Alexander Alekhin

Alexander Alexandrovitch Alekhin wrestled the crown from Capablanca with and never allowed him a rematch. He did play matches with Bogolyubow and even lost one to Euwe before getting back the worls title.

Alekhin's moves were always trying to get the most out of a position. It wasn't his style to look for 'natural' or 'elegant' moves -- he looked for ones that were forceful, accurate, dynamic -- the moves you had to play right now because you wouldn't get another chance.

Jose Raul Capablanca

Capablanca had a gift for chess that may never be seen again. He was able to play beautiful positional games, spiced with deadly tactics, and all at breathtaking speed, at least in his early years. He could see at a glance what other masters struggled with.

I have included a couple of his elegant combinations, and two smooth endgames in the style for which he was best known. Both endgames have a crisp tactic, but the tactics are there to win positional goals, not material.

Click [...] to see list of games

Emanuel Lasker

Steinitz could do everything well, and Lasker beat Steinitz.  So what was Lasker doing?

We are used to seeing the many photos of Lