Alekhine-Euwe: their first match.

Here is a look at the match-in-progress by Fred Reinfeld:

     As this is written, 20 games have been played in the current match for the World's Championship, but I have seen the scores of only the first 13. Dr. Alekhine, after losing his lead, has regained it and is now ahead by the slight margin of one point: 10½-9½.
     When one recalls that by the time the same stage had been reached, the result of his match with Capablanca was already foreshadowed, and both of his matches with Bogoljubow were already in the bag" one must admit that Dr. Euwe's showing is one which places him very definitely in the front rank of the great masters. Of course, he had already earned this position by the mere fact of his being accepted as a challenger for the title; yet most players (including experts) pooh-poohed his chances.
     I was so rash as to express the opinion, before the match began, that Euwe would put up a stiff fight for the title and might even win!!   After the fourth game I had to endure quite a bit of more or less good-natured guffaws. But, from my knowledge of Euwe's games and of his strength as a match-player, I felt that he would soon steady and whittle down the Champion's lead. That is what happened.
     To those who are not familiar wish Euwe's play, it is rather difficult to explain just where his strength lies. His greatest asset is a certain elasticity which allows him to adjust himself to the temperament of his opponent, whether he be Capablanca, Bogoljubow or Alekhine. We see this in the present match, where he meets Alekhine's combinations (which are frequent, inspired and tricky) without losing his self-possession, giving back blow for blow. Then, he has great reservoirs of patience and tenacity, backed up by an assured but not arrogant reliance on his abilities. I know of no other player (except it be Dr. Lasker), who would not have emerged from the 1st, 3rd and 4th games of the match broken in spirit and depressed to the point of being unable to give of his best. Euwe has an equable temperament, one which is "philosophical- in both senses of the word. It as this which, in my considered, if unpopular opinion, gives him an advantage over Alekhine, whose style has changed considerably since 1932.  Up to that time the Russian master was not only the great artist, producing combinations which as a group do not have their equal in chess literature, but he was also the perfect logician; for all the chances he took, his play was the epitome of soundness.
     In the last few years Alekhine 's play has changed. He is more daring than ever, he is more frequently in danger of losing, he plays psychologically rather than logically. The artist has become a fighter. In other words, he has become a disciple of the style made famous by Dr. Lasker. Unfortunately, this type of play requires the equable, philosophic temperament, which weighs possibilities and risks rationally, in so far as possible. But in this respect Euwe is much nearer to Lasker than Alekhine is! The first two play like philosophers, but Alekhine plays like a gambler! Of course, such fighting chess, with its psychological impacts, has its extraordinary fascinations, but in the long run, I believe, Dr. Euwe's method of play is bound to be the more successful. Anyone who plays over the 7m and 13th games can see the favorable aspects of the "gambling" style, while the 10th and 12th games conclusively reveal its weakness. However, no matter what the outcome of the match may be, the chess world owes Alekhine a vote of thanks for his bold and colorful play throughout. Such lively championship chess has not been seen since the almost legendary games of LaBourdonnais and MacDonnell a century ago.



Here are some comparison charts suppied by Reinfeld:

games from this match, played from October 3 to December 16, 1935 and eventually won by Max Euwe, can be found here: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=54135

I met Mr. Euwe in 1979 at a tournament at the Paul Masson winery (Beautiful place by the way)  I bought the book on the match where he won the title, and got him to autograph it.

"In the last few years Alekhine 's play has changed. He is more daring than ever, he is more frequently in danger of losing, he plays psychologically rather than logically. The artist has become a fighter. In other words, he has become a disciple of the style made famous by Dr. Lasker."

Isn't that interesting!
What other player - especially World Champion - became MORE aggressive and speculative in their advanced years?

Anand has retreated into his shell and is almost afraid to move at all these days.

Even Tal became much more subdued. But Alekhine pushed forward with more aggression! What a champ!

