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Alekhine... "In 1935, an international team tournament was held in Warsaw. Alekhine played top board for France, of which he was a naturalized citizen. However, on this trip he arrived at the Polish border without a passport. When the officials asked him for his papers he replied: "I am Alekhine, chess champion of the world. I have a cat called Chess. I do not need papers.' The matter had to be cleared up by the authorities." Reuben Fine. The Psychology of the Chess Player. He's one of the strongest players who ever lived. He was World Champion for a total of, like, 17 years! A record that hasn't been broken. He's also the only player to die with the title. Some have calculated his historical rating to be around 2650 but don't you believe it. If he was alive today he could beat anyone including Fischer. But Alekhine was also a bit of a badass. Take a look at these fun Alekhine facts. Alekhine was an alleged member of the Communist Party. He spent two weeks in a prison accused of being a spy. Once Alekhine had beaten Capablanca for the title, Alekhine totally avoided his former Cuban friend refusing to even mention his name in public. The rules at the time said that the Champion decided when rematches would occur and Alekine used every trick in the book to stall long enough to ensure that it never took place. Alekhine was a heavy drinker. He once appeared at an event so inebriated that he began to urinate on the floor. During his 1935 match with Euwe, he was found before a game lying drunk in a field. He was married five times and became impotent early in life. During World War II, Alekhine became a Nazi collaborator. He would often bring his cat with him to tournaments and would have him by his side while he played! He had a pair coveralls with a picture of a cat on them that he would wear to psyche out his opponent! In his book, The Psychology of the Chess Player Reuben Fine, calls Alekhine, the "sadist of the chess world." Here's a great story. Once, Alekhine was scheduled to give a simultaneous exhibition for 40 boards. Well, a high ranking politician showed up and wanted to play so a 41st board was added. When Alekhine reached that board, he overturned the table . He was Russian but defected to France or something. The Russians tried to have him killed as a result. But after his death, the Russians embraced him, calling him "Russia's greatest player." Nice.

The Admins. of ACC have come up with a plan to help all those that seek help in their development in chess. It is a mentoring program. Here are the details of said program. First, we need volunteers for coaches. The requirement for a coach is that you are willing to coach another member of our group. These coaches may not charge for this service nor request or require any favors of any kind. Hence voluntary. This activity is to increase the overall performance of a student and to improve our group rating. Any one interested in being a coach please contact on of the Admins. Once we have coaches we will post them in a locked forum with their names and ratings. Any one that is interested is free to comb the list, select the coach of his/her choice, Than message one of the Admins. with the request and the two of you will be introduced. Students are requested to keep tabs on their mentor; we need the mentors to be active in this activity and we would like to know how well you believe your mentor is at mentoring! With this in mind, let us consider the mentoring program open for business! We need volunteer mentors to message one of the Admins. Thank you for your support

This forum goes beyond the forum of asking, discussion, explaining and helping forum. This is meat and patatoes where we will dive into your games looking for the good bad and the ugly. Not only do your moves come into question your plans as well. Only games with the Alekhine, no matter if you were playing white or black.

