Max Euwe (Fifth World Chess Champion) Bio

Max Euwe

Fifth World Chess Champion

Max Euwe was the fifth World Chess Champion. He lived from May 20,1901 to November 25, 1981 Euwe was a Dutch world chess champion. He became the fifth world chess champion when he defeated Alexander Alekhine in 1935 and defended his title until 1937 when Alekhine regained his crown.

Euwe was renowned for his logical approach and for his knowledge of openings, in which he made major contributions. He was also gifted at calculating extremely complex positions.

Max Euwe was a productive writer. He wrote over 70 books about chess; including The Road to Chess Master, Judgment and Planning in Chess, and The Logical Approach to Chess. From 1970 to 1978 Euwe  was the FIDE president.As president, he usually did what he considered morally right rather than what was politically expedient. On several occasions this brought him into conflict with the Soviet Chess Federation, which thought it had the right to predominate matters because it contributed a very large share of FIDE's budget and Soviet players dominated the world rankings – in effect they treated chess as an extension of the Cold War.

Euwe versus Alekhine, 1937

1. Nf3Nf6 2. c4e6 3. Nc3d5 4. d4c5 5. Bg5cd4 6. Nd4e5 7. Nf3d4 8. Nd5Nc6 9. e4Be7 10. Bf6Bf6 11. b4O-O 12. Bd3a5 13. a3Be6 14. Rb1ab4 15. ab4Be7 16. O-Of6 17. Qc2Kh8 18. c5Ra3 19. Bc4f5 20. Ne7Qe7 21. Bd5Rc3 22. Qd2fe4 23. Be4Bf5 24. Bf5Rf5 25. Rfe1Rcf3 26. gf3Qh4 27. Re4Qh3 28. Rg4Qf3 29. Rg3Qe4 30. Ra1h6 31. b5Ne7 32. c6Rf8 33. Qb4Re8 34. c7Nd5 35. Qd6Nf4 36. Qd8Ne2 37. Kf1Ng3 38. hg3Qh1 39. Ke2Qh5 40. Kd2Qf7 41. Ke1