Alexander Alekine

Alexander Alekhine was a French-born Russian chess player, fourth world champion, considered one of the greatest chess players ever and was among the strongest players in the world already at the age of 21. Alekhine participated in many correspondence tournaments sponsored by the magazine Shachmatnoye Obozrenie and so the first known match was played in a correspondence tournament that began on December 3, 1902. At 17 he established himself as the best young Russian player by winning the national amateur championship in St. Petersburg with 12 victories, one draw and 4 defeats, thus obtaining the title of master.
On that occasion he met Savelij Tartakover. He then moves to Paris and dreams of presenting himself as the next challenger to Capablanca, who seems like an authentic machine built to win. The London tournament, held in August 1922, was easily won by Capablanca who distanced Alechin by 3 and a half points: their direct confrontation ended after half an hour with a draw proposed by the Cuban champion after just 17 moves. On that occasion, Capablanca established - as he had the right to do, the title being considered at that time a "private property" of the reigning champion - the rules of the next World Championship: the match would end when 6 victories were achieved; the reflection time per player in each game was set at two and a half hours for 40 moves; the challenger had to offer a purse of $10,000; the reigning champion was required to put the title up for grabs within a year. Finally, on February 19, 1927, a new tournament was inaugurated in New York, in which only six players participated - Capablanca, Alechin, Vidmar, Marshall, Nimzowitsch and Spielmann, each of whom, however, would have played four matches with each opponent - with a important agreement: whoever won the Tournament, or placed second behind Capablanca, would be the challenger to the world champion title. Capablanca won again, undefeated with two and a half points ahead of Alekhine, defeated in one of the four direct matches: but now the Russian had acquired the right to challenge the Cuban champion. The headquarters were set in Buenos Aires, the Argentine government itself having guaranteed the necessary funding. Alekhine won the title by winning six games to his opponent's three. Alekhine did not concede the return match to Capablanca, preferring to face softer opponents such as Efim Bogoljubov (in 1929 and 1934) and Max Euwe, who however unexpectedly beat him in 1935. Euwe's reign lasted only two years, as he was beaten by Alekhine himself in 1937. The Second World War prevented the organization of further matches.

In 1946, when negotiations were underway for a world title match with Mikhail Botvinnik, Alekhine died while in Portugal, leaving the title vacant. The death was due to suffocation and the dynamics are unclear. He was probably murdered by Soviet intelligence. He was 53 years old. A defense on e4 is attributed to him: the Alekhine defense.