Biography by Bill WallAlexander Alexanderovich Alekhine was born on October 31, 1892 (Halloween) in Moscow. His father was a wealthy landowner, a Marshall of the Nobility and the member of the Duma. His mother was an heiress of an industrial fortune. His older brother, Alexei, played chess and was able to draw Pillsbury when Pillsbury gave a simultaneous blindfold display in Moscow on 22 boards. Until World War I, he spelled his last name Aljechin.Alexander learned chess from his brother and mother around 1903. By 1904 he was playing correspondence chess.At age 16 he entered the Imperial High School for Law in Moscow and was exposed to more chess. In 1908 he played a match with Benjamin Blumenfeld, a Russian master, and won with 7 wins and 3 losses.In February, 1909 Alekhine traveled to Saint Petersburg and won a tournament that gained him the Russian master title.In July, 1910 Alekhine participated in the 17th German Congress in Hamburg and ended up in 7th place (Carl Schlecter took 1st place).In 1911 Alekhine defeated Stepan Levitzky, a Russian master, in a match, scoring 7 wins and 3 losses. In August he played in Carlsbad 1911 and ended up in 8th place (won by Richard Teichman).In July, 1912 he won a minor tournament in Stockholm.In 1914, at the age of 22, he won his first major tournament when he tied for first place with Aron Nimzovich in St. Petersburg. A few months later another major tournament was held in St. Petersburg in which he took third place behind Emanuel Lasker and Jose Capablanca. Czar Nicholas II conferred the title "Grandmaster of Chess" to Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, and Marshall after they took the top five places at St. Petersburg.In July-August of 1914 Alekhine was leading an international chess tournament, the 19th German Chess Federation Congress in Mannheim, Germany with 9 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss when World War I broke out. He was taken to Rastatt, Germany as a prisoner of war. He feigned madness and the Germans released him as unfit for military service in September, 1914.Alekhine made his way back to Russia where he served in the Red Cross on the Austrian front. In 1915 he was wounded and captured by the Austrians. He had suffered a contusion of the spine and was hospitalized at Tarnapol where he developed his blindfold chess skills. After the war the Russians decorated him for bravery.At the end of the war he finished his legal training and worked at the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department as a magistrate. In 1919 he traveled to Odessa and was briefly imprisoned in their death cell suspected of being a spy.In 1920 Alekhine returned to Moscow and married a Russian baroness several years older than he. He had already fathered an illegitimate daughter in 1913. Alekhine started working in a film studio intending to be an actor.In October, 1920 Alekhine won the first USSR chess championship in Moscow. In 1921 he drew a match against Richard Teichmann with two wins, two draws, and two losses. He then took first place at Triberg, Budapest, and The Hague.In 1921 Alekhine joined the Communist Party and became a translator for the Communist International and the secretary of the Communist Education Department. He then left his wife and the Soviet Union and settled in Paris where he married a Swiss Comintern delegate, Anneliese Ruegg. A few months later he abandoned his older second wife and went to Berlin. He won three straight tournaments in Triberg, Budapest, and The Hague. In Budapest he popularized what is now called the Alekhine's defense.In 1922 he took second in London, behind Capablanca, and first at Hastings. In 1923 he tied for first at Carlsbad with Bogoljubov and Maroczy. In 1924 he took 3rd place in New York, behind Lasker and Capablanca. In 1925 Alekhine won a tournament in Baden-Baden. This was the first international tournament in Germany since World War I.In 1925 Alekhine became an naturalized French citizen, entered the Sorbonne Law School, and wrote his thesis on the Chinese prison system. He did not get his PhD or law degree, though, only completing two of the four stages required for the degree.In February 1925 Alekhine broke the world blindfold record by playing 28 games blindfold simultaneously, winning 22, drawing 3 and losing 3. He then took first place at Baden-Baden with 12 wins and 8 draws.In 1926-7 Alekhine beat Max Euwe in a match with 3 wins, 5 draws, and 2 losses. Alekhine then challenged Jose Capablanca for the world championship. Alekhine had just married for the third time to another person much older than him, Nadezda Vasiliev. She was the widow of a high-ranking Russian officer. In March, 1927 Alekhine took second place, behind Capablanca, in New York, with 5 wins, 13 draws, and 2 losses. In July he won at Kecskemet 1927. He was now ready to meet Capablanca for the world championship after putting up $10,000 in gold.Jose Capablanca accepted the challenge and began their world championship match in Buenos Aires on September 16, 1927. By November 29, 1927 Alekhine beat Capablanca with 6 wins, 25 draws, and 3 losses. The only time-out was when Alekhine had 6 teeth extracted during the match. Alekhine became the 4th official world champion of chess after Steinitz, Lasker, and Capablanca. All the games in Buenos Aires took place behind closed doors. There were no spectators or photographs.Alekhine avoided Capablanca's challenge of a re-match and took on Bogoljubov at Weisbaden in September, 1929. Alekhine won with 11 wins, 9 draws, and 5 losses. He avoided Capablanca by insisting that the winner get $10,000 in gold, just as he got on Buenos Aires. But after the stock market crash, there were no backers.At the 1930 Chess Olympiad he scored his first 100% score when he won all 9 games as board one for France.From 1929 to 1932 Alekhine took first place at San Remo (performace rating of 2812), Bled, London, and Pasadena. Alekhine was also giving large simultaneous exhibitions. In 1932 he was playing up to 300 opponents simultaneously from New York to Paris.In 1933 he played 32 people blindfold simultaneously in Chicago, winning 19, drawing 9, and losing 4 games. He traveled the world giving simultaneous exhibitions, including Shanghai. He was made an honorary Colonel in the Mexican army and appointed as chess instructor for the Mexican army.In 1934 Alekhine married for the 4th time to a lady 16 years older than he, Grace Wishart. She was the widow of an Enlishman and retained her British nationality. He had met her at a minor chess tournament which she had won. Her prize was one of Alekhine's books. She asked him to sign the book and their relationship developed from that moment.In 1934 Alekhine defeated Bogoljubov for the world championship in Baden-Baden with the score of 8 wins, 15 draws and 3 losses. He then accepted a challenge from Max Euwe.On October 3, 1935 the world championship match between Alekhine and Euwe began in Zandvort for $10,000 to the winner. On December 15, 1935 Euwe had won with 9 wins, 13 draws, and 8 losses. This was the first world championship match to officially have seconds.In 1936 Alekhine played in Nottingham which was won by Capablanca and Botvinnik. Alekhine ended up in 6th place. His game with Capablanca was the first time they had met since the world championship match in 1927.Alekhine asked for a rematch and got it in 1937 where Alekhine defeated Euwe in Holland with 10 wins, 11 draws and 4 losses. At the 1938 AVRO tournament in Holland, the top eight players in the world participated. This was the strongest tournament ever held. First place was $550. Alekhine, for the first time in his life, came ahead of Capablanca. Capablanca, for the first time in his life, scored below 50%. Flohr, the official challenger to Alekhine in the next world championship match (called off because of World War II) came in last place without a single win in 14 rounds.Alekhine was representing France on board 1 at the chess olympiad in Buenos Aires when World War II broke out. As team captain of the French team, he refused to allow his team to play Germany. He returned to France to enlist in the army and became an interpreter. When France was over-run he tried to go to America by travelling to Lisbon and applying for an American visa. To protect his wife and their French assets, he agreed to cooperate with the Nazis. He wrote six articles critical of Jewish chess players and participated in Nazi chess tournament is Munich, Salzburg, Warsaw, and Prague. By 1943 Alekhine was spending all his time in Spain and Portugal as the German representative to chess events. After World War II he was not invited to chess tournaments because of his Nazi affiliation. In 1946 he was about to accept a match title with Botvinnik. On the evening of March 23 or early March 24, 1946 Alekhine died in his hotel room in Estoril, Portugal. Some say he died of a heart attack. Others say he choked on an unchewed piece of meat. The body was not buried for three weeks as no one claimed the body. Finally, the Portugese Chess Federation took charge of the funeral. Less than a dozen folks showed up for his burial.In 1947 the FIDE Congress voted for Euwe to be the world champion since Alekhine died. However, the Soviet delegation was late for this vote. The next day, after protest from the Soviet delegation, the title was rescinded in favor of a match-tournament which Botvinnik won.In 1956 the USSR and French Chess Federation agreed to transfer his remains to the cemetary in Montparnasse, Paris. FIDE provided the tombsone. It is in the shape of a chess board made out of red granite and there is a bust of him made out of marble. The birth and death date on Alekhine's tombstone is wrong. The tombstone reads: ALEXANDER ALEKHINE1ST NOVEMBER, 189225TH MARCH, 1946CHESS WORLD CHAMPION1927-35-37 TO THE END.In world championship play, Alekhine won 43 games, drew 73 games, and lost 24 games for a total of 140 games, with a 56.8% win ratio. He was world champion for 17 years, playing in 5 world championship matches.Alekhine played over 1000 tournament games, scoring 73 percent in his games. His historical ELO rating has been calculated to be 2690.

