The One Champion No One Talks About

Hello everyone, and welcome!

Today, I'll be going over a master who forever changed the course of the chess world. This man was a highly influential person known for his sportsmanship, powerful and exciting playstyle, and for being one of the few highly competitive chess players of his time who were technically amateurs. 

Some of you may already know who I'm talking about - If that's you, don't stop reading! There will almost certainly be something in here you've never heard before. If you have absolutely no idea who I'm talking about or even if you don't recognize some of the names on the list below (although if you don't know who Magnus Carlsen is, you'd better Google him, because he's kinda important), keep reading, because I guarantee that you will learn some fascinating chess history. Most people know about the world champions of chess - famous names like:

-Alexander Alekhine

-Bobby Fischer

-Anatoly Karpov

-Boris Spassky

-Ding Liren

-Gukesh Dommaraju

And of course, the ever-famous 

-Magnus Carlsen

Each one was a unique and strong chess player and a distinct person, and each shared the common trait of having been a world Champion at least once.

BUT...

There's one master who was on par with these that almost no one has heard of, and even fewer know much about him.

This master's name was Machgielis "Max" Euwe.

He was one of the most influential figures of the 20th-century chess scene, but he's hardly ever recognized for his achievements or impact. Before we look at him, though, we should understand something about many of the other world champions and reveal the real reason he's often underestimated and downplayed in chess history. I've picked four of the most important champions to research and share a little bit about. If you think I've missed a really important one, let me know in the comments, and maybe I'll write a new post about it. (If you're not interested in reading about those masters, you can skip ahead a few paragraphs, but it really will help with context.)

The first world chess champion was named Wilhelm Steinitz. Born in 1836, Steinitz was an extremely influential chess player and writer. He was one of the first advocates for the new scientific style of play (along with figures like Paul Morphy), as most players of the time played in the thrilling, tactical, breathtaking Romantic Style. However, for all his contributions to the chess world, he was known by some to be irritable or unfriendly. (This view may have stemmed from the fact that he was at odds with many of the top players of the time because his new "Scientific" style was seen by some to be boring, slow, or downright cowardly.) Here is one of his most famous games to study and take a break from reading . Feel free to skip it if you want.

Another highly influential character in the early modern chessic world was Alexander Alekhine. He was a very aggressive player who held the title for years with his brilliant play. He invented Alekhine's Defense, a very risky and aggressive opening where black responds to 1. e4 with 1....Nf6. The knight typically gets kicked around for a few moves, leading to sharp and difficult play. However, despite his contributions to chess, he was a very morally questionable person. Firstly, he was very aggressive and had a quick temper, but that in itself is not so bad. He also drank heavily, but his biggest crime was a blight on his reputation for his entire career and even after his death. During World War II, at the height of anti-semitism and the persecution of Jews, Alekhine, who was living in Germany at the time, was backed by the Nazis and wrote multiple extremely racist, anti-semitic essays about chess. In his essays, he ranted against Jews and their slow, Scientific approach, and stated that he hoped that Lasker would be the last Jewish chess champion, asking:

"Can we hope that with Lasker's death, the death of the second and probably the last Jewish World Chess Champion, Aryan Chess, misguided so long by Jewish defensive thinking, will find its way to the top?"

 His essay continues with this theme. However, later in life, after the Nazis were slowed in WWII, Alekhine disavowed and denied writing each essay. 

Unfortunately, after his death, the original drafts were found in his handwriting.

Here's an Alekhine game that features Alekhine's defense for another break from reading.

The third champion I want to talk about is also one of the most well-known. Born in 1943, Bobby Fischer was one of the most influential masters of his time. He rose quickly onto the American National chess scene, winning major tournaments at 13 and becoming a grandmaster at 15. He then singlehandedly countered the Soviet Chess Machine (called so because it often did slightly unsportsmanlike things at official tournaments) and became world champion, taking the title from Boris Spassky. He was an American hero, and chess had never been so popular.

Then he quit. Turning down millions of endorsement dollars, he quit chess. After stating that he would allow ordinary people a crack at his title, he refused to defend it, even against Anatoly Karpov, and because he was a legitimate challenger, the title was stripped from Fischer and given to Karpov. Fischer spent much of his later life ranting about "Jews, secret Jews, CIA rats that work for the Jews," even though his mother was Jewish. He spent his late life paranoid and reclusive, and was exiled from America after playing a game that broke U.S. economic sanctions.

This is Fischer's famous game 6 against Spassky, which Fischer won.

The last master I would like to discuss was Garry Kasparov. He was an extremely powerful player who was best known for his match against Deep Blue, the first really strong chess computer. The match ultimately ended in a draw, with one win for each, and the rest were draws. He was and still is one of the most normal Grandmasters, a Russian political activist and writer. He also held the record for the highest rating before Magnus Carlsen. 

Here's a Kasparov game for study, played against Deep Blue.

Credit to Chess.com for the commentary. Kasparov played white and won after a long struggle.

Finally, I'd like to give an honorable mention to Magnus Carlsen. He is likely the strongest player of all time (although many modern GMs come close, e.g., Gukesh or Hikaru), and he also contributed a huge amount to making chess more mainstream and popular. He is also a good sport, even if he does sometimes arrive late to games.