Alekhine could have approached each game against Euwe a hundred different ways and he didn't choose the best approaches, but of course his drinking and overconfidence had a lot to do with that.

Nice. Very nice.

 

On this page I posted a a picture, and a small write-up from the 1977 tournament: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/a-cigar?page=2

I agree.  Alekhine, according to Reinfeld, became less the artist however in that process.  For whatever faults Alekhine might have had, cowardice wasn't one of them.

Interesting that Reinfeld called the match for Euwe; most people gave Euwe as much chance against Alekhine as they gave Alekhine against Capablanca--with the same result.  I guess ol' Fred was a little sharper than people give him credit for.

And it's an interesting observation (and FRs opinion) that Alekhine was more daring in his later years.  Most players styles tend to mellow with age--even Paul Keres went that way.  About the only two I can think of that kept their style of play until the end were Geller and Bronstein, and I can think of no one who got riskier with age. 

Once again, thanks for the post, BG.

Their respective scores against Capablanca are quite interesting

Another player who kept his style aggressive into the later years was Korchnoi from the games i have looked over, even though the results may not have been there for him. 

Following the match, this review was published by James R. Newman.
In 1936 in a simultaneous consultation match consisting of three 3-man teams vs. Capablanca, the  three Manhattan C.C. players, Harold Philips (future USCF president), Albert C. Simmons and James R. Newman beat the unbeatable Capablanca.  The other to teams drew their games. Newman, a mathematician and lawyer, was 39 at the time of this article.  Later he would publish a 4 vol. series called "The World of Mathematics."

 

     By far the closest and most exciting march for the World's Championship has just been concluded. We have a new champion in Dr. Max Euwe of Holland. Whatever may be said here below with regard to the character of the individual match games and the general aspect of the match should not be construed as intending to detract from the gallant spirit and the well integrated play of the new champion.
     After the first nine games of the match had been played, the almost universal prophecy among those who are supposed to be in the know in the chess world, that Dr. Alekhine would sweep everything before him, seemed to be coming true. The latter led by a score of 6 to 3, an enormous advantage and an almost insurmountable obstacle, particularly in this day of closely fought positional games, leading most often to draws. But Dr. Euwe was not so easily discouraged. He took immediate advantage of the amazing reversal of form shown by Dr. Alekhine and his efforts reached a crescendo between the 9th and 11th games, when he scored lour points out of five games played.
     Albeit Dr. Alekhine had played an earlier match with Dr. Euwe in which the latter showed to great advantage, losing by only one point, and that Dr. Euwe had long been considered of world championship calibre, it cannot be denied that Dr. Alekhine's defeat was astounding.  The subtle and underlying reasons for Dr. Alekhine's collapse are not forthcoming from authentic sources, but his defeat in large part was probably caused by his audacious and almost reckless handling of conventional positions.  At his best Alekhine is brilliant, and incomparable in over the board surprises and finesses.   In this match however, with the exception of a few games, he played largely without his inimitable sparkle, and as in the later games, not only missed obvious wins but made incredible mistakes. In vain does the painstaking annotator seek in Dr. Ewe's play a sign of the brilliance and ingenuity which Dr. Alekhine showed so often in the past or the kind of play which one might reasonably imagine would be necessary to win the World Championship. This writer at least is convinced that Dr. Alekhine has no one to blame but himself  Nor can it be said that Dr. Euwe always availed himself of his opportunities.
     Let as consider a few of the games in order. The 10th game, for example, was played with most amazing ineptitude by Dr. Alekhine. Dr. Euwe could have won much earlier than he did and with more elan. But sad to relate, Dr. Alekhine forced the win upon his opponent.  In the 12th game again Dr. Alekhine gave up a pawn for absolutely no reason in a simple position in the opening, then sacrificed a piece for even less reason and soon resigned. But even in this game, Dr. Euwe overlooked the obvious win of a piece, though at that time the position was already won. This game was a sad exhibition indeed. In the 14th game Dr. Alekhine made an obvious blunder, permitting Dr. Euwe to sacrifice a rook for a pawn. But the capture of the rook would have led to a decisive win and so that game was ignobly lost. In the 20th game Dr. Euwe won by a neatly planned combination which tied Dr. Alekhine into a knot. Dr. Alekhine missed an easy win after playing the 24th game in exemplary fashion, by careless play. To cite additional instances of inaccurate play seems unnecessary. For such play he paid dearly in the end.

