5THWorld chess champion

Max Euwe

Max Euwe was world champion 1935–1937, for 2 years. He won the title in 1935, beating Alexander Alekhine 15½–14½ in 12 cities.

Born: 20 May 1901 · Watergraafsmeer, Netherlands
Died: 26 November 1981 · Amsterdam, Netherlands
Learned chess: Played his first tournament at 10, winning every game
Profiles: FIDE World Chess Museum Wikipedia Chessmetrics

2 years
World champion: 1 of 2
Title events won or kept: 2769
Peak (Chessmetrics), Jan 1936: 2834
On today's scale: 10th of 18

Every title event

Year	Opponent	Score	Result	Games	Where
1935	Alexander Alekhine	15½–14½	Won	+9 −8 =13	12 cities
1937	Alexander Alekhine	15½–9½	Lost	+4 −10 =11	9 cities

Across 2 title matches, Euwe won 13 games, lost 18 and drew 24: a score of 45.5% of the points.

Scores are listed winner first; a dash means the match wasn't played or was a tournament. Games are won, lost and drawn (+ − =) from Euwe'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

1
World championship titles: 12
National championships

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: Netherlands

GrowthHis world title gave a huge boost to chess in the Netherlands source
HonoursWon 12 Dutch championships, still a record source
InstitutionsPresident of FIDE from 1970 to 1978 source
PoliticsAs FIDE president he came into conflict with the USSR Chess Federation on several occasions source
InstitutionsTravelled widely as FIDE president, bringing many new members into the organisation source
PlayersPlayed for the Netherlands at seven Chess Olympiads source

Rivalries

Alekhine v EuweTitle events 1935, 1937

28 wins38 draws · 86 games20 wins

How strong was Euwe?

Max Euwe's best years came before FIDE's first rating list (July 1971). On Chessmetrics, Jeff Sonas's historical rating system, he peaked at 2769 in Jan 1936.

That month the best other player was Alexander Alekhine, at 2758: Euwe was 11 points clear. The top 10 averaged 2711; on today's scale (FIDE's Nov 2026 top 10 average 2777) his peak is about 2834, 10th of the 18 champions. How this is worked out.

Chessmetrics also ranks him 40th of all time on three-year average (2750, 1935-Jan to 1937-Dec). Source.

The road to the title

1911
First tournament^[1]
Won every game, at 10
1921–1952
Dutch Chess Championship^[1]
12 national titles, a record
Won every Dutch championship he entered from 1921 to 1952, and again in 1955
1926
Doctorate in Mathematics^[1]
Doctorate under Roland Weitzenböck
1929
Mathematical Analysis of Chess Rules^[1]
Showed the rules of the time did not rule out infinite games
Using the Thue–Morse sequence
1932
Match against Salo Flohr^[1]
Drawn match
With his other results, it made Euwe and Flohr Alekhine's most credible challengers, according to Reuben Fine
1934
Zürich 1934 International Tournament^[1]
Equal second with Flohr, behind Alekhine
He beat Alekhine in their game
1935-12-15
World Chess Championship Match vs. Alexander Alekhine^[1]
Won 15½–14½
30 games in 13 Dutch cities over 80 days; became the fifth world champion

What Euwe changed about chess

organisationAs FIDE President, he usually did what he considered morally right rather than what was politically expedient.^[1]
popularityHis title gave a huge boost to chess in the Netherlands.^[1]
organisationAs FIDE President he travelled extensively, bringing many new members into the organisation.^[1]

Achievements

1935-12-15The fifth world champion (1935–1937)^[1]
1955A record 12 Dutch championships (1921–1955)^[1]
1970–1978FIDE President, 1970–1978^[1]
1970–1978As FIDE President, travelled widely and brought many new members into FIDE^[1]
1935-12-15The 1935 match was the first world championship in which the players had seconds to help with adjourned games^[1]

Famous games

Max Euwe v Alexander Alekhine, World Chess Championship 1935, game 26 (Zandvoort) 1935 · 1–0^[2]
Tartakower called it "the Pearl of Zandvoort".
Alexander Alekhine
Max Euwe
Start position
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48. 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
Efim Geller v Max Euwe, Zurich Candidates 1953 1953 · 0–1^[2]
Geller's attack seemed to sweep Euwe off the board, but a sacrifice on move 22 began a winning counterattack.
Max Euwe
Efim Geller
Start position
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27. 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
Salo Flohr v Max Euwe, Flohr–Euwe match 1932, game 1 1932 · 1-0^[2]
Flohr won with what Wikipedia calls a textbook minority attack: a lesson Euwe was on the wrong side of.
Max Euwe
Salo Flohr
Start position
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47. 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

"Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation."^[3]

"I honestly feel very humble when I study Capablanca 's games."^[3]

"Alekhine is a poet who creates a work of art out of something that would hardly inspire another man to send home a picture post card."^[3]

Quick answers

When was Max Euwe world chess champion?

1935–1937: 2 years. He won the title in 1935, beating Alexander Alekhine 15½–14½ in 12 cities.

Sources

[1] en.wikipedia.org: "Euwe played his first tournament at age 10, winning every game."
[2] en.wikipedia.org: "This decisive game from the 1935 match for the world championship was dubbed 'The Pearl of Zandvoort' by Tartakower."
[3] en.wikiquote.org: "Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation."