Alekhine vs the communists

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urk
Alekhine was Russian nobility so he didn't fare too well during the Bolshevik Revolution.

The bolsheviks
-seized his family fortune of millions of rubles
- shot his father
- very nearly executed him

That's right, Alekhine was scheduled for execution while a prisoner in 1917. He barely escaped that fate, only because a clerk looking at the list of prisoners to be shot the next day noticed his name and advocated for him.

He went through hell in the First World War!

The soviets then prevented him from being able to play their top players, such as Botvinnik and Keres in the 1930s.

Today all the Russians love him and claim him as theirs but the real history is pretty brutal.

AnnChess2

Alekhine supported the Nazi propaganda against Jews, that is why after the World War 2 was over he didn't take part in many chess tournaments-he was not invited for his stance during the war.

Today 99% of Russians have not heard of him and just wouldn't know who he is.

urk
Alekhine died a few months after the end of WWII so that would explain why he didn't take part in many tournaments.

He did collaborate somewhat with the Nazis which is why he had to flee his home in France and was refused entry into the United States.

The Nazis also stole his fortune and seized his wife's mansion, just as the bolsheviks had done.
ilikewindmills
Bye