4THWorld chess champion

Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine was world champion 1927–1935, 1937–1946, for 17 years. He won the title in 1927, beating José Raúl Capablanca 18½–15½ in Buenos Aires.

Born: 31 October 1892 · Moscow, Russia
Died: 24 March 1946 · Hotel do Parque, Estoril, Portugal
Learned chess: Introduced to chess by his mother, his older brother Alexei and his older sister Varvara
Profiles: FIDE World Chess Museum Wikipedia Chessmetrics

17 years
World champion, 2 reigns: 4 of 5
Title events won or kept: 2860
Peak (Chessmetrics), May 1931: 2906
On today's scale: 6th of 18

Every title event

Year	Opponent	Score	Result	Games	Where
1927	José Raúl Capablanca	18½–15½	Won	+6 −3 =25	Buenos Aires
1929	Efim Bogoljubow	15½–9½	Won	+11 −5 =9	Wiesbaden (1–8, 24–25), Heidelberg (9–11), Berlin (12–17), The Hague (18–19, 23), Rotterdam (20), Amsterdam (21–22)
1934	Efim Bogoljubow	15½–10½	Won	+8 −3 =15	12 cities
1935	Max Euwe	15½–14½	Lost	+8 −9 =13	12 cities
1937	Max Euwe	15½–9½	Won	+10 −4 =11	9 cities

Across 5 title matches, Alekhine won 43 games, lost 24 and drew 73: a score of 56.8% of the points against the best player of his day.

Scores are listed winner first; a dash means the match wasn't played or was a tournament. Games are won, lost and drawn (+ − =) from Alekhine's side, counted from chessgames.com and shown only where they add up to the official score. Source: Wikipedia, List of World Chess Championships.

Honours

4
World championship titles: 1
National championships: 2
Olympiad board golds

Each year links to its source. World championship titles are title events won or kept. Olympiad board golds are the best score on a board. Most of these events didn't exist before the 1920s.

Compare all 18 champions' honours

Impact at home: Russia and France

InstitutionsWon the inaugural national tournament in Soviet Russia, later designated the first USSR Chess Championship source
HonoursHad to wait for a new French naturalisation law, published in August 1927, to become a French citizen source
HonoursHis naturalization in France established the French transliteration of his name as the standard international spelling source
PoliticsDeclared an enemy of the Soviet Union after an anti-Bolshevik statement in 1928, then gradually rehabilitated by the Soviet chess elite after his death in 1946 source
PoliticsIn 1941, articles appeared under his name in the Pariser Zeitung, a newspaper of the German occupying forces in Paris source

Rivalries

Capablanca v AlekhineTitle event 1927

9 wins33 draws · 49 games7 wins

Alekhine v EuweTitle events 1935, 1937

28 wins38 draws · 86 games20 wins

How strong was Alekhine?

Alexander Alekhine's best years came before FIDE's first rating list (July 1971). On Chessmetrics, Jeff Sonas's historical rating system, he peaked at 2860 in May 1931.

That month the best other player was José Capablanca, at 2786: Alekhine was 74 points clear. The top 10 averaged 2730; on today's scale (FIDE's Nov 2026 top 10 average 2777) his peak is about 2906, 6th of the 18 champions. How this is worked out.

Chessmetrics also ranks him 6th of all time on three-year average (2841, 1930-Jan to 1932-Dec). Source.

The road to the title

1909
All-Russian Amateur Tournament (Saint Petersburg)^[1]
First place
1909
Among Russia's top players^[1]
Established by 16
1914-05
St. Petersburg 1914 Chess Tournament^[1]
Third place behind Lasker and Capablanca
Behind only Lasker and Capablanca
1920-10
All-Russian Chess Olympiad (Moscow)^[1]
Won, unbeaten (+9−0=6)
Later counted as the first USSR Championship
1927-11-29
World Chess Championship Match vs. Jose Raul Capablanca (Buenos Aires)^[1]
Won +6−3=25
Became the fourth world champion
1927
A surprise^[1]
He had never beaten Capablanca before the match
The result surprised almost the entire chess world

What Alekhine changed about chess

openingGave his name to Alekhine's Defence and several other opening variations.^[1]
trainingBotvinnik wrote that the Soviet school of chess learned from Alekhine's fighting qualities, capacity for self-criticism and combinative vision.^[1]

Achievements

1946World champion 1927–1935 and 1937–1946, the only champion to die holding the title^[1]
1930–1931San Remo 1930 (+13=2, 3½ points clear) and Bled 1931 (+15=11, 5½ points clear)^[1]
1920-10Won the 1920 All-Russian Olympiad, later counted as the first USSR Championship^[1]
1937Lost the title to Euwe in 1935 and won it back in the 1937 rematch^[1]
1927-11-29Won the 1927 title match against Capablanca in Buenos Aires, +6−3=25^[1]

Famous games

Richard Reti v Alexander Alekhine, Baden-Baden 1925 · 0–1^[1]
A combination that forces the win of White's knight on b7 in twelve moves.
Alexander Alekhine
Richard Reti
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41. 0–1
Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).
Game score: chessgames.com
Alexander Alekhine v Aron Nimzowitsch, San Remo 1930 · 1–0^[2]
The game that gave "Alekhine's gun" its name: queen and rooks doubled behind each other on a file.
Aron Nimzowitsch
Alexander Alekhine
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31. 1–0
Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).
Game score: chessgames.com
Alexander Alekhine v Jose Raul Capablanca, World Chess Championship 1927, game 34 1927 · 1-0^[1]
The last game of the match that made him champion.
Jose Raul Capablanca
Alexander Alekhine
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83. 1-0
Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).
Game score: chessgames.com

In his words

"I study chess eight hours a day, on principle."^[3]

"Chess first of all teaches you to be objective."^[3]

"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."^[3]

Quick answers

When was Alexander Alekhine world chess champion?

1927–1935, 1937–1946: 17 years. He won the title in 1927, beating José Raúl Capablanca 18½–15½ in Buenos Aires.

Sources

[1] en.wikipedia.org: "In 1909, he won the All-Russian Amateur Tournament in Saint Petersburg."
[2] en.wikipedia.org: "after a game he played against Aron Nimzowitsch in San Remo, in 1930, ending with Alekhine's decisive victory."
[3] en.wikiquote.org: "I study chess eight hours a day, on principle."