Since our first vote chess game is starting soon, I'd like to implement some rules first, which I think are really important to enjoy vote chess. These rules are based on the assumption that vote chess should be mainly focused on discussing the position and the different move alternatives. That given, it doesn't make sense to just go to the vote chess, take a quick look, and then vote without discussing anything, because without discussions it's not really different from a normal game and we don't learn anything from it. WARNING: Drive-by voter. What is a drive-by voter? You may be one and not know it. It is a voter who does not wait for the call and just immediately votes for their favorite move. At ACC we do not want the drive-by voter for these voters can lead to incorrect moves and lead to a lose. Vote chess is not all about winning though! Every VC match will have a leader. Mandatory leaders are admins and super-admins It is important that you track the comments, so that you can actively take part in the discussion. When you see this picture Do not vote Discuss This means that the discussion is open and everyone should think about the position and post what move he/she thinks is best, but no one should vote. After the first 48 hours we should hopefully come to a conclusion about what is the best move/ are the best moves. Then this picture Vote! together with the best move we have found in the previous discussion. If there is no consensus on a single move after 48 hours, all the alternatives, which have not been ruled out, are put to the vote. This means that you now can and should vote for the move(s), over which we found a consensus. That should be all to guarantee a good vote chess experience. If you haven't understood something, just ask me. But most probably everyone will understand after the first few moves in our first vote chess. To take part in the discussion, it is important that you track the comments!

What is the need of an introduction to the Alekhine? Is it so you can memorize moves or me to write platitudes which are numerous. NO! So what is the real reason for this forum? It is so you can create a difference or series of differences in the respective positions and then develop your pieces around these facts so that, hopefully, these differences will eventually favor you. This is the real purpose of any opening and it is why one studies in the first place. With that said: This form is for those that are new to the Alekhine. I will say that I am not a good chess player, so with that said, one wonders what can I expect from this opening? I will try to cover the basics of the Alekhine. So if you want to counter-attack on move one than this is worth reading. Timothy Taylor said " I will warn you in advance, White will throw a lot of junk at this defence and one has to take this junk seriously, for one will face it much more often than the critical lines. Most people view the cheeky knight counter as some kind of nonsense that can be met with any junk lying about." Alexander Alekhine introduced this in Budapest 1921 What is the reason for this move? Black is inviting White to over extend his pawns This is known as the four pawn attack. We can see how white has over extended his pawns they are beyond the protection of knights and bishops. Modern Lines: The White Pawn Wedge The goal for white is this: maintain a king-side space advantage due to the pawn wedge at e5. This pawn interferes with black's king-side defences and may prove to be a pivotal factor as white prepares to attack Black's king. This said pawn may also move forward as an obstructive sac on e6. This can be extremely dangerous. How should one handle this? White Pawn Wedge/Larsen Variation Let us look at the position here what does one see? We notice that the pawn wedge is gone and that a knight is on our side of the board. A clear strategical idea for black is to take advantage of this by fianchetto the King's bishop since the g7 to d4 diagonal is unblocked by a pawn and hits the knight as well. The reason I mention this line is that you might see this more often than the White pawn wedge. White Pawn Wedge/Carlsen Veriation Here we see that Black is not committed to the king-side fianchetto, although this can still happen, one can also develop a bishop on the a3-f8 diagonal via e7 or d6. So we see the flexibility as one advantage the other is there is no potential check on a4 which can be important early. Downside of this should be obvious it does not prepare to develop a piece. Classical lines: the exchange, four pawn attack and the chase. Exchange Variation Black has to know a couple of things: First, how to recapture, there are three legal captures. Here we see that positional play is needed for each way gives a different position. Let us look at these three positions. A) One can capture this way, you need to know that the Voronezh Variation places a huge wrench in black's play. For said variation makes use of whites queen-side pawn advantage and evacuates the long diagonal preventing counter-play from black's fianchettoed dark square bishop. White's position is very easy to play while black's play will be difficult bordering on insane. B) One advantage to capture this way is that the king's bishop need not fianchetto thus one is slightly ahead in development and white's advantage is space. Black is cramped so if black exchanges one pair of minor pieces you will be fine. This is the preferred way to recapture. C) This is tactically sound although white will fork the black queen and black's answer is to check the king on e6. Black's queen just takes two moves to block her own bishop. Now there are eleven games where this move has been played white won ten of them and black only won one. So you need to decide do I want to win or lose? So we can see that how one recaptures effects the game. Three ways three different games Black will play. Four pawn attack This is a direct attempt to refute to the Alekhine's Defence. Since the massive pawn centre could lead to a quick mating attack. The feeling of those who play the Alekhine is that this is more for show than bite. One should look to fianchetto the king's bishop a daring move

