In the last twelve years there has been a kind
of Alekhine renaissance. It began with the Batsford Edition of Alekhine’s
Best Games by John Nunn and was followed by the monumental work, Alexander
Alekhine’s Chess Games 1902-1946(McFarland) by Skinner and Verhoeven. In
more recent times Garry Kasparov has offered his assessment of Alekhine in
his Great Predecessors series. As for this CD, it was released way back in 2000 by Convekta Ltd. Currently it is
marketed by ChessOK.com
under the Six World Champions series.
If one is looking for a comprehensive collection of Alekhine’s major games
with annotations, it is an adequate choice. In the main database there are
about 1300 games. Almost all games have notes of varying length in
Informant style. The training database Play like Alekhine has about 260
quiz positions. There is no biographical detail.
How good are the annotations? The authors of this CD have taken the
trouble of examining Alekhine’s own commentary to his games and corrected
the evaluation wherever necessary. They have also offered updates to the
opening variations at least until the year 2000 when this CD was released.
Unfortunately, the analysis of Alekhine’s correspondence chess games falls
short of expectations as shown by Tim Harding.
As for OTB games, the viewers of this CD should also take it into account
the analytical discoveries made by other commentators like Nunn, Hübner
and Kasparov in recent years.
The following games are taken from the CD. The first game is a remarkable
illustration of Alekhine’s combinational skill. His opponent is never
given a moment’s respite.
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This picture of the
rivals is taken from the Return Match, 1934. Dr. Lasker, former world
champion, also seen here, wrote a book on the match. |
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Alexander Alekhine – Efim Bogolyubov 1929
1st Game of the World Championship Match
Slav Defence [D16]
(Notes by Alekhine & Kasparov)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3
Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 e6?
5...Bf5 is the modern choice.
6.e4 Bb4 7.e5 Nd5 8.Bd2
Bxc3
If 8...b5 9.Ne4 Be7 10.b3! winning back the pawn with the better position-Alekhine.
But Black can hold on
with 10...Nd7 11.bxc4 bxc4 12.Bxc4 N7b6 13.Be2 (13.Bb3 Ba6) 13...a5 14.0–0 Nb4
according to Kotov.
9.bxc3 b5 10.Ng5! f6
The position is full of
pitfalls.
I.10...Nxc3? 11.Qf3!
II.10...0–0? 11.Qb1!.
III.10...h6? 11.Ne4 0–0 12.Qh5 (12.Nd6!? deserves attention-Kasparov)
12...f6 13.Qg6 Kh8 14.Nd6 Qd7 15.h4!.
Only 10...Qe7 is more tenacious.-Kasparov
11.exf6 Nxf6
Not 11...Qxf6?! 12.axb5 cxb5 13.Ne4 Qd8 14.Bg5.
Kasparov suggests 11...gxf6! 12.Qh5+ Kd7 13.Ne4 Qe8 14.Qh4 Qg6
with an inferior but defensible position.
12.Be2 a6
If 12...0–0? 13.axb5 h6 14.b6! Qxb6 (Or 14...hxg5? 15.Rxa7!) 15.Nf3 Ba6
16.Ne5± Alekhine
13.Bf3! h6
13...Nd5? fails to 14.Qb1 g6 15.Nxh7 Rxh7 16.Qxg6+ Rf7 17.Bh5 and 18.Qg8+.
Or 13...Ra7? 14.Bf4 Qb6 15.Bd6+-
14.Bh5++- Nxh5 15.Qxh5+ Kd7
16.Nf7 Qe8 17.Qg6! Rg8 18.Bf4 Bb7
If 18...Rf8? 19.Ne5+ Kd8 20.Qe4+-
19.Bg3 Ke7 20.Bd6+ Kd7
21.0–0 c5 22.dxc5 Bd5
Not 22...Nc6? 23.Rfd1+-
23.axb5 axb5 24.Rxa8 Bxa8
25.Ra1 Nc6
Or 25...Bb7? 26.Ra7 Kc8 27.Bg3+-
26.Ne5+ and Black
resigned in view of 26… Nxe5 27.Ra7+ Kc6 28.Qe4#
1–0
[View Game]
The second game has a curious history.
