"How Alexander Alekhine Alienated the World and Changed the Game"
Starting his reign in 1927, Alexander Alekhine dominated the world of elite chess for more than a decade. To this day, he is the only world chess champion to die while holding the title. On his way to the top, Alekhine dodged artillery on World War I battlefields, narrowly escaped a Bolshevik firing squad and negotiated with Nazis to escape occupied Paris. He also earned a reputation as a “grandmonster” of chess: arrogant, amoral and alcoholic.
This book explores both the triumphs that established Alekhine as one of the most creative minds ever to storm the chess world and the tragic choices that ended his career and, finally, his life. He is still one of the most controversial figures in chess history, but competitive chess as we know it would not exist without him.
About the Author
Steve Rauls is an attorney living in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Table of Contents
- Introduction 1
- 1. Prologue 3
- 2. Early Years 5
- 3. Chess at the Top 11
- 4. St. Petersburg 16
- 5. Mannheim 23
- 6. The Great War 26
- 7. Revolution 29
- 8. Comrade Alekhine 34
- 9. The West 40
- 10. Paris 45
- 11. London 1922 48
- 12. Waiting for Capablanca 53
- 13. New York 1924 57
- 14. Doctor Alekhine 63
- 15. The Challenge 69
- 16. Euwe 73
- 17. New York 1927 76
- 18. Buenos Aires 82
- 19. The Breakthrough 89
- 20. The Rift 94
- 21. The Feud 101
- 22. Top of the World 106
- 23. Treading Water 113
- 24. An Unwilling Challenger 117
- 25. Hubris Strikes 122
- 26. Ex-Champion 128
- 27. Chess and Politics 133
- 28. Euwe Again 137
- 29. AVRO 1938 145
- 30. War in Europe 151
- 31. Occupation 156
- 32. Looking for an Exit 162
- 33. Nazi Chess 165
- 34. Champion of Occupied Europe 170
- 35. Sojourn in Spain 175
- 36. Ostracized 182
- 37. A Challenge from the East 187
- 38. Conspiracy Theories 191
- 39. A Vacant Throne 195
- 40. Legacy 200
- Richard Réti vs. Alexander Alekhine Baden-Baden 1925 205
- Chapter Notes 207
- Bibliography 221
- Index 223