On behalf of all the Admins. I would like to welcome you to our group. This group has many aspects. Besides the obvious that of studying the Alekhine Defence, our hope is that you will also make friends along the way. Since chess is all about knowledge for the difference between you and a GM is that they have more of it we try to offer a well rounded understanding of chess. Yes, we do understand that this cite offers many videos on chess yet, these videos can not answer questions that you might have. Below is a brief bio of Alekhine. Alekhine was born into a wealthy family in Moscow, Russia on October 31, 1892.His father Alexander Ivanovich Alekhine was a landowner and Privy Councilor to the conservative legislative Fourth Duma.His mother, Anisya Ivanovna Alekhina (born Prokhorova), was the daughter of a rich industrialist. Alekhine was first introduced to chess by his mother, and older brother, Alexei, and an older sister, Varvara (Barbara). Alekhine's peak period was in the early 1930s, when he won almost every tournament he played, sometimes by huge margins. Afterward, his play declined, and he never won a top-class tournament after 1934. After Alekhine regained his world title in 1937, there were several new contenders, all of whom would have been serious challengers. Alekhine was one of the greatest attacking players and could apparently produce combinations at will. What set him apart from most other attacking players was his ability to see the potential for an attack and prepare for it in positions where others saw nothing. Rudolf Spielmann, a master tactician who produced many brilliancies, said, "I can see the combinations as well as Alekhine, but I cannot get to the same positions." Dr. Max Euwe said, "Alekhine is a poet who creates a work of art out of something that would hardly inspire another man to send home a picture post-card."An explanation offered by Reti was, "he beats his opponents by analysing simple and apparently harmless sequences of moves in order to see whether at some time or another at the end of it an original possibility, and therefore one difficult to see, might be hidden." John Nunn commented that "Alekhine had a special ability to provoke complications without taking excessive risks", and Edward Winter called him "the supreme genius of the complicated position."Some of Alekhine's combinations are so complex that even modern champions and contenders disagree in their analyses of them. Alekhine's games have a higher percentage of wins than those of any other World Champion, and his drawn games are on average among the longest of all champions'.His desire to win extended beyond formal chess competition. When Fine beat him in some casual games in 1933, Alekhine demanded a match for a small stake. And in table tennis, which Alekhine played enthusiastically but badly, he would often crush the ball when he lost. Not many bios of Alekhine go into his game Game Philosophy I did find one though and this is what they had said about Alekhine's philosophy. Alekhine's style took ideas from all the various schools of thought. He developed and integrated them together into a new dynamic chess. Combined with his determination to win, and immense capacity for work, he became one of the most effective players in his era. He refined Lasker's approach to chess (of making the opponent play in uncomfortable positions to their style), by giving his opponents the opportunity to overindulge in their very own style of play! Examples include beating Capablanca in simple chess, out complicating Nimzovich, and luring Reti into enormously idea-rich positions!

This forum is an introduction to pawns and their structure. Before we can move forward one has to look to the past and see where it began. So this day you yes, you the reader will embark on a journey for it is you where the past, present and future all reside and get a glimpse of a modest chess piece the pawn, and bestow honor upon it as those that came before you have done. ( The below exerts are taken from Drazen Marovic book Understanding pawn play in chess.) " Pawns are the very life of this Game: They alone form the Attack and the Defence. This solemn statement by Philidor, bestowing such honours on the modest pawns. Philidor's small booklet was published in London in 1749 and is remembered under the title of its first addition-"L'analyze des echecs". A long time was to pass before the ideas expressed by Philidor were understood properly, but the famous French musician and chess-player saw the role of pawns from and unconventional angle and much ahead of his time. Insisting on harmonious relations between pawns and pieces, Philidor cast new light on development and the centre. He understood those deeply-hidden relations between pawns and pieces that condition any serious plan on the board. .... the game took on new traits- of balance and restraint. Howard Staunton, exploring such niceties as the restrained engagement of pawns, play against double pawns or blockade. He broadened Philidor's views of pawn formations, formulating ideas that Aron Nimzowitsch and Richard Reti were to extend over half a century later. Adolf Andersen and Paul Morphy nourished some other convictions. Putting it most concisely, theirs was an age marked by a strong movement from the intellectual to a new, emotional culture, in which the aim of art in general was not to teach but to excite, which preferred freedom to discipline, personal taste to stereotypes. The leading chess players, sharing the spiritual climate, did not try to formulate a frame of general maxims in the good tradition of common sense like Philidor. They relied on their feeling, their intuition. A game of chess was primarily a fruit of personal taste, and individual creation. .. Pawns lost their meaning and important in the construction of the game. It was no longer the pawns that shaped attack and defence. The centre often disintegrated, games became an open battle, with pawns cannon-fodder, and the build -up of the central formations was gone. However, the end of the 19th century, not surprisingly, brought a new turn. In the foundations of the 19th century there was a stressed tendency to formulate systematically the mass of existing knowledge and thus to express general laws of development. It was not by chance that Wilhelm Steinitz belongs to that epoch. He came as a lawgiver and the core of this teaching was the law of balance. According to Steinitz, a game of chess runs equal until some blunder, or a series of small errors, disturbs the balance and tips the scale to one or the other side. This general law took the form of practical advise and various maxims. Steinitz insisted on the building of positions, and therefore on the elements on which positional advantages are built. Together with weak squares, open files, the bishop-pair, ect, ect., there was again talk of pawns. Pawns were resurrected. In order to keep the balance one had to fight for the centre, to occupy it, to share it. 1 d4 was met by 1 ...d5, the strong points in the centre were held as long as normal development was possible behind the central pawn structure, which became significant. It was firm, symmetrical. sharing influence on the vital central squares. The Queen's Gambit and related systems became the fashion of the day and pawns got a new lease of life. However, changes started to take place characterizing the play of a group of great players and theoreticians in the first decades of the 20th century. They called themselves 'hypermoderns' and revolted against the dominant dry and somewhat dogmatic style of Steinitnz's followers. Aron Nimzowitsch and Richard Reti. [T]he hypermoderns warned. "there are no general, constantly valid rules". "We are interested in exceptions, not rules", declares the motto of the movement. Looking behind the mass of notions and assertions expressed by Nimzowitsch, we find that the core of the new teaching lies in the new concept of the centre and pawn-structures. While the classical chess insisted on pawn symmetry, the hypermoderns introduced the concept of control by pieces. The restricted engagement of pawns in the early phase of the game led to a number of new opening systems. Simultaneously, for the first time in the history of chess, all sorts of pawn-formations were studied in all the phases of the game. What we know today we owe in great part to Aron Nimzowitsch. The new teaching about the centre focused on them and their subtle interrelation with pieces. After the Second World War, this tendency manifested itself in modern opening systems like the Sicilian and Benoni. [A]s early as the 1940's and 1950's David Bronstein and Isaak Boleslavsky went further than Nimzowitsch, expressing the conviction that Black should neither seek symmetry in the centre nor try to control it. One should cede the centre, they proclaimed, finish development as soon as possible, and then try to fix and undermined the opponent's centre by side-blows. The key was to fix the centre, which meant to provoke a blockade, and sap the centre of its dynamic potential. They relied on the simple, universal truth that whatever is fixed, immobile, has a tendency to grow weaker. It was exactly on these new propositions that new, modern opening systems were introduced, with the King's Indian Defence conspicuous among them. The destiny of pawns in chess, there rise and fall, is interwoven into the patterns of change. The period that discarded them were followed by those in which rational play was based on them. Our time has finally absorbed the experience of previous centuries, understood fully the pawns' intrinsic values and the varied roles they can play in a game of chess. Today we are aware indeed that they form the backbone of opening systems, that it really is the pawns that shape in a unique way attack and defence. The intention of this and the following forums is to explore the nature of pawns and the basic forms in which they appear.

