75 years ago, on the night of March 24, 1946, in Estoril, Portugal, the fourth world chess champion, the exceptional genius Alexander Alekhine, choked on a piece of meat and died of suffocation.
He died at the age of 53 as the current and undefeated winner of the world title.
Noble, “apostate” and champion
One of the greatest chess players in history was born into the noble family of the leader of the Voronezh region Alexander Alekhine, later a member of the State Duma, and the daughter of Anisya Prokhorova, owner of the factory “Trekhgorna”.
His mother is the one who ignites him in chess. In 1910, Alekhine became one of the strongest chess players in the Russian Empire.
In the spring of 1917, Alekhine Sr. died.
The October Revolution, which erupted a few months later, drastically changed the life of his youngest son, but never prevented him from realizing his potential.
Initially, Alekhine’s reaction to the events of October-November 1917 was minimal. It was a form of adaptation to reality, without “abrupt movements” on the political scene, but at the same time social distance was preserved. Due to the lack of official public activity, Alekhine indulges entirely in his favorite pastime – chess.
By the autumn of 1918, when nationalization began and the Trekhgorna factory had been taken over, Alekhine was faced with the question of his material condition and his literal survival. “Alekhine is taking a number of non-political actions – he does not want to be associated with the regime, he does not want to enter a state of counteradaptation (the desire to change the environment for himself), but to find a way to meaningful existence.” write Dmitry Oleinikov in his article on “The Sociocultural Adaptation of the Russian Noble in the Age of Revolution and the Civil War: Alexander Alekhine.”
When filling out a job application form in 1921, Alekhine put dashes in the columns asking “which party did you belong to before the February Revolution” and “which party did you belong to from February to the October Revolution.”
In the same year, the People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR allowed him to travel abroad. Alekhine aspires to participate in tournaments of the strongest chess players and is already openly dreaming of the title of world champion. In Europe, he was perceived as a representative of Soviet Russia, but falling into the midst of Russian emigration, he quickly realized that he felt good there.
As a result, in 1926 Alekhine won the title of “renegade” and “deserter” in the USSR, and in 1927 he took French citizenship and became the fourth world champion.
His talent will not save him from contempt
The match against the Cuban Jose Raul Capablanca is held from September 16 to November 29 in Buenos Aires and lasts in 34 games (according to the regulations, the fight lasts up to six victories, not counting the draws).
Alekhine won six games and recorded three defeats. At one of the banquets of Russian emigration in Paris, organized in his honor, Alekhine made a number of scathing statements about the Soviet regime.
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Alekhine’s meeting with Casablanca
Photo: Official Wikipedia page
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The next day, the émigré newspapers reported: “The myth of the invincibility of the Bolsheviks must be dispelled, just as the myth of the invincibility of Capablanca was dispelled.”
In response, the USSR chess authorities declared Alekhine an enemy. Even his brother Alexei published a statement condemning the chess player’s anti-Soviet statements and sentiments.
In general, not everyone in the country is happy with his success. Deputy Commissioner of Justice of the RSFSR and head of the USSR Chess Organization Nikolai Krylenko, in a note to Joseph Stalin, described Alekhine as a “White Guard” who committed political treason.
“No talent will save Alekhine from the deserved contempt with which we will treat him in the USSR,” summarizes Kirilenoko.
Alekhine’s aristocratic background and his life path made it almost impossible for a chess player like him to get close to the Soviet state and its officials at the time.
The famous chess player Savely Tartakover, who defeated the world champion in 1933, explains the secret of Alekhine’s achievements as follows:
1. In the first place was his selfless love of chess, which was literally equated with art.
2. Powerful intelligence and comprehensive education.
3. Inexhaustibility of ideas.
4. Continuous work on self-improvement.
5. His slogan was – set tasks on almost every move.
6. To be constant not only in case of failures, but also in case of successes and each achievement to be considered only as a stage on the way to the next, higher one.
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Alexander Alekhine
Photo: Official Wikipedia page
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The meeting with Botvinnik, which did not take place
After Nazi Germany attacked France in 1940, Alekhine, who had not been conscripted for health reasons, enlisted in the French army and served as a lieutenant translator.
After the occupation of France, the chess player was forced to turn to the German administration for support in order to preserve the remains of his wife’s property and provide her with protection from persecution.
Thus, Alekhine was involved in tournaments on the territory of the Third Reich, and later this fact from his biography created many problems.
In 1943 he left for Spain. After World War II, Alekhine was accused of collaborating and supporting Nazism and anti-Semitism. This is done in a series of articles in the Pariser Zeitung under the general title “Jewish and Aryan Shah”.
According to Alekhine’s biographers, the final version of the texts was rewritten, significantly distorting their meaning, by the editor of the publication, the Austrian chess player Theodor Gerbets.
By this time, Alekhine was already suffering from severe hypertension and was severely depressed. His long-term addiction to alcohol has already led to cirrhosis. Alekhine had no income and made a living from many board sessions organized by his friend Francesco Lupi, also a chess player.
At the same time, the Soviet authorities already have plans to return the champion. All this was masked under the impression of the victories of the Red Army, because at that time the attitude of a significant part of the Russian emigration towards the Kremlin became much more loyal.
As an emigrant, Alekhine tried not to talk about politics and thus did not burn “bridges behind him”, hoping to return one day. However, journalists occasionally expose his scandalous phrases.
Negotiations have been underway since the late 1930s to organize a match between Alekhine and Soviet contender Mikhail Botvinnik.
Before the war, the idea was fully supported by Prime Minister Vyacheslav Molotov. In 1945, the discussion of the chess battle became very important again. Alekhine’s opponents in the USSR hope to deprive the “traitor” of the title with the help of Botvinnik. Then the Soviet chess player was almost 20 years younger and showed great potential.
The mysterious death of the genius
The chairman of the All-Union Chess and Chess Section, Boris Vanstein, who also holds a senior position in the NKVD, called the world champion a political enemy and told Botvinnik that “it is impossible to play with him”, demanding “Alekhine’s exclusion from chess life”. However, the parties managed to reach an agreement.
On March 23, 1946, FIDE approved a match for the World Chess Crown between Alekhine and Botvinnik.
The confrontation and clash must be an unprecedented event for the post-war world.
The next morning, March 24, 1946, Alekhine was found in his hotel room in Estoril, Portugal, sitting in an armchair at a chess table with the pieces in the starting position.
It turns out that the 53-year-old champion died of suffocation – during the autopsy a piece of meat was found stuck in the airways.
There have also been reports that the cause of Alekhine’s death was heart problems. The émigré press immediately suspected Soviet and Western special services of killing the champion.
After a long debate, the magazine “Chess in the USSR” published an obituary in which Alekhine was recognized as an exceptional master and at the same time a morally unstable and unprincipled man, the attitude to which “can only be negative.”
After 10 years, Alekhine’s ashes were buried in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris. “Russian and French chess genius” is written on his monument.
It is interesting to note that on April 13, 1936, at the invitation of the Sofia Chess Club, Alekhine played a session of 40 games in the city casino in Sofia.
The result is 26 wins, 10 draws and 4 losses. Against Alekhine, Arshavir Tanielyan, Alexander Tsvetkov, Andrey Malchev and Georgi Semerdzhiev won their games.
Alexander Kiprov, Naiden Voinov, A. Radoslavov, Teodor Trayanov and others finished with a draw.
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