Grand Master Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine (31st Oct 1892- 24 Mar 1946) was the first universal-style chess master and 4th world chess champion. Chess Grandmaster Alexander Alekhine who started chess at a very early age and developed a knack for chess. But his journey of chess was not so smooth and easy; he had to face several hardships and dilemmas but once he started to rise, no one could stop him from meteoric shine.
He also started a brand with the name “Active, imagination”. His expertise always amazed the players and he was also a good player to play the quiet positions.
Famous Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov said, “Alekhine’s fantastic combinative vision was based on sound positional foundations, and was the fruit of strong positional foundation, and was the fruit of strong, energetic strategy.”
In this article, we will provide you best things that you can learn from Chess Grandmaster Alexander Alekhine. Let’s discuss them.
- Combinative Play
Alexander Alekhine had a special hallmark to play combinative creative games. He created the positions in such a way that combinations appeared automatically and magically. One of the leading chess players Spielmann quoted “I can comprehend Alekhine’s combinations well enough, but where he gets his attacking chances from and how he infuses such life into the very opening – that is beyond me.”
- Premature Attacks Actively Punish
The rate of success of premature attacks is very low. It is not good to go for an ill-planned attack against a chess grandmaster just like Alexander Alekhine. To launch any attack and make it powerful, the main thing that is required is a sense of perfect timing and knowing when to attack back. If you attack too early, positions will collapse; if too late then your opponent will justify his counterattack.
- Hard work Can Surpass Natural Talent
Chess grandmaster Alexander Alekhine had God-gifted talent for chess but he never relied solely on talent. He worked hard to improve all the techniques and phases of chess. His hard work bore fruit when he won the 1927 world chess championship match against Capablanca. At that time, Capablanca was the king of chess and he had no rival player for many years but then Alexander Alekhine entered the world of chess and created history.
- Sacrifices of Pawns
When you are playing dynamic or positional chess, pawn sacrifices are a crucial part of that chess style. No one can better teach you this strategy than the person who invented it. Alexander Alekhine was the person who was a pioneer of pawn sacrifices. By knowing the depth of this talent and having expertise in it, he was an expert in judging the perfect and precise pawn sacrifices before the opponent player even thought about it.
Here are examples elaborated with pictures;
1.e5! dxe5
2.d6! c5 (if cxd6 then c5!)
- Imaginative Play
Alexander Alekhine could launch attacks with immaculate ideas. Today chess players are still amazed by his imaginative playing skill. Some moves are really hard to find in chess. For example, the deliberate movement of the queen to an attacked square or the backward movement of chess pieces. But if you have studied the game of Alekhine, you can easily learn how to spot the move in chess.
- 1. d4d5 2. Nf3Nc6 3. c4e6 4. Nc3dxc4 5. e3Nf6 6. Bxc4Bb4 7. O-OBxc3 8. bxc3O-O 9. Qc2Ne7 10. Ba3c6 11. e4h6 12. Rad1Bd7 13. Ne5Re8 14. f4Qc7 15. f5Rad8 16. Nxf7Kxf7 17. e5Neg8 18. Bd6Qc8 19. Qe2b5 20. Bb3a5 21. Rde1a4 22. Qh5+Nxh5 23. fxe6+Kg6 24. Bc2+Kg5 25. Rf5+Kg6 26. Rf6+Kg5 27. Rg6+Kh4 28. Re4+Nf4 29. Rxf4+Kh5 30. g3
- Seize the Initiative
This talent of Chess grandmaster Alexander Alekhine is the main domain of his life in which he shined best. He was able to find unique ideas either posed practical problems for his opponent or sharpened his struggles. Alexander Alekhine is the inventor of this playing style. This technique was further refined by other chess grandmasters such as Kasparov, Tal, and Geller.
- Expertise in Endgame Techniques
The hallmark of great chess champions is their flawless end-game expertise. Alexander Alekhine also had an excellent end-game and was a matchless player in that department. The best things that chess players can learn from Alexander’s games are his end-game skills and his schematic way of thinking. He played his end-games with grand plans or sometimes mini-plans.
- 3rd Rank Queen
Alexander was famous for positioning his queen at right squares on board. One of his expertise is to move the queen along the 3rd rank. You might be thinking of the specialty of 3rd ran; it is a very important rank for consideration of the queen’s importance. If this is too far, then it is risked by attacks from opponent pieces. But it should not be so near to home that it becomes a source of passive risks. Its ideal spot is in-between.
- Beauty of Chess
Games of Alekhine have been fair to them. He can create beautiful and creative tactics. By studying and understanding his games, you can learn a lot of things such as delicate chess pieces play, endless possibilities, and must appreciate the beauty of chess.
“Chess for me is not a game, but an art. Yes, and I take upon myself all those responsibilities which an art imposes on its adherents.” Alexander Alekhine