Cheaters & Cheating: What you Need to Know What are the rules? No chess programs or engines (e.g. Chessmaster, Fritz, Houdini, Stockfish, Chessbase with any active UCI engine, etc.) can be used to analyse positions in ongoing games. In turn-based chess, you may consult books or databases (including the Chess.com Explorer) for opening moves. "Tablebases," which are specialized databases of particular endgame positions, may NOT be used. In Live Chess, no outside assistance OF ANY KIND is permitted. Fixing game results by playing with multiple accounts or losing intentionally is also considered cheating How do I report someone I think is cheating? If you have reason to believe someone is cheating, please report it here and include all relevant info (username, reason for suspicion, etc). We investigate all reports and keep them confidential. Please do not discuss your suspicions in the forums! How does Chess.com detect cheating? Part of our analysis involves comparing human moves to computer moves and looking at statistical significance. To remain effective, other aspects of our detection methods are confidential. How often does Chess.com catch cheaters? We are constantly going through our top players and submitting them to our cheat-detection process. We close many accounts each week (including those of premium members). Note that we publish the usernames of cheaters caught on this page. What happens to a player who is found to be cheating on Chess.com? We close their account immediately; all games in progress are awarded to their opponents We put a permanent message on the upper right of their profile page to inform the community of the reason for the closure We publish their username in a list of caught cheaters. We do not and can not "restore" other users' ratings to what they would be in an alternate dimension where the cheater never existed! (Don't worry - just keep playing; encountering a cheater in your chess career won't make any difference in the long run.) How long does someone cheat before chess.com finds out? We need a certain amount of game-data before we can make an informed & accurate judgement about a member. It varies. What should I do if my opponent accuses me of cheating? Assuming that you are NOT actually cheating, our advice is to simply disable chat and continue your game. Your opponent may be frustrated, bewildered by your superior skills, or just trying to rattle you! If you want, you can also add the accuser to your blocked-player list so they cannot contact you again. If I reported someone for cheating, why hasn't their account been closed? We appreciate you reporting the suspected cheating, but ultimately we will decide on if they were cheating or not. If we have not closed their account then the evidence is not conclusive. You closed the account of someone I know - I'm sure they weren't cheating! Sorry that you are upset. Unfortunately, people do cheat - sometimes even really nice people. Again, we only close accounts when we are absolutely certain, not because of suspicion. Can someone appeal if their account is closed? We are happy to listen, but generally speaking, appeals are unsuccessful The usual pattern is that the member denies cheating and demands proof, and then we maintain that they were indeed cheating and we're not at liberty to disclose how we proved it: Pretty futile. Why do people cheat? Our best guess is a lack of respect for their opponents and for the game - often combined with low self-esteem. What does Chess.com think about cheating? Cheating is a terrible disease all over the world of online chess. Our policies are clear & strict; they are also faithfully enforced. We feel we are extremely effective in identifying and dealing with most cheaters. What does Chess.com recommend that we do/think about cheating? Forget about it! If you are rated below 2000, you are NOT going to encounter a lot of cheaters If you are rated above 2000, rest assured that we are always checking top players and evolving our detection methods Enjoy your chess, tell us if you have concerns about a given member, and let US worry about the cheaters! Note also that, to keep our regular forums free of a subject that tends to cause unnecessary anxiety, we have created a special group forum for discussions of cheating in online chess. Please restrict your comments on the subject (if any!) to that group forum. Thank you! http://support.chess.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/124/0/cheaters--cheating-what-you-need-to-know

