tournament Games and
(68) Alekhine - Euwe 286 419
Match with Capablanca
(69) Alekhine - Yates 291
(101) Alekhine - Réti 419
(70) Rubinstein - Alekhine 295
(102) Alekhine - Janowski 425
Chapter XVIII: International Tournament at Hastings,
301 (103) Alekhine - Colle 428
September 1922
(104) Alekhine - Opocensky 432
(71) Alekhine - Tarrasch 301
(105) Tarrasch - Alekhine 435
(72) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 304
(106) Réti - Alekhine 437
(73) Bogoljubow - Alekhine. 307
(107) Alekhine - Treybal 442
Chapter XIX: International Tournament at Vienna,
313 (108) �omas - Alekhine 445
November-December 1922
(109) Alekhine - Marshall 448
(74) Alekhine - Réti 313
(110) Davidson - Alekhine 451
(75) Kmoch - Alekhine 319
(111) Rubinstein - Alekhine 454
(76) Alekhine - Sämisch 322
(112) Alekhine - Grünfeld 457
(77) Alekhine - König 325
(113) Sämisch - Alekhine 459
(78) Alekhine - Tartakower 327
(114) Rubinstein - Alekhine 463
Chapter XX: Tournament at Margate, March-April
332
1923 (115) Alekhine - Nimzowitsch 466
(79) Alekhine - Muffang 332 (116) Alekhine - Marshall 470
Chapter XXI: International Tournament at Carlsbad, (117) Alekhine - Asztalos 473
336
April-May 1923 (118) Alekhine - Tartakower 476
(80) Alekhine - Rubinstein 336 (119) Kmoch - Alekhine 478
(81) Grünfeld - Alekhine 343 (120) Capablanca - Alekhine 481
(82) Tarrasch - Alekhine 348 (121) Capablanca - Alekhine 486
(83) Alekhine - Maróczy 353 (122) Capablanca - Alekhine 493
(84) Wolf - Alekhine 356 (123) Alekhine - Capablanca 497
(85) Alekhine - Chajes 359 (124) Alekhine - Capablanca 502
(86) Alekhine - �omas 366 Part IV (1929-34) 507
Chapter XXII: Major Open Tournament at 370
Chapter XXV: Tournament Games and Matches with 507
899 900
Table of Conte nts
Bogoljubow Matches with Dr. Euwe
(125) Alekhine - H. Steiner 507 (167) Alekhine - Rosselli del Turco 667
(126) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 510 (168) Alekhine - H. Johner 670
(127) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 512 (169) Gygli - Alekhine 673
(128) Bogoljubow - Alekhine 516 (170) Alekhine - Em. Lasker 676
(129) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 519 (171) Alekhine - Lundin 679
(130) Bogoljubow - Alekhine 523 (172) Alekhine - Euwe 685
(131) Yates - Alekhine 527 (173) Alekhine - Euwe 688
(132) Alekhine - Nimzowitsch 532 (174) Euwe - Alekhine 692
(133) Vidmar - Alekhine 536 (175) Alekhine - Euwe 697
(134) Alekhine - Maróczy 543 (176) Alekhine - Euwe 702
(135) Alekhine - Tartakower 548 (177) Ahues - Alekhine 706
(136) Ahues - Alekhine 552 (178) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 710
(137) Alekhine - Kmoch 555 (179) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 714
(138) Stahlberg - Alekhine 559 (180) Alekhine - Eliskases 718
(139) Alekhine - Andersen 563 (181) Alekhine - Frydman 721
(140) Alekhine - Weenink 566 (182) Alekhine - Foltys 725
(141) Alekhine- E. Steiner 569 (183) Menchik - Alekhine 729
(142) Alekhine - Stoltz 572 (184) Alekhine - Euwe 732
(143) Alekhine - Nimzowitsch 576 (185) Winter - Alekhine 740
(144) Alekhine - Vidmar 579 (186) Alekhine - Alexander 743
Appendix to the game Alekhine-Vidmar 584 (187) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 746
(145) Pirc - Alekhine 589 (188) Tartakower - Alekhine 750
(146) Alekhine - Flohr 592 (189) Alekhine - Vidmar 753
(147) Stoltz - Alekhine 595 (190) Alekhine - Fine 758
(148) Alekhine - Maróczy 598 (191) Alekhine - Tylor 762
(149) Alekhine - Winter 602 (192) Alekhine - Foltys 768
(150) Menchik - Alekhine 605 (193) Alekhine - Reshevsky 773
(151) Alekhine - Koltanowski 608 (194) Alekhine - Fine 779
(152) Alekhine - Tartakower 611 (195) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 784
(153) Alekhine - Sultan Khan 614 (196) Alekhine - Sämisch 788
(154) Alekhine - Grob 617 (197) Alekhine - Euwe 793
(155) Alekhine - Flohr 621 (198) Alekhine - Euwe 798
(156) Alekhine - H. Steiner 624 (199) Alekhine - Euwe 802
(157) Alekhine - Mikenas 627 (200) Alekhine - Euwe 805
(158) L. Steiner - Alekhine 631 (201) Euwe - Alekhine 811
(159) Alekhine - Cukiermann 634 (202) Alekhine - Euwe 814
(160) Znosko-Borovsky - Alekhine 637 (203) Alekhine - Euwe 821
