My Favorite Game Of. Number 10.Alexander Alekhine.
Well, I am back after a delay, with a change of plan!!
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin!.
This time last week, our third grandchild was born. A boy.
He was named Xander - probably after some character in gaming, or sci-fi, but of course we know more!!
So, what can I do under the circumstances but to ditch my other projects and do this little post.
What can I say about Alexander Alekhine. He was simply one of the greats of the game we love, who has probably given more pleasure to true chess lovers than any other player. He was everything! Great player in terms of results, massively important and influential, a true chess artist, and producer of perhaps the greatest chess legacy of any player in history.
I have written elsewhere that if you only ever study one chess player, that player has to be Alekhine..
My favorite of all the things that I have seen written about him is by an author called Martin Beheim, in one of the first chess game anthologies that I ever read. 'If God granted me the gift of being able to play chess like any player who has ever lived, I would choose to play like Alekhine'. As someone who has studied them all, I would say 'Me Too!!!'
So, choosing my favorite game, from a cast of hundreds. I have two.
One is for personal reasons. The last time that I played my dear, dear friend Barry Wood, I managed to win. The game was awarded a best game prize, donated by Chess Magazine, of the book 'Cambridge Chess' , and a black and yellow tie, with the word CHESS in many languages embroidered into it. The prize was presented to me by - Barry Wood. At the end of the game I mentioned that I had got the idea for the winning combination from the famous game Grunfeld -Alekhine. Barry was on good terms with Alekhine, and from the reaction written into his face I had obviously stirred up some memories.
That was the last time that I saw both him, and his wife, the incredible Marjorie.
Groucho Marx once said about the boxing legend Benny Leonard, 'There wasn't a jew in New York - man or woman - who wasn't in love with Benny Leonard'. My paraphrase would be 'There wasn't a chess player in Britain - man or woman - who wasn't in love with Marjorie Wood'.
She treated me like a son - she had at least 2 of her own, who I knew well. The most gracious, wonderful woman imaginable, and the Grunfeld - Alekhine game always makes me think of Barry and Marjorie.
But enough of my Dylanesque chains of thought, and on to the game that I have chosen as my favorite.
A wonderful picture from the Stockholm City Museum, that was linked on Winter's chesshistory site.
I know the following game from Alekhine's 'My Best Games of Chess 1908-1923. Alekhine was one of the great annotators, and was at his best in that period. The Tournament books of Hastings 1922 and New York 1924 are classics. Utterly brilliant works.
His opponent was one of the players interred after the Mannheim 1914 event, along with Alekhine himself, and others. So, here's a thing. Looking for a picture of him, i found the following on wikipedia.
I am not so sure about it!! There is a wonderful picture of the 1925 Soviet championships.
I have done a snapshot with Selesniev top right, in the White shirt, and Ilya Rabinowitch bottom left, in the white suit. They look very similar, but i can't help thinking that the wikpedia image might just be Rabinowitch, not Selezniev!! You can make up your own minds!
I just wish that the photos were clearer!
As those of you who have followed this series will know, my favorite games of various players are not necessarily their best known, and rarely of the one sided 'Opera Box Brilliancy' type. I love a real battle of chess ideas, with players having to fight for the point, and, despite massive competition (!) my Alekhine favorite is in that catagory. The incredible note - with a couple of my additions - are from the above book. I have kept the original descriptive in the game comments out of laziness!!!
Feel free to post, or suggest, your own Alekhine favorite,
Enjoy the game!