Tournament and match play Simon Alapin, Vilna 1912 Victor Berger, Margate 1937 Ossip Bernstein, Paris 1933 (match, +1=2−1) Arturo Bonet, Gijon 1945 Efim Bogoljubow, St. Petersburg 1913/14, Triberg 1921 ("secret match", +1=2−1), Margate 1923, Wiesbaden−Berlin−Amsterdam 1929 (World Championship match, +5=9−11), Berne 1932, Germany 1934 (World Championship match, +3=15−8), Bad Nauheim−Stuttgart−Garmisch 1937 (Quadrangular), Salzburg 1942, Warsaw−Lublin−Kraków 1942, Warsaw 1943 (match, +1=0−1) Mikhail Botvinnik, The Netherlands (AVRO) 1938 Amos Burn, Carlsbad 1911 José Raúl Capablanca, St. Petersburg 1913 (exhibition match, +2=0−0), St. Petersburg 1914 (two games), New York 1927, Buenos Aires 1927 (World Championship match, +3=25−6), Nottingham 1936 Arthur Dake, Pasadena 1932 Dawid Daniuszewski, St. Petersburg 1909 Oldřich Duras, Hamburg 1910 Fyodor Duz-Khotimirsky, St. Petersburg 1912 (exhibition game) Max Euwe, Amsterdam 1926/27 (match, +2=5−3), Zurich 1934, The Netherlands 1935 (World Championship match, +9=13−8), Amsterdam 1936, Bad Nauheim−Stuttgart−Garmisch 1937 (Quadrangular), The Netherlands 1937 (World Championship match, +4=11−10), The Hague 1937 (exhibition match, +2=2−1) Alexander Evensohn, Kiev 1916 (match, +1=0−2) Hans Fahrni (U16), Munich 1908 (match, +1=1−1) Reuben Fine, Margate 1937, The Netherlands (AVRO) 1938 (two games) Leó Forgács, Hamburg 1910 Sergey von Freymann, Vilna 1912 Joel Fridlizius, Stockholm 1912 Karl Gilg, Semmering 1926 Bernhard Gregory, St. Petersburg 1913/14 Ernst Grünfeld, Vienna 1922 Dawid Janowski, Scheveningen 1913, Mannheim 1914 Paul Johner, Carlsbad 1911 Klaus Junge, Salzburg 1942 Paul Keres, Margate 1937 Boris Koyalovich, St. Petersburg 1912 Emanuel Lasker, St. Petersburg 1914 (two games), New York 1924 Paul Saladin Leonhardt, Carlsbad 1911 Grigory Levenfish, St. Petersburg 1913 Stepan Levitsky, Vilna 1912, St. Petersburg 1913 (match, +3=0−7) F. López Núñez, Almeria 1945 Moishe Lowtzky, St. Petersburg 1913/14 Francisco Lupi, Caceres 1945, Estoril 1946 (match, +1=1−2) Hermanis Matisons, Prague 1931 (4th Chess Olympiad) Antonio Medina, Gijon 1945 Walter Michel, Berne 1925 (Quadrangular) Vladas Mikėnas, Kemeri 1937 Oskar Naegeli, Berne 1932 (Quadrangular) Vladimir Nenarokov (U16), Moscow 1908 (match, +3=0−0) M. Neumann (U16), Düsseldorf 1908 Bjørn Nielsen, Munich 1941 Aron Nimzowitsch, St. Petersburg 1914 (play-off match, +1=0−1), Semmering 1926, New York 1927 Karel Opočenský, Munich 1941 Nikolay Pavlov-Pianov, Moscow 1920 (match, +1=0−1) Julius Perlis, Carlsbad 1911 Vladimirs Petrovs, Margate 1938 Abram Rabinovich, Carlsbad 1911 Ilya Rabinovich, St. Petersburg 1914 (exhibition game) Ludwig Rellstab, Munich 1942 Samuel Reshevsky, Nottingham 1936 Richard Réti, New York 1924 Peter Romanovsky, St. Petersburg 1909 Akiba Rubinstein, Moscow 1909 (exhibition game), Carlsbad 1911, Vilna 1912, Vienna 1922 Carl Schlechter, Hamburg 1910, Carlsbad 1911 Vasily Osipovich Smyslov, St. Petersburg 1912 Rudolf Spielmann, Carlsbad 1911, Carlsbad 1923 Siegbert Tarrasch, Hamburg 1910 Savielly Tartakower, Bad Pistyan 1922, Folkestone 1933 (5th Chess Olympiad) Richard Teichmann, Carlsbad 1911, Berlin 1921 (match, +2=2−2) Karel Treybal, Carlsbad 1923 Milan Vidmar, Semmering 1926 A. Wiarda (U16), Düsseldorf 1908 Heinrich Wolf, Vienna 1922 Frederick Yates, Hastings 1922, Carlsbad 1923 Wikipedia.com