(161) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 642 (204) Euwe - Alekhine 825
(162) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 646 Part VI (1924-33) 830
(163) Bogoljubow - Alekhine 652 Chapter XXVII (1924-1933): Simultaneous and
830
(164) Alekhine - Bogoljubow 656 Blindfold Play: Exhibition and Consultation Games
(165) Bogoljubow - Alekhine 660 (205) Alekhine - Kussman 830
(166) Bogoljubow - Alekhine 663 (206) Alekhine - Freeman 832
Part V (1934-37) 667 (207) Alekhine - Potemkin 834
Chapter XXVI (1934-1937): Tournament Games and 667 (208) Alekhine - Schwartz 836
901 902
Table of Conte nts Editor's Preface by Taylor Kingston
(209) Euwe - Alekhine 838
(210) Alekhine - Euwe 843
(211) Marshall - Alekhine 847 Editor’s Preface
(212) Kevitz and Pinkus - Alekhine 854
(213) Alekhine and Monosson - Stoltz and Reilly 859
(214) Alekhine and Monosson - Flohr and Reilly 862
“In playing through an Alekhine game, one suddenly
(215) Alekhine - Asgeirsson 865
meets a mo�e which simply takes one’s breath away” –
(216) Tartakower and Cukiermann - Alekhine
868 C.H.O’D. Alexander
and Turover
(217) Alekhine - Borochow 871
(218) Alekhine - Kimura 875
When I �rst became seriously interested in chess, as
(219) Kashdan and Phillips - Alekhine and
878 a teenager in the mid-1960s, Alexander Alekhine quickly
Wahrburg
became one of my heroes. �e record of his
(220) Alekhine - Van Mindeno 881
Index of Opponents and Consultation Partners 884 accomplishments – wresting the World Championship
Index of Openings by Name 888 from the seemingly invincible Capablanca in 1927, his
Index of Openings by ECO Code 890 overwhelming tournament victories at San Remo 1930
and Bled 1931, his becoming (in 1937) the only man to
List of Tables 1
regain the world title a�er having lost it, to mention only
Alekhine's Tournament Record 28
Matches 30 the brightest highlights – was at a level few if any could
St. Petersburg 1914 Preliminaries 123 match. �e authors I was then reading generally
St. Petersburg 1914 Finals 123 considered Alekhine to be the greatest player of all time
Budapest 1921 243
(e.g., Reinfeld in �e Human Side of Chess and �e Golden
London 1922 289
Treasury of Chess), or nearly so (for example Chernev put
Carlsbad 1923 369
him #2 in �e Golden Dozen).
New York 1924 423
Beyond that, Alekhine’s games have a quality – or
Baden-Baden 1925 439
New York 1927 468 more accurately a combination of qualities – and a
World Championship Match Buenos Aires 1927 486 stylistic variety, that are striking and unique. �ere are
San Remo 1930 529 scintillating tactical brilliancies, such as against
Bled 1931 583
Bogoljubow at Hastings 1922, Asztalos at Kecskemet
1934 World Championship Match 648
1927, and Pirc at Bled 1931. His restless striving for the
1935 World Championship Match 686
initiative, and his willingness to enter complications – as
Nottingham 1936 738
against Vidmar at Carlsbad 1911, Leven�sh at St.
1937 World Championship Match 802
Petersburg 1914, or, most strikingly, Réti at Baden-Baden
1925 – give his games an energy that made other masters
seem torpid. He could produce positional masterpieces
that showed deep strategic understanding (e.g. against
Nimzowitsch at San Remo 1930, Menchik at Podebrady
1936, or Fine at Kemeri 1937). When attacking and
combinative play was not feasible, he produced endgames
of indomitable persistence and lethal technical precision,
such as against Vidmar at San Remo 1930 and Bled 1931,
and (probably most clearly and famously) in the 34th
903 7
Editor's Preface by Taylor Kingston
match game against Capablanca, 1927. In 1964, no less spelling, and typographical errors have been corrected,
an authority than Fischer wrote that Alekhine’s “play was and occasionally a phrase like “and White wins” has been
fantastically complicated, more so than any player before changed to the appropriate Informant symbol to save
or since ... He played gigantic conceptions, full of space.
outrageous and unprecedented ideas.” While nothing has been deleted, some (I hope)
Alekhine’s command of opening theory was welcome additions have been made. Many diagrams have
probably supreme in his time. He seemed at home in any been added, especially at points with lengthy notes.
