Alekhine's Most Famous Games
Over his long career, Alekhine produced dozens of games that have entered the permanent canon of chess art. Below is a description of some of the most celebrated, with notes on what made them extraordinary.
Alekhine vs. Nimzowitsch, San Remo 1930
This game, played at one of the greatest tournaments of the era, is considered by many analysts to be Alekhine's finest achievement. Alekhine, playing White, demonstrated a complete positional masterpiece: he accumulated small advantages over the course of the game, restrained Nimzowitsch's activity piece by piece, and then converted with precise technique. The game is particularly remarkable because Nimzowitsch was himself one of the strongest players in the world at the time.
The final position, where Nimzowitsch resigned, shows complete domination by White's pieces. Alekhine's own annotations of this game are among the most instructive he ever wrote.
Alekhine vs. Bogolyubov, Hastings 1922
Perhaps the most spectacular of all Alekhine's games. Playing White against the strong Russian-born German player Bogolyubov, Alekhine executed a stunning queen sacrifice on move 26 that left his opponent with no defense. The combination had been prepared from several moves earlier and involves ideas that are still striking today. The game won the first-brilliancy prize at the tournament.
Alekhine vs. Reti, Vienna 1922
In this game against Richard Reti, one of the founders of the hypermodern school, Alekhine demonstrated how to handle the Reti Opening from Black's perspective. He obtained active piece play early and gradually outplayed his opponent in a complex middlegame. The game shows Alekhine's versatility: he was equally comfortable on both sides of unconventional openings.
Alekhine vs. Capablanca, World Championship 1927, Game 7
Of the thirty-four games in the 1927 match, the seventh is most frequently singled out. Alekhine obtained a complex position early and navigated it with extraordinary precision, outplaying Capablanca in a rook endgame that most analysts would have expected to be drawn. The conversion demonstrated that Alekhine's endgame technique, often considered his relative weakness, was in fact excellent when he was fully concentrated.
Alekhine vs. Saemisch, Berlin 1923
A early example of the Alekhine Defense played by its inventor. Against Saemisch's aggressive handling of White's position, Alekhine demonstrated exactly how Black's counterplay works: as White's pawns advanced, Black's pieces found activity and eventually struck with decisive effect. A game that justifies the opening's theoretical credentials.
Studying Alekhine's Games
Alekhine annotated two volumes of his best games himself, covering roughly the years 1908–1924 and 1924–1937. These volumes are considered classics of chess literature. His annotations go beyond mere move explanations, discussing the psychological and strategic logic behind decisions in ways that remain illuminating even for modern players. Any serious student of classical chess should spend time with these books.