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From	Message
brigadecommander 02-Nov-20, 03:09	A Chess Biography Around 8-years old my Dad introduced me to the Games of Alekhine. We like to go over the games of the great Masters. But Alekhine was special to me. His annotations were a marvel. Clear,deep,and accurate. By 10 i had gone over all his best games (360) several times. I believed then as i believe now, that he was the Strongest player of all time. I highly recommend his 'My Best Games of chess' as a tool for any student of the game. And he was the only one that could out play Capablanca at that time. Therefore Capablanca was and is, my second favorite player. You may like this biography of Alekhine;www.youtube.com BC
ace-of-aces 02-Nov-20, 10:18	Alekhine's defense en.wikipedia.org youtu.be I thought at first Black's 1...Nf6 response to White's 1.e4 is a crazy move because if White push the pawn by 2.e5, Black has to move the N again few more times and will lose the tempo in the opening. The loss of tempo can have a negative impact and can even lose the game. This is not true. Alekhine proved that this is not so. It is playable and can even win the game. Please check the game between world champion Magnus Carlsen and GM Caruana.
ace-of-aces 02-Nov-20, 10:30	Deleted by brigadecommander on 25-Nov-20, 20:33.
brigadecommander 25-Nov-20, 20:35	ace keep the politics out of this club please. It's a chess club not a political argumentation club.Thank you. BC
brigadecommander 25-Nov-20, 21:21	Capablanca Biography Though Alekhine was the player i most studied, Capablanca was easily his equal. After Capablanca's death Alekhine wrote a small tribute.... 'Capablanca was snatched from the chess world much too soon. With his death, we have lost a very great chess genius whose like we shall never see again'' A.Alekhine. So with that in mind ....www.youtube.com What is so unique about him was he never studied Chess. Not openings,middlegames or endgames, to any great extent. He just sat down and played. That is the markings of a true Genius
bumvinnik 07-Mar-21, 12:37	Botvinnik Botvinnik would have crushed Alekhine in the world championship that was going to happen until Alekhine choked to death. Or was he murdered? 🤔 He is the only world champion to die while holding the title. 😔
archduke_piccolo 08-Mar-21, 23:16	There was a chance... ... that Paul Keres might have got to play against Alekhine for the world championship, after his winning the AVRO Tournament of 1938. Actually, he tied with Reuben Fine, but, having beaten him in their individual match, Keres gained the official right to mount the challenge. Unfortunately, that never eventuated. Incidentally, that game Reuben Fine vs Paul Keres, is a terrific ding-dong battle, with plenty of excitement to be had even after the queens disappeared on move 14. Fine grabbed a pawn early on but came under whole deal of pressure. After the queens come off, in keeping hold of the bishop pair, Fine he allowed his pawns to be broken up. After several moves a slight inaccuracy by Black allows White back into the game. To keep things unbalanced, Keres goes in for an exchange sacrifice that awards him a strong pair of passed pawns on the queen side. Again a couple of inaccuracies give White a momentary chance to hold on, draw the game, and win the Tournament. But Fine missed the chance - a difficult one to find, especially in time trouble - and Black went on to win in exemplary style.
brigadecommander 09-Mar-21, 02:43	Hardly Botvinnik would have crushed Alekhine? I think not. Before the Alekhine/Capablaca match in 1927, many of the great players said, that Alekhine didn't have chance. Rudolf Spielmann said 'he will not win a single game'. We all know what happened. In my opinion Alexander Alekhine was the greatest player ever to walk the Earth. Crush Alekhine??? I think not. And i am an Admirer of both Botvinnik and Capablanca. BC
bumvinnik 09-Mar-21, 04:25	1940's Remember this would have happened in the late 1940's ...about 15 years past Alekhine's prime. Alekhine being a raging alcoholic would have hurt him also 😉
brigadecommander 09-Mar-21, 04:37	perhaps. you make a valid point. So my point is that if you could have Alekhine and Botvinnik, in their prime, (and sober) at the Board, Botvinnik would be in deep peril. As Capablanca was. You are entitled to your opinion for sure. And so am I. You should study Alekhine's games. It would raise your rating several hundred points. I did. Thanks to my Father.
bumvinnik 09-Mar-21, 04:46	Sure Their is no denying Alekhine's greatness. I consider him to be in the top 5 all time. But being 53 years old and an alcoholic would mean he would have been crushed by the 35 year old Botvinnik. Prime vs Prime and no alcohol? 🤔 It would be close but I would bet on Alekhine.