Alekhine himself got the details of this encounter wrong when he first published
it in his collection of Best Games.He also misjudged the position when he
annotated the game. The editors of this CD could have avoided these pitfalls if
they had consulted the correspondence database authored by Tim Harding.
Alexander Alekhine -
V.Zhukovsky
correspondence chess game (1905-1906)
(Notes based on annotations by Alekhine and Harding)
Rice Gambit [C39]
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4
3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Bc4 d5 7.exd5 Bd6 8.0–0
The historic
Rice Gambit. Nowadays 8.d4 is considered superior.
8...Bxe5
9.Re1 Qe7 10.c3
If 10.d4?
Bxd4+!
10...g3?
This is weaker than10...Nh5!?11.d4 Nd7 or 10...f3!? 11.d4 Ne4 12.Rxe4 Bh2+
13.Kxh2 Qxe4, both leading to terrific complications. No final conclusion has
been reached here.
11.d4
During this period Alekhine was
experimenting with this opening both as White and Black! One of his White
opponents played 11.Qe2? Ng4 12.d4 Qxh4 13.Qf3 and now Black could have won with
13...0–0 –+ (Instead Alekhine played 13...Nf2? overlooking
14.Rxe5+ and Rh5.Fortunately for him, his opponent also missed his way and
Alekhine won.-Harding)
11...Ng4 12.Nd2?
This is a losing move as shown by Harding.But Alekhine wanted to avoid the draw
with 12.Bxf4! Bxf4 (12...Qxh4? 13.Qf3) 13 .Rxe7+ Kxe7 14.Qf3 Be3+ 15.Kh1
Nf2+=.
12...Qxh4 13.Nf3 Qh6!
Threatening to
win the queen with...Nf2+.
14.Qa4+
If 14.Rxe5+?!
Nxe5 15.dxe5 Bg4, and White has insufficient compensation for the exchange.
Or 14.Qe2? 0–0 15.dxe5 Nf2 16.Kf1 Qh1+ 17.Ng1 Nh3! 18.gxh3 Bxh3+ –+ -Alekhine
14...Bd7 15.Qa3
All this was part of praxis at that time!Young alekhine was keenly following the
latest trend.
15...Nc6! 16.dxc6
16.dxe5? Ncxe5
followed by... 0–0–0 gives Black an irresistible attack.
16...Bxc6 17.d5 Bxd5?!
"Very ingenious... leads to
extremely interesting complications most difficult to fathom."-Alekhine But as
he himself points out, the simple variation 17...Bd7! 18.Qc5! f6! 19.d6 c6 would
have left Black two pawns ahead in a defensible position.
18.Bxd5 Qb6+ 19.Nd4 0–0–0
Matters look bad for White.He is
behind in development.His king feels threatened.and his material advantage
(bishop versus 3 pawns) is only microscopic. So he sacrifices the exchange to
create counterplay for himself.
20.Rxe5! Rxd5?!
Alekhine gives this move an
!.Harding calls it a losing error. Alekhine dismisses the alternative, 20...Nxe5
21.Qb3 Qxb3 22.Bxb3 as drawish.But 20...f3!? preserving the threat of...Nxe5
deserves attention.-Harding
21.Rxd5 Qh6 22.Nf3!
Not 22.Qxa7?! Qh2+ 23.Kf1 Qh1+
24.Ke2 Qxg2+ 25.Kd3 Qxd5! 26.Qa8+ (26.Bxf4?! Re8!) 26...Kd7 27.Qxh8 f3
(27...Ne5+ 28.Kc2 Qe4+ 29.Kb3 Qd5+ =)-Alekhine
22...Nf2 23.Kf1 Re8!
Threatening...24...Qh1+ 25.Ng1
Qxg1 26.Kxg1 Re1#
24.Bxf4
Alekhine thought that this was
the only resource to escape the deadly coils.Harding suggests 24.Re5!? Rxe5
25.Bxf4 Qxf4 26.Qf8+ (26.Nxe5?! Ng4+ gives Black needless chances.)
26...Kd7 27.Nxe5+ Qxe5 28.Qxf7+ Kd6. But as he himself points out, the
situation still remains volatile.
