Play Chess Against Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946), the fourth world champion, whose combinations expanded what attack could mean, sits across the board. Set the strength, clock, color and starting position, then press Start game.

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Portrait of Alexander Alekhine — Alexander Alekhine, 1892-1946.

Black · Alexander Alekhine10:00

Choose the settings, then press Start game.

White · You10:00

Alexander Alekhinehistorical player

Preparing the board.

Set the game on the right. Start unlocks the board and starts the side-to-move clock.

Set up your game against Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine stays selected. Choose the playing strength, clock, color and starting position.

OpponentAlexander AlekhineStrength1500Clock10+5You playWhite

Opponent

Alexander Alekhine remains selected while you choose the settings for this game.

Alexander Alekhine1892-1946

Playing strength

Legend playing strength100-point steps

1500

1500Alekhine, 1500 Elo target2600

Time control

The first number is the starting time in minutes. The second is the increment after each completed legal move.

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Starting position optional

All chess legends

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About Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine playing Edgard Colle in 1925

Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) took the crown from the seemingly unbeatable Capablanca in 1927 and held it, with one interruption, until his death. His chess was built on deep preparation and calculation; he hunted combinations in positions where others saw only quiet maneuvering. At San Remo 1930 and Bled 1931 he won by margins that elite tournaments had never seen. He is the only champion to lose the title and win it back in a match, and the only one to die still wearing the crown.

4th world championBeat Capablanca in Buenos Aires in 1927, 6 wins to 3 with 25 draws

Won the title backLost to Euwe in 1935, then won the 1937 rematch, still a unique feat

San Remo 1930: 14 of 15Scored 14 points from 15 games, three and a half clear of Nimzowitsch

Alekhine's DefenceIntroduced 1.e4 Nf6 at Budapest 1921, an opening still played at every level

1892
Born in Moscow
Born on 31 October 1892 into a wealthy Moscow family. His mother taught him the game, and he was playing by correspondence as a teenager.
1914
Star at St Petersburg
Finished third at the great St Petersburg tournament behind Lasker and Capablanca, by tradition one of the five first grandmasters.
1920
First Soviet champion
Won the first USSR championship in Moscow, a year before leaving Soviet Russia for good.
1921
Emigrates to France
Left Russia in 1921 and settled in Paris, taking French citizenship in 1927.
1927
Dethrones Capablanca
In Buenos Aires he beat the champion 6-3 with 25 draws, a result almost no one had predicted. He had prepared for years while Capablanca had coasted.
1930
San Remo perfection
Scored 14 out of 15 at San Remo, three and a half points ahead of Nimzowitsch, then won Bled 1931 by five and a half.
1935
Loses the crown
Lost the title match to Max Euwe in the Netherlands by a single point, 14.5-15.5.
1937
Champion again
Won the rematch decisively, 15.5-9.5, the only player ever to regain the undisputed world championship in a match.
1946
Dies still champion
Died in Estoril, Portugal, on 24 March 1946, the only world champion to die holding the title.