kind of game: open, semi-open, closed openings, Modern opening names and ECO codes have been
romantic gambits, either side of the Ruy Lopez, �ueen’s supplied (in the early 20th century it was common to call
Gambit, French Defense, Nimzo-Indian etc., and in both anything that began 1.d4 Nf6 just “Indian Defense” or
old classic lines such as the Scotch and Four Knights, and “�ueen Pawn’s Game”). �e indexes of players and
hypermodern lines such as the �ueen’s Indian. He was an openings now include games embedded in the notes. �e
innovator. Besides introducing the eponymous Alekhine’s “Summary of Results” has been expanded to include
Defense to master practice, he is credited by �e Oxford Alekhine’s entire career, not just the years 1908-37, and
Companion to Chess with no fewer than 19 “Alekhine many corrections and additions have been made there
variations” in such varied lines as the Dutch, Sicilian, using Leonard Skinner and Robert Verhoeven’s Alexander
French, Ruy Lopez, �ueens’s Gambit (both Declined and Alekhine’s Chess Games, 1902-1946, the most
Accepted), Slav, Semi-Slav, and Vienna Game. And his authoritative source available. With this marvelous
willingness to experiment with perhaps dubious but reference, I was also able to correct some name and date
psychologically potent variations, and to hit opponents errors in the original game and chapter headings.
with unexpected novelties, was legendary. For example, As a bonus, the reader can obtain an appendix of
his use of the Blumenfeld Counter-Gambit against computer-assisted analytical corrections, additions and
Tarrasch at Bad Pistyan 1922, the Benoni against enhancements, compiled while going through the games
Bogoljubow and Gygli in two 1934 games, and, most with the Rybka 3 analysis engine. �is is provided at no
strikingly, his piece sacri�ce at the sixth move (!) against charge as a PDF, which can be downloaded from
Euwe in their 1937 title match. http://russell-
All these elements combine to make Alekhine’s chess enterprises.com/excerptsanddownloads.html.
some of the most exciting, interesting, complex and Admittedly, this silicon-based scrutiny sometimes shows
beautiful ever played – and that is not just my opinion; Alekhine to be wrong, but we feel, in the interests of
for example GM Reuben Fine, in �e World’s Great Chess objective chess truth, that such things should not be
Games, ranked him among the top three of all time in this ignored. And, we like to think that Alekhine, whose
respect, along with Lasker and Fischer. So, it was natural success was based in part on thorough self-criticism,
that among the �rst chess books I ever bought were his would approve.
best games collections of 1908-23 and 1924-37, in the old �ose looking for information and insights about
descriptive-notation Tartan reprints. Now, decades later, Alekhine’s personal life, in particular his collaboration
it has been my privilege to edit this single-volume edition with the Nazis in WW II, will not �nd them here, other
of those two classics, in modern �gurine algebraic. than the brief summary in Du Mont’s memoir. For that,
�e original two volumes have been combined into interested readers may consult the aforementioned book
one without any abridgment. Every move of every game is by Skinner & Verhoeven, or Agony of a Genius by Pablo
here, along with all the original notes and variations; all Morán, �e Personality of Chess by Horowitz and
that has been altered is that a few obvious notational, Rothenberg, historical surveys such as Hartston’s �e
8 9
Foreword by Igor Zaitsev
Kings of Chess, and various chess encyclopedias such as the
Oxford Companion, among other works. A full personal
biography of Alekhine has, alas, so far not been Foreword
published, at least in English. �is book deals with In Pursuit of a Hypothesis (or the
Alekhine the chess player only, as he explained himself in Continuity of Times)
that role.
But, as a player, it is hardly a great exaggeration, if
any at all, to say that in the 20th century, no one Let us be frank. It is not the chess “celestials,”
in�uenced the development and evolution of chess more masters and grandmasters, who are the present-day author
than Alexander Alekhine. No less an authority than Garry s audience, but ordinary players with lower quali�cation,
Kasparov wrote, in the �rst volume of his series On My together with complete beginners. It is exactly among
Great Predecessors, that Alekhine’s “fantastic combinative such enthusiasts of the ancient game that chess books are
vision was based on a sound positional foundation, and always in great demand. In the future, when players of this
was the fruit of strong, energetic strategy. �erefore, category will understand the process of struggle in the
Alekhine can safely be called the pioneer of the universal game of chess much better, they will be more inclined to
style of play, based on a close interweaving of strategic and do original research using the computer, just as their more
tactical motifs. Alekhine was clearly ahead of his time in sophisticated (or advanced) colleagues are doing today.
his approach to chess.” But, for the time being, a book is the most convenient
How did Alekhine do it? Information and insights source of getting knowledge for them.
on that, dear reader, is what you will �nd in these pages. However, a potential purchaser of this kind, when
visiting a bookstore, begins to experience difficulties,
Taylor Kingston bewildered by the abundance of titles. Strange as it may
San Diego seem, a good knowledge of chess history may, in my
July 2012 opinion, be of considerable assistance in making the right
choice. I will try brie�y to explain why I hold such an
opinion.
It has long been observed that every chessplayer
passes, in the process of perfecting one’s style, through the
same stages that have been passed, on the whole, by the
chess world in the course of the many ages of its evolution
– just as if this individual were mimicking the law of
biological development of an embryo. And it is because of
this fact alone that there arises the urgent necessity of
studying the classical heritage of the great players of the
past whose names we associate with certain chess epochs.
�e epochs of chess history should be viewed
without regard for their chronological markings. �e
priority role in forming their image is played by the
substantive side of the most advanced and successful chess
strategy that is realized within their frame of reference.
�erefore, in the �rst place, they represent long periods of
10 11