Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine (Russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Алекса́ндров; 31 October 1892 – 24 March 1946) was a Russian-born French chess grandmaster who became the fourth World Chess Champion, holding the title from to 1935 and regaining it from 1937 until his death. Born into a wealthy Moscow family, Alekhine learned chess at age 11 and rapidly ascended through Russian tournaments, winning his first major event at St. Petersburg in 1909 before serving as a lieutenant in the French Army during World War I and navigating the Russian Revolution as an émigré. Alekhine dethroned incumbent champion José Raúl Capablanca in a grueling match in Buenos Aires, employing his signature aggressive and combinative style characterized by deep preparation, tactical complexity, and unyielding attacks that revolutionized competitive chess. He dominated the 1930s with victories in elite tournaments such as San Remo 1930, Bled 1931, and Zurich 1934, defending his title successfully against Efim Bogoljubov in 1929 and 1934 before losing to Max Euwe in 1935 amid personal struggles with alcohol; Alekhine recaptured the crown in a 1937 rematch. During World War II, while residing in occupied France, Alekhine participated in Nazi-sponsored events and penned articles for German publications that critiqued "Jewish chess" as inferior to "Aryan" styles, actions later scrutinized as collaboration though he denied coerced authorship and claimed they served to protect his position; postwar, FIDE initially banned him from international play pending clearance of these associations. Alekhine died suddenly in Estoril, Portugal, at age 53, with the official autopsy citing asphyxiation from a lodged piece of meat in his windpipe during a meal, though speculations of murder—possibly by Soviet agents due to his anti-communist stance—or suicide persist amid the era's geopolitical tensions and his ongoing title reign without formal defeat.