Whatever

Alekhine was far better than Dutch Max

John Snethlage, an egineer from of Hawhorne, N.J, was a T.D. as well as a player. In 1939 he translated Max Euwe's Theory of the Chess Openings" from Dutch to English for publication.


Bellevue Hall in Amsterdam was the scene of the last match-game between Dr. Alexander Alekhine and Dr. Max Euwe in the struggle for 'world chess supremacy. At 5 P. M. a long line began forming in the street, clamoring for admission. Order was maintained under the able supervision of mounted and ordinary police. At 6 P. M. the hall quickly filled to capacity with about 1500 to 2000 spectators, and many who desired to attend could not get in. These, however, were taken care of in an adjoining building where chess master Salo Flohr, the Czecho-Slovak star, sketched and demonstrated the progress of the game on a wall board. Dr. Alekhine appeared at 6:30 P.M., immaculately dressed in evening clothes and received a great ovation from the audience. He begged for silence and passed some remarks in honor of his opponent.  At 6:45 P.M. the game started.  At Dr. Alekhine's third move the excitement among the spectators reached a high point. This move had never been played before between experts. After 13 moves had been recorded equality was reported and the tension was relieved. The cigar smoke filled the hall like a thick fog and through its haze the spectators in the back rows could hardly see the contestants. As the game drew to a close and rumors began circulating that Dr. Euwe had winning chances—that Master Flohr was highly optimistic—the crowd realized that a new chess champion would probably be crowned and had difficulty in restraining its enthusiasm. AL 11 P.M., pointing with a nervous hand to the chess board, Dr. Alekhine rose from his chair with an abrupt gesture, and agreed to a draw, shaking his opponent's hand. Photographers rushed in, flashlights flared, films were made, and the public broke through the ropes thunderously applauding both masters, who remained standing in the center of the room, both with tears in their eyes, unable to suppress their emotions. Finally Dr. Alekhine  waved for silence and complimented his opponent in a short speech. Then followed some additional speeches and the official announcement that Dr. Edge had won the chess championship of the world. Last of all, Dr. Euwe himself spoke a few words, saying that he was "overjoyed at winning the championship, but did not believe that he would remain champion lone. Then Dr. Euwe and his wife and friends prepared to withdraw to the Carlton Hotel for a quiet celebration. But first he was called away—by the police! It seemed that Dr. Euwe's neighbors expected him to return home. So many of them crowded about his home in an effort to pay their respects that traffic was obstructed and the police could do nothing with the throngs. Therefore, Dr. Euwe was requested to please put in an appearance in order to appease the crowd. Willingly he boarded a tax, and accepted the spontaneous ovation of his fellow citizens. At last he was free to return to his friends at the Hotel Carlton. Soon after Dr. Euwe's arrival, Dr. Alekhine and his wife joined the group in a pleasant party lasting deep into the night.

My goodness it harks back to an age of civility. Great read

Interesting match and exciting games too. I believe this was the first time the Grunfeld defense was played in world champion match in 1930s.

how is the last game a draw? there is no way that I would have accepted a draw if I had Euwes position.

 

 

Ok, so basically Alekine knew he was busted and so did Euwe, makes sense

Exactly.
Two men acting civilly and grciously. What a concept!

Its brilliant, I always wondered why no chess players sat with a finely honed craft beer instead of supping water and orange juice like Maggie Carlsen or drinking tea with raised pinkie finger like Anand!

Guess they referred to masters as Dr. back then