Scientists have long noticed that playing chess promotes the development of intelligence. According to historians, this game appeared in India two thousand years ago. There are many myths, legends and frank inventions on this topic. Russian and Soviet chess players made a significant contribution to the theory and practice of the game. The list of grandmasters the country is proud of includes the name of Alexander Alekhine. A man of complex and legendary destiny. He left an invaluable legacy, which is enjoyed by grateful descendants.
Opening combinations
According to information that has come down to our days, at the beginning of the 20th century, chess was considered a noble game. In peasant huts they played checkers, "knocked" on dominoes, "cut" at cards. It's no secret that any intellectual game is preferable to empty pastime or drunkenness for no reason. Gradually, slowly, with small steps, chess penetrated into the national environment. According to metric data, Alexander Alekhin was born on October 31, 1892 in a noble family. Parents lived in Moscow. The boy already had an older brother and sister. Children in the house were surrounded by love, but not pampered.
Alexander started playing chess at the age of seven. He mentions this in his biography. Mother was seriously engaged in preparing the children for an independent life and, at the appointed time, showed the boy the chess pieces and the board. In those years, the game of correspondence chess was very popular. Tournaments were regularly held and the elder brother Alexei took an active part in such competitions. Sasha followed his example when he was ten years old. At home, they not only played among themselves, but also solved chess problems. The future world champion showed interest in the game slowly but thoroughly.
The performances of the then famous illusionist Harry Pillsbury, a native of America, served as a kind of trigger for serious chess lessons. The maestro, while passing through Moscow, conducted a session of simultaneous play on twenty-two boards. At the same time, Harry played blindly. The novice chess player Alekhine, who turned ten, played a draw with him. The game made an indelible impression on the young man, and from that time he began to take chess more than seriously. Systematic work on theoretical training began. The young man actively participated in various tournaments that were held in the capital.
It should be noted that Alexander studied well at the gymnasium. Having received a certificate of completion of a full course of study, he continued his education at the Imperial School of Law. Alekhine easily manages to combine his studies at the school and preparation for chess competitions. In the tournament by correspondence, the young chess player was able to receive the main prize of the Chess Review magazine. A year later, in 1908, he achieved the title of champion of Moscow. They started talking about him as a promising chess player. The next season Alekhine took first place in the Chigorin memory tournament. He was officially awarded the title of maestro.
Cities and countries
In modern reference books, Alekhine's work is spoken of in an excellent style. And it deserves it. However, in reality, the career of a great chess player developed along a complex trajectory. Before the start of the First World War, an international tournament was held in St. Petersburg, in which all prominent chess players took part. Among them was the reigning world champion Emmanuel Lasker. The shrewd experts' prediction came true - Alekhine took third place. It was after this tournament that he really began to prepare for the fight for the title of champion of the planet. Such an application had a very real basis.
Subsequent events on the world stage confused all the plans of not only Alekhine, but also other chess players. The maestro from Russia went through trials and hardships, which he did not even suspect at the dawn of his career. He had to sit in a German prison. Sweep across European countries. In Soviet Russia after 1917, the game of chess was treated without much reverence. Only in 1920 was the first All-Russian Chess Olympiad held in Moscow. Alekhine won the main prize. But the situation did not suit him. The desire to compete for the champion title haunted Alexander.
In 1921 Alekhine successfully married, which helped him to travel abroad. He begins an active "nomadic" life. Participates in tournaments, holds individual meetings and performs in simultaneous sessions. By that time, the famous Jose Raul Capablanca was considered the world chess champion. It should be emphasized that there were no clearly formulated rules for holding a tournament for the championship title. The leading chess players got together and jointly adopted a protocol on the conditions for holding such competitions. The applicant had to collect $ 10 thousand dollars in prize money.
After long disputes, gatherings and discussions, the Argentine government decided to hold the match in the capital of the country, Buenos Aires. The year was 1927. According to the accepted rules, the opponents had to play up to six wins. The number of games played did not matter. It is interesting to note that up to this point Alekhine had never defeated Capablanca. Bookmakers accepted bets only on the Argentinean victory. Maestro Alekhine thoroughly and thoroughly analyzed his opponent's playing style. And he found the right technique that ensured his victory. The opponents managed to play 34 games, and Alekhine won six victories.
The fate of the emigrant
Life on the planet went on, and Alekhine had to defend his champion title. In 1935, the reigning world champion Alexander Alekhin met with the challenger Max Euwe. Met and lost. Two years later, having gathered his will into a fist, he challenged his opponent to a rematch and regained his honorary title. I must say that until the end of his life he remained undefeated.
The personal life of the world champion was uneven. If he made a significant contribution to the development of chess, then he cannot be called a worthy family man. According to reports, a son was born in a marriage with a journalist from Switzerland named Anna-Lisa Rygg. Husband and wife did not live long under the same roof.
Alexander Alekhin gave all his strength and talent to chess. In ordinary life, he adored cats. The great chess player died on March 24, 1946 in a small Portuguese town.