I'm sure you can find a Magnus Carlsen game to study without any effort .

Let's take a quick break.

*Pause. Pour a glass of water. Sit down. Catch Breath. Enjoy the interlude.*

(Alekhine is on a plane, and is asked by a stranger who doesn't recognize him for a quick game to pass the time.)

Alekhine removes a rook.

Stranger: "Why are you giving me rook odds? You don't even know who I am!"

Alekhine: *Raises Eyebrow* "If I couldn't give you rook odds, I would know who you were."

Back on topic.

Are you starting to see the pattern of world champions yet? Each one was eccentric at least, and others went downright insane. Many were unpleasant people, and each one also had a very signature playing style. Each one was very, very unique.

Max Euwe was also a world champion. Born in May 1901, Euwe grew up in a modest family in Amsterdam. He was introduced to chess at age four and won his first tournament at age 10. Early on, it was shown that he had a passion for mathematics and balanced serious chess with his academic career. In 1935, at age 34, he went up against Alexander Alekhine for the world championships. After a brilliant and close match, Euwe came out on top with a score of 14.5 to 15.5. However, he had one of the shortest reigns as champion, as Alekhine came back after two years and won a rematch. He was, however, a very strong player.

One thing that distinguished Max Euwe from his contemporaries was the fact that he was a true amateur. While his opponents like Alekhine and other top players devoted their lives solely to chess, Euwe was also a mathematician and professor. He fit a world champion's work into his already busy schedule and managed to still come out on top. He's an example to all of us chess amateurs who feel too busy to play chess.

Max Euwe's achievements didn't end in top play, however. He went on to be FIDE president for 8 years from 1970 to 1978. He was, in addition to his skill in chess, a skilled negotiator and politician. In a time of political turmoil, the middle of the Cold War, and the height of the Soviet Chess Regime, Euwe kept FIDE diverse and thriving, even though the two biggest world powers were also at the top of the chess world. Euwe helped negotiate with Bobby Fischer during his antics before his match with Spassky. He helped to negotiate with Russia after two GMs defected and Russia insisted they should not play in official tournaments. 

I've already given you a story about Alekhine playing chess on a plane-Here's one about Euwe:
Euwe was on a plane, and a passing stranger asked him if he'd like to pass the time with a game of chess. Euwe quickly defeated him, even allowing him to make some illegal moves. Later, when the man was heard to be complaining that he was beaten by a man who didn't even know the rules, Euwe was too modest to reveal his identity.

Max Euwe was known for his very strong strategic playstyle. He prepared extensively before games and was never hesitant to enter into sharp tactical positions he had analyzed thoroughly-and he had analyzed almost all of them. He was known for out-of-game prep and maintained great physical and mental health to be better able to endure long matches. Even though there were clocks, classical games still took hours, if not days. His 1935 match took a full 80 days. Imagine playing a chess match- 30 games in a row, over a period of 80 full days, against none other than Alexander Alekhine, one of the most aggressive players of all time... It was probably extremely intense.

Another contribution Euwe made was writing-he wrote extensively about chess, publishing at least 70 chess books. He wrote about everything from tactics and strategy to analysis and preparation. His chess genius was reinforced through his vision and he still stands as one of the most prolific chess authors to this day.

Euwe was also one of the most sportsmanlike players of his time. During his match against Alekhine, the last match of the World Championships, Alekhine made a major blunder, hanging a piece for no real gain in the match. After Euwe pointed it out, Alekhine attributed it to being slightly inebriated.

A lesser player would have jumped on the opportunity-quickly taking the advantage and crushing Alekhine.

Euwe didn't.

Instead, he moved the piece back to where it was before...

And asked if Alekhine would like to make a different move.

Euwe was one of the greatest chess players of all time, not because he was stronger or more brilliant, but because he was a true sportsman who loved the game and his fellow players.

So why isn't he as well-known as Alekhine, or Fischer, or Carlsen, or Dommaraju?

Old players were well known for their quirks and strange personalities. Modern masters are glamorized and spectated on social media.

And that's why Euwe isn't well-known. In the age before social media, Euwe just didn't have an entertaining enough personality- people gossiped about Fischer's aggression and quirks, Steinitz had too many enemies not to be known, and Kasparov was humanity's greatest representative in our struggle against machines.

But Euwe? He was just a strong chess player who loved the game and played it for fun.

Bobby Fischer went as far as to say of him, "That man is too normal! There must be something wrong with him!"

And that is the real reason that Machgielis "Max" Euwe is never talked about. Not because he wasn't brilliant, not because he wasn't strong, but because he was too normal. Euwe was one of the most brilliant players of the modern age, and he deserves far more recognition than he gets. 

Here's one of Euwe's best games from his first match with Alekhine.

From the start of the game, Euwe, playing white, had strong control of the center. Move 21 features a brilliant bishop sacrifice to destroy his opponent's pawn center, and he spent the rest of the game inching his pawns forward to promotion. At the end, Alekhine resigned.
It is important to note that Euwe had studied this opening extensively and likely had predicted that Alekhine would play it at some point in their match.

In conclusion, Euwe was a very strong player and a very good person who did a whole lot for the chess world and doesn't really get the credit he deserves. He was a great person who left a huge impact on the chess world.