By Alekhine During a Chess competition a Chessmaster should be a combination of a beast of prey and a monk. When asked, "How is that you pick better moves than your opponents?", I responded: I'm very glad you asked that, because, as it happems, there is a very simple answer. I think up my own moves, and I make my opponent think up his. Play on both sides of the board is my favourite strategy. The fact that a player is very short of time is to my mind, as little to be considered as an excuse as, for instance, the statement of the law-breaker that he was drunk at the time he committed the crime. Chigorin's talent is enormous, and possibly he is a real genius. At times the depth of his ideas can be inaccessible to mere mortals. … Pillsbury aspired for the candle of his life to burn constantly at both ends. 'Wine, women, and not harmless songs, but strong cigars' - this was Pillsbury's principle in life. Lasker was my teacher, and without him I could not have become whom I became. The idea of chess art is unthinkable without Emanuel Lasker. Never before and never since have I seen - and I cannot even imagine, such an amazing rapidity of chess thinking that Capablanca possessed in 1913-14. In blitz games he gave all the St. Petersburg players odds of five minutes to one - and he won. Reti is the only grandmaster whose moves are often completely unexpected to me. Capablanca was snatched too early from the chess world. With his death we have lost a great chess genius, the like of whom we will never see again. I do not play chess - I fight at chess. Therefore I willingly combine the tactical with the strategic, the fantastic with the scientific, the combinative with the positional, and I aim to respond to the demands of each given position … For my victory over Capablanca I am indebted primarily to my superiority in the field of psychology. Capablanca played, relying almost exclusively on his rich intuitive talent. But for the chess struggle nowadays one needs a subtle knowledge of human nature, an understanding of the opponent's psychology. I consider chess an art, and accept all those responsibilities which art places upon its devotees. (My first tournament victory) endowed me with a curious psychological weakness which I have had to work long and hard to eradicate - if indeed I have eradicated it! - the impression that I could always, or nearly always, when in a bad position, conjure up some unexpected combination to extricate me from my difficulties. A dangerous delusion. Chess is a matter of vanity. Chess will always be the master of us all. "Oh! this opponent, this collaborator against his will, whose notion of Beauty always differs from yours and whose means (strength, imagination, technique) are often too limited to help you effectively! What torment, to have your thinking and your fantasy tied down by another person!" Euwe's chess talent is in origin purely tactical - unlike that of such masters as Steinitz, Rubinstein, Capablanca, and Niemtsovitch. But he is a tactician who is determined at all costs to become a good strategist, and by dint of a great deal of hard work he has had some measure of success. The infallible criterion by which to distinguish the true from the would-be strategist is the degree of originality of his conceptions. It makes little difference whether this originality is carried to excess, as was the case with Steinitz and Nimzowitsch. During a chess tournament a master must envisage himself as a cross between an ascetic monk and a beast of prey. Young players expose themselves to grave risks when they blindly imitate the innovations of masters without themselves first checking all the details and consequences of these innovations. Playing for complications is an extreme measure that a player should adopt only when he cannot find a clear and logical plan. Psychology is the most important factor in chess. I did not believe I was superior to him. Perhaps the chief reason for his defeat was the overestimation of his own powers arising out of his overwhelming victory in New York, 1927, and his underestimation of mine. - (0n Capablanca) During a Chess competition a Chessmaster should be a combination of a beast of prey and a monk. On Alekhine He deals with us like inexperienced fledglings. - (after a 19 move loss vs. Alekhine in Bled 1931) - Aaron Nimzowitsch It is said that Alekhine sometimes got so excited with the position that he jumped up from the board and ran round it 'like a hawk'. - Alexander Kotov Alekhine believed it essential for every strong player to develop in himself 'unwavering attention, which must isolate the player completely from the world around him'. - Alexander Kotov He won a number of well-known games, by right from the opening holding his opponent in a vice prepared at home. And his grip was strong: after seizing his victim, he would no longer release him. - Anatoly Karpov Alekhine developed as a player much more slowly than most. In his twenties, he was an atrocious chessplayer, and didn't mature until he was well into his thirties. - Bobby Fischer Alekhine is a player I've never really understood. He always wanted a superior centre; he manoeuvred his pieces toward the kingside, and around the 25th move, began to mate his opponent. He disliked exchanges, preferring to play with many pieces on the board. His play was fantastically complicated, more so than any player before or since. - Bobby Fischer He considered that chess was closest to an art, and he was able to demonstrate this with his optimistic, eternally youthful play. - Boris Spassky … I recalled the story about Alekhine, who after a lost game, threw his king far away. Though I am far from Alekhine's genius, I could understand him at that moment. - Borislav Ivkov Who else in chess history has won so many serious games with the help of brilliant tactical strokes? - Garry Kasparov The inspirational games of Alekander Alekhine, my first chess hero, find a place alongside the inspirational character of Winston Churchill, whose words and books I still turn to regularly. - Garry Kasparov I knew Alekhine very well and he was perfectly sane; there is not a scrap of evidence that he was anything other than a chess genius who was perfectly sane either over the board or away from it. - Harry Golombek Alekhine evidently possesses the most remarkable chess memory that has ever existed. It is said that he remembers by heart all the games played by the leading masters during the last 15-20 years. - Jose Capablanca The great World Champions Morphy, Steinitz, and Lasker were past masters in the art of Pawn play; they had no superiors in their handling of endgames. The present World Champion has not the strength of the other three as an endgame player, and is therefore inferior to them. - Jose Capablanca … at the chessboard he was mighty, away from chess … he was like a little boy who would get up to mischief and naively think that no one was watching him. - Max Euwe As a person Alekhine was an enigma. He was focused on his chess and on himself to such a degree that in our countries he was jokingly called 'Alein-ich' (in German 'I am alone'). With such a frame of mind he could not have any real friends, only admirers and supporters. - Max Euwe Not without reason is he famed as a conoisseur of opening theory. To gain some advantage from the opening is vital to him, and he is willing to risk any difficulty or even hazard to attain, as quickly as possible, a position in which he feels at home. - Max Euwe Alekhine's real genius is in the preparation and construction of a position, long before combinations or mating attacks come into consideration at all. - Max Euwe He is a poet who creates a work of art out of something which would hardly inspire another man to send home a picture postcard. - Max Euwe Alekhine is dear to the chess world, mainly as an artist. Typical of him are deep plans, far-sighted calculation and inexhaustible imagination. - Mikhail Botvinnik In Alekhine we are captivated by his exceptional combinative talent and his whole-hearted love for chess. - Mikhail Tal Much of Alekhine's theoretical work in the openings sprang from his refusal to accept the prevalent notion that Black, because he moves second, must be satisfied to overcome White's natural initiative and achieve theoretical equality. - Pal Benko I can comprehend Alekhine's combinations well enough; but where he gets his attacking chances from and how he infuses such life into the very opening - that is beyond me. Give me the positions he obtains, and I should seldom falter. - Rudolph Spielmann The name of Alekhine is illuminated by the brilliance of his chess combinations. Alekhine possesssed an exceptionally rich chess imagination, and his skill in creating combinative complications is incomparable. - Vasily Smyslov When Alekhine recognizes the weakness in his position he has a tendency to become very aggressive. Patient defence is not for him if he can see the slightest chance of creating an attack. Yet sound strategy often demands that you submit to the opponent's will so as to strengthen your weaknesses and get rid of defects in your game. - Emanuel Lasker When I was a child I liked the games of Capablanca, and later I was captivated by Alekhine's play. - Vladimir Kramnik © 2012 ChessQuotes.com.