brigadecommander 09-Mar-21, 04:48	OK then we are in agreement.👩
archduke_piccolo 09-Mar-21, 13:48	Capablanca vs Alekhine... There was this difference between the two masters: the one loved the game (Alekhine) and was fascinated by it; the other was utterly indifferent, if not altogether bored. In the 1927 match, Alekhine devoted all his energies to it; it is hard to see that Capablanca could be bothered. As a result, Capa threw away games owing to carelessness. Bear in mind, after losing the first game - a 'wrong wrook' move - Capa took the lead at game 7. Objectively speaking, I think Capablanca was the stronger of the two, but Alekhine's passionate devotion, and , I think, superior theoretical knowledge, made up the difference. On only one occasion outside the match did Alekhine beat Capablanca, and on that occasion once again, the Big C took his opponent too lightly. One might argue that 'superior theoretical knowledge is part and parcel of one's playing strength. But Capa I think was quite able to steer the game within the charted realms of his own knowledge. Still, one wonders why just about the whole match became a Cambridge Springs Defence theoretical duel. Capa was simply too lazy. Alekhine's sole victory outside the match was in the AVRO Tournament of 1938. It seems that Capa's health wasn't too flash for the second half of the event, in which he suffered 3 losses - one the famous encounter with Botvinnik. At any rate here's what happened in the Alekhine-Capa game; Already Black's game is a mess. However, Capa (Black) tries for a k-side attack, hence the withdrawal of the knight to f8. The game continued: 19. Qd2 ... Immediately shutting down ...g5. 19... h6 20.h4 Nh7 21.h5 ... Although this gives back some squares for the Black knights, White is now in a position to exploit the weakened light squares in Black's King side. 21...Nfg5 22.Nh4 Ne4 Looks like a good spot for the knight, BUT... 23.Qb2 Kf7 Possibly 5...Bxh3 is objectively better, but after 6.gxh3 all communications the e4-knight has with the rear are completely cut off. 24.f3 Neg5 Black's first line of defence is already driven in. Now come the assault upon the King's position. White is clearly winning by now. 25.g4 fxg4 26.Bg6ch ... Possibly even better might have been 8.f4 Ne4 9.Ng6 Rhe8 10.Bxe4! dxe4 11.d5! ... with a powerful pawn storm in the centre. 26... Kg1 27.f4 Nf3 Now GM Alexander Kotov gave this as an error, but the only reasonable alternative, ...Nf4, seems to be met well enough by 28.Bxe4 dxe4 29.Ng6. How about 27...Nh3, instead? Then comes 28.Qe2 Bxh4 29.Qxg4, and a horror position for Black. Finally, 27...Nf7 28.Qe2, after which the g4-pawn falls and a file opens up for the White rooks. 28.Bxh7ch ... Kotov gives this move an exclam, but one would have thought 28.Nxf3 gxf3 29.Kxf3 ... perfectly fine for White. 28... Rxh7 29.Ng6 Bd8 30.Rac1 ... Safety. 30... Be8 31.Kg3 ... Kotov: "The White king decides to deal personally with the impudent knight that has so boldly swaggered into his domain..." Black can do not a blind thing to save the condemned prisoner. 31...Qf7 32.Kxg4 Nh4 33.Nxh4 Qxh5ch 34.Kg3 Qf7? Instead, 34...g5 might have carried the fight to his opponent. 35.Nf3 h4 It appears the flag dropped as Capa was playing this move. But with a piece down and a passive position, his game was pretty hopeless by now anyway. Here's the final position. What led to Black's beginning this sequence in such a poor position? It seems that it was compromised by some very strange knight manoeuvres - beginning with the fatal 11...Nf8?? -early on in a French Defence game, and Capa was not able in the end to justify them.
archduke_piccolo 09-Mar-21, 14:52	I tend to agree ... ... with bumvinnik: Botvinnik would have crushed Alekhine in the 1940s. Actually I believe Paul Keres and Reuben Fine also had what it took to take the crown from Alekhine. In the AVRO Tournament, Fine scored two from two against Alekhine in the double round-robin event, outplaying him in the end games. I'm inclined to think that maybe Alekhine could have held his own in the first half of, say, a 24-game match, but would have sagged in the second half. This, even supposing he cleaned himself up ahead of time. All this is consistent with regarding Alex Alekhine as a very fine chess master, and in many respects, one of the most creative the world has seen. In respect of creativity he stands far above Capablanca, who seems to have contributed very little to chess theory, considering his undoubted ability.
brigadecommander 09-Mar-21, 20:06	Duke a fair assessment. May they rest in peace. ;graves.mf.uni-lj.si www.chesshistory.com

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