Euwe's Most Brilliant Victory Over Alekhine - Best of the 30s - Euwe vs. Alekhine, 1935
In 1935, Max Euwe shocked the world by winning a World Chess Championship match against the great Alexander Alekhine. Euwe's success was so surprising to the chess world that Euwe's reputation as a world champion has often been quite small. I think many would list him last in status among all of the World Chess Champions, and some have argued that his victory was largely attributable to alcoholism on the part of Alekhine.
I think this diminution of the great Euwe is quite unfair though. Euwe's contributions to chess are legion. He won brilliant fighting games in all of his active years from the 1920s through to the 1950s, he authored many outstanding chess books, he served as well respected President of FIDE, and he did ALL of this while essentially being an amateur. His primary profession was mathematics, and he was an accomplished academic.
In the 1935 match, Euwe started with only 1/4, but it was a long match, and the further the match was contested, the better Euwe performed against Alekhine. Still the match was very close right to the end. Today's game is the most beloved of the match, and with victory in this 26trh game, Euwe established a 2-point lead which Alekhine could not overcome with only four remaining games.
Top 10 Games of the 1930s
- #1: ????
- #2: Euwe vs. Alekhine, 1935
- #3: Botvinnik vs. Capablanca, 1935
- #4: Keres vs. Dyckhoff, 1935
- #5: Korchmar vs. Poliak, 1937
- #6: Lilienthal vs. Capablanca, 1935
- #7: Botvinnik vs. Flohr, 1933
- #8: Alekhine vs. Lasker, 1934
- #9: Euwe vs. Lasker, 1934
- #10: Parr vs. Wheatcroft, 1938
- See also: Top 10 of the 1940s, Top 10 of the 1950s, Top 10 of the 1960s, Top 10 of the 1970s, Top 10 of the 1980s, Top 10 of the 1990s, Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s
For this battle, Alekhine picked the Dutch Defense, a provocative choice which may have indicated that he was already in must-win mode. This provocation proved a poor one though as Euwe got a comfortable advantage despite not selecting the most challenging moves. Euwe's 17.f4! is a particularly nice positional move which gains a big advantage which he capitalized on with 21.Nxf5!!, sacrificing a piece for three pawns. In fact, this excellent decision could easily have backfired as Alekhine's vigorous response created turmoil and many ways for Euwe to go wrong. Despite a few inaccuracies, Euwe was able to push back Alekhine's forces and eventually push through his mighty passed pawns.
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I'm the Head of Community for Chess.com. I earned the National Master title in 2012, and in 2014, I returned to my home state of South Carolina to start Strategery: Chess and Games. In late 2015, I began working for Chess.com and haven't looked back since.
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