AVRO 1938

In 1938, the Dutch broadcasting company Algemeene Vereeniging Radio Omroep (AVRO) sponsored an international chess tournament. A goal was to provide a challenger for the current World Chess Champion.

In the bigger picture, Dale Brandreth writes that “the hope was to resolve the continually thorny problem of the personal ownership of the title of World Champion—a dilemma that had bedeviled this ancient game’s elite since the time of its first generally recognized champion, Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900)” [Robert Sherwood and Dale Brandreth, AVRO 1938 International Chess Tournament, ed. Dale Brandreth, Caissa Editions (Yorklyn, DE, 2010), v.] The practice of titleholders negotiating their own arrangements with potential challengers led to numerous problems. When the Championship became vacant in 1946, the administration of the World Championship was taken over by FIDE.

AVRO featured eight of the strongest players in the world: Keres, Fine, Botvinnik, Euwe, Reschevsky, Alekhine, Capablanca, and Flohr. The tournament was played from November 8-27, 1938. The games rotated among ten Dutch cities. AVRO has said to be “up to that time the strongest tournament ever held” (https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1006941).

Among resources for the AVRO Tournament (1938) are:

            The superb tournament book AVRO 1938 International Chess Tournament mentioned above.

https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-greatest-chess-tournaments-of-all-time#avro-1938

https://www.chess.com/article/view/amazing-tournaments---part-i---1938-avro---nederland

http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/SingleEvent.asp?Params=1935100SSSS3S000000000000111100201300000010100

https://en.chessbase.com/post/avro-round-9-alekhine-wins-against-capablanca

https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/disorder.html

https://thereaderwiki.com/en/AVRO_tournament

Here’s a special treat:

J.R. Capablanca speaking English in a Radio Interview on his 50th birthday: This occurred occurred during the AVRO Tournament on November 19, 1938:

https://twitter.com/olimpiuurcan/status/1487692212301287425

This Crossword gives a ‘flavor’ of the tournament. It features some quotes from players. While these are not ‘well-known quotes,’ they do give a sense of what some were thinking—and saying at AVRO.

I hope you enjoy this famous tournament!

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