Samuel Reshevsky said "We often hear the terms "positional" and "tactical" used as opposites. But this is as wrong as to consider a painting's composition unrelated to its subject. The business of the chess player is to conceive practical objectives and to plan and carry out the maneuvers necessary to achieve them; the objectives, the plans, the maneuvers---all must be based on the possibilities inherent in actual positions. Thus chess is by definition positional. Tactical play is concerned with the immediate details of executing the maneuvers necessary to the success of the plan and the attainment of the objective." Since chess is by nature positional, should we not study positions? Yes, unlike tactics positions can be repeated. There are characteristics in every position. Week squares, open lines, poorly defended king, badly placed piece and many more -- these are called positional themes. A chess player needs to recognize them and know how to use them to plan logically. It has bee known for hundreds of years that a positional advantage is a prerequisite for a successful attack. To give thought to a chess position is not easy and requires time. It is hard work yet, the work put in will reward you time and time again. So how does one start? Well Jacob Aagaard gives us some insight on this when he said " One of the main defects in our thinking which we have rid ourselves of so that chess positions can open themselves up to us in all their glory, is a forcing way of thinking. This is closely linked to assumptions and thus also to blundering. To think outside the box is basically what unforcing thinking is all about. It is to solve the problems in a concrete fashion. It is never knowing for sure that you have found the best move before you have gone really deeply into a position." So I will post a position on Monday and you have all week to study the given position and discuss it as well. I do this in the hope that we can learn and gain knowledge that will help us in our games. This not just moving a piece for one should explain why they are making said move/s as well. It the explanation of move/s that goes to knowledge. It may be that one does not know how to proceed for one might be use to solving this position the way one would solve a tactical problem. Yet this is different than tactics. So I will give some guidance. A chess player is always faced with a question when it comes to positions. What shall I do in this position? Before we can intelligently answer that question we need to ask ourselves How is this position to be evaluated? There are five questions that help us in our evaluation and they are: 1. Am I ahead, behind, or evven in material? 2. Are my Pawns well placed and how do they compare with my opponent's? 3. How much freedom of action do my pieces have, and is my degree of mobility greater than my opponent's? 4. are the Kings safe or exposed to attack? 5. What is the threat? Once these are answered we can evaluate the position as superior, equal, or inferior, form plans and proceed accordingly.

This topic is aimed at questions you have regarding the Alekhine Defence If you had problems when playing certain lines of the Alekhine, if you don't know how you should play in certain positions, if you don't know what plans to follow in a variation, or if you have lost a game and don't really know where you went wrong, this is the place to go. I will try to answer as many questions as possible and if I don't find a satisfying solution or answer, maybe others can help. So just post positions and variations as well as links to your games here, when you have a question you want to ask. The only thing you have to be careful about is not to ask questions about games that are still going on, because it is regarded as cheating.

This is the first time Alekhine use the Alekhine defense in a tournament. Hope u enjoy!

Original patina, never polished. Excellent chess tips, insight into games and commentary/kibbitzing. Must have available socket to plug the glass eye into. Not compatible with dual eye heads. Make offers

"Белый снег России"\"White snow of Russia"(Belyy sneg Rossii) This is the story about fourth world champion, magnificent Russian chess player Aleksander Alekhin. The true reflection of his entire life, immigration, fantastic matches vs. Max Euve, two his basically unsuccessful marriages and following loneliness, fight against alcohol abuse, difficult life under German occupation during WW2 and consequent death far from Russia where he always wanted to return to.Alekhin, probably the most brilliant Russian chess player, had such dramatic life that writer didn't need to tell something superfluous except facts to make novell more interesting. Everybody who likes true and dramatic stories should watch this movie. Country: Soviet Union Language: Russian Year: 1980 Runtime: 91 min Sound Mix: Mono Color: Color

I started a team in honor of Alekhine! It is to benefit folding@home to find cures for diseases. Alekhine would approve because he found cures for diseased chess playing. If you run folding@home, join team 230545 to show your support for the Alekhine Defense.

Carlsen is the next World Champion? Anand will retain his title? What do you guys think?

http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/fan-clubs-league-2015---participants-schedule-amp-match-links Round 1 (Start on 15th January, registration from Jan. 1st 2015) 1. GM Utut Adianto Fans 8. Svetozar Gligoric Chess Club 2. GM Vladimir Akopian 9. Karpov Fans 3. Alekhine's Chess Club 10.Kasparov Chess Club 4. Levon Aronian 11.Nimzowitsch Chess Club 5. The Capablanca Club 12.Judith Polgar 6. Magnus Carlsen 13.Veselin Topalov Chess Club 7. Bobby Fischer Group 14.GM Eugene Torre Group Teams in the leauge are 1. GM Utut Adianto Fans 2. GM Vladimir Akopian 3. Alekhine's Chess Club 4. Levon Aronian 5. The Capablanca Club 6. Magnus Carlsen 7. Bobby Fischer Group 8. Svetozar Gligoric Chess Club 9. Karpov Fans 10.Kasparov Chess Club 11.Nimzowitsch Chess Club 12.Judith Polgar 13.Veselin Topalov Chess Club 14.GM Eugene Torre Group

Any Alekhine member interested in the Alekhine Defense: Saemisch Attack1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nc3 is invited to join... Sämisch Variations