24...Qh1+! 25.Ng1 Ng4
26.Rh5?!
"This sacrifice is the simplest
and surest way of saving the game."-Alekhine In fact it should have been the
losing move. White misses his last winning chance with 26.Re5! Nh2+ 27.Ke2 Rd8
28.Bxg3 Qxg2+ 29.Bf2 Qg4+ 30.Ke1! Qg2 31.Bd4!! (Alekhine had only
considered 31.Ke2 Qg4+) 31...Qf1+ 32.Kd2 Qxa1 33.Kc2+- Harding
26...Qxh5 27.Nh3 Qb5+?!
Black throws away the win that
Alekhine's miscalculations had gifted him. Harding quotes some rare Russian
alalysis to show how he could have won with 27...Nf2! 28.Bxg3 Nxh3 29.gxh3 Qf3+
30.Bf2 Qxh3+ 31.Kg1 Rg8+ –+
28.Kg1 Qb6+ 29.Kh1 Nf2+
30.Nxf2 Qxf2
30...gxf2? 31.Rf1 Qf6 32.g3+-
31.Bxg3 Qxg3 32.Qxa7 Re1+
Alekhine thinks that this is the
only winning try and wrongly rejects 32...Re4! on account of 33.Kg1 . But after
33...Rh4! 34.Qa8+ Kd7 35.Rd1+ Kc6 36.Qe8+ Kb6, Black has winning chances
according to Harding.
33.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 34.Kh2 Qe4
Skinner and Verhoeven discovered
from Alekhine's unpublished notebooks that this was how the game continued
34...Qh4+ 35.Kg1 Qe1+ is the final sequence of moves given in his Best Games
collection and also in this CD.Apparently Alekhine had no access to his old
notebooks when he annotated this game in exile.-Harding
35.Qa8+ Kd7 36.Qg8 Qh4+
37.Kg1 Qe1+ ½–½
[View Game]
An extraordinary game, with inevitable errors. Let
us not forget that there were no computers to assist Alekhine and his
contemporaries in analysis of their games.
There are several little-known treasures concealed in this CD. Among them are
Alekhine’s training match with Euwe(1927) and the World Championship Match with
Bogolyubov(1929). So are his encounters with great players like Rubinstein and
Nimzovitsch, not to mention younger contemporaries like Keres, Fine and
Reshevsky.
In spite of the limitations pointed out in this review, the CD is still useful
for the practical player. Remember that Alekhine was Kasparov’s idol and role
model. There can be no other commendation for this collection.
Alexander Alekhine 4th World Champion CD details:
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Published by : Convekta Ltd.
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Distributed by :
ChessOK
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The program contains 1300 commented games played
by the 4th World Champion Alexander Alekhine.
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The annotations by Alekhine and his
contemporaries've been revised and enlarged by IMs J. Ulko and A. Mitenkov.
600 games are commented for the first time!
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Includes complete tournament results
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A number of rare photos
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200 carefully chosen positions for you to solve,
representing some of the most interesting and instructive positions from
Alekhine’s games in an additional tutorial section “Play as Alekhine”
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Built-in playing programs: Dragon and Crafty
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English, French, German, Italian and Spanish
versions available.
Recommended.
Selected Links to Alekhine:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/alekhine2.html
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kmoch05.pdf
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/alekhine.html
Links to other
reviews in the Six World Champions Series:
http://products.convekta.com/reviews/prf_havanur/index.htm
http://products.convekta.com/reviews/prf_havanur/JoseCapablanca.htm
http://products.convekta.com/reviews/prf_havanur/MikhailBotvinnik.htm
http://www.chessville.com/reviews/MikhailTal8thWorldChampionCD.htm
http://www.chessville.com/reviews/BorisSpassky10thWorldChampion.htm
Chessbibliophile (otherwise known as Prof. Nagesh
Havanur) is a senior academic and research scholar. He taught English in
Mumbai for three decades and has now settled in Bangalore, India. His interests
include chess history, biography and opening theory. He has written more than 60
reviews & articles for web sites like Chessville.com and magazines like KARL and
Kingpin. He would welcome feedback from readers.
