Alexander Alekhine: Biography of the World Champion Who Reclaimed His Crown

Alexander Alekhine (1892–1946) was the fourth World Chess Champion and one of chess history’s most forceful attacking players. He won the title from José Raúl Capablanca in 1927, lost it to Max Euwe in 1935, then won it back in 1937. Alekhine’s career joined brilliant combinations and tournament dominance with exile, political controversy and a championship reign that ended only with his death.

Moscow beginnings, war and revolution

Alekhine was born in Moscow in 1892 into a wealthy family. He became one of the leading players in Russia before the First World War, and in 1914 finished among the top five at the great St Petersburg tournament. The war and Russian Revolution upended his life. FIDE’s Open Chess Museum records that he survived the Revolution and Civil War, became the first champion of Soviet Russia in 1920, and left for Europe in 1921 to pursue a world championship match.

The move west transformed chess from an ambitious pursuit into Alekhine’s career. He established himself in international events, represented France in later Olympiads and became a French citizen. He also wrote extensively about his games, treating preparation and analysis as central parts of competitive success.

The 1927 match: Alekhine defeats Capablanca

Capablanca entered their 1927 Buenos Aires match as defending champion and a formidable favorite. Alekhine had spent years seeking the opportunity and prepared deeply for the encounter. The match lasted 34 games, an unusually long struggle: Alekhine won six games, Capablanca three, and 25 were drawn. With that 18½–15½ score, Alekhine became world champion. Capablanca’s handwritten resignation note from the final game is preserved in the FIDE archive.

The victory was a turning point in championship history. Alekhine had succeeded where many thought no one could: he beat the Cuban who had gone years without a serious-game loss. The two never played a rematch, despite repeated discussion. The absence of that return match remains one of the most debated missed encounters in chess.

Tournament peak and title defenses

Alekhine confirmed his strength as champion in events beyond match play. At San Remo in 1930, he scored 14 points from 15 games, winning 13 and drawing two, and finished three and a half points ahead of Aron Nimzowitsch. At Bled in 1931 he again won by a wide margin. These results showed both the attacking power associated with his name and the consistency to sustain it across long tournaments.

He defended the crown twice against Efim Bogoljubow, winning their 1929 and 1934 matches. In 1935, however, Max Euwe challenged him in a match played across the Netherlands. Alekhine started strongly, but Euwe recovered and won 15½–14½. Alekhine lost the title. The defeat made him the first reigning world champion to lose the crown in a match since the modern championship tradition began.

Two years later, Alekhine and Euwe met again. Alekhine won the 1937 rematch 15½–9½ and became the first world champion to regain his title. FIDE’s archive records that Alekhine remained champion from then until his death in 1946. His later years were shaped by the Second World War, which prevented further championship matches.

Style: attack, calculation and preparation

Alekhine’s games are associated with energetic attacks, tactical complications and combinations that could emerge from positions that initially appeared quiet. He was a versatile player who could maneuver patiently before opening the position, and his attacking play often depended on coordinating several pieces rather than launching an unsupported assault. He was especially dangerous when he could seize the initiative and force an opponent to solve a succession of concrete problems.

Alekhine also became known for blindfold chess. He set records for simultaneous blindfold exhibitions, including a 28-board display in Paris in 1925 and a 32-board exhibition in Chicago in 1933. These feats made his calculation and visualization skills part of his public legend, though his championship achievements rested on full tournament and match preparation as well.

Books and chess legacy

Alekhine’s writings helped shape how players study chess. His collections, including My Best Games of Chess, 1908–1923 and My Best Games of Chess, 1924–1937, explain his decisions and preserve the analysis of a world champion who prepared carefully for opponents. His annotations are still read for their tactical detail and for the way he connects opening choices to middlegame plans.

His legacy also has a difficult and necessary historical dimension. In 1941, articles on “Jewish and Aryan chess” appeared in a newspaper published in Nazi-occupied Paris under Alekhine’s name. He later denied responsibility for the antisemitic material and said that Nazi authorities had altered his writing. FIDE’s archive preserves both the articles and his later open letter. Historian Christian Rohrer’s 2022 study argues that documentary evidence makes Alekhine responsible for promoting antisemitic propaganda. The authorship and context have been disputed, but the published record and the scholarly reassessment should be included in any serious account of his life.

Death and lasting significance

Alekhine died in Estoril, Portugal, on 24 March 1946, still holding the world title. He remains the only world champion to have died while champion. FIDE later sponsored his burial, and his remains were transferred to Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris in 1956. Because he died before a planned match with Mikhail Botvinnik could happen, FIDE took control of the next championship process, marking a major change in how the title would be administered.

Alekhine’s career cannot be reduced to either his combinations or his controversies. He was a revolutionary force in tournament preparation, a dominant champion in the early 1930s and the first to win back the title after losing it. His games remain among the most studied examples of dynamic attacking chess, while the wartime record demands that his sporting legacy be read with historical care.

Sources and further reading

FIDE Open Chess Museum, Alexander Alekhine biography: https://museum.fide.com/champions/alexander-alekhin

FIDE archive, 1935 Euwe–Alekhine match: https://museum.fide.com/exhibits/chess-review-article-on-alekhine-vs-euwe-1935-world-championship-match

FIDE archive, 1937 rematch: https://museum.fide.com/exhibits/1937-world-championship-match-between-max-euwe-and-alexander-alekhine

FIDE archive, 1941 articles and Alekhine’s open letter: https://museum.fide.com/exhibits/jewish-and-aryan-chess-article-and-alekhines-open-letter-regaring-his-alledged-authorship

Christian Rohrer, “Entangled: World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine, Governor General Hans Frank, and the National Socialist Regime,” Stadion 46(1), 2022: https://doi.org/10.5771/0172-4029-2022-1-22

Johannes Fischer, ChessBase, San Remo 1930 tournament record: https://en.chessbase.com/post/at-the-height-of-his-career-alekhine-wins-san-remo-1930-with-14-out-of-15

Related MyChessJourney biographies: José Raúl Capablanca — https://www.mychessjourney.com/post/jose-raul-capablanca-chess-biography-cuban-world-champion ; Emanuel Lasker — https://www.mychessjourney.com/post/emanuel-lasker-chess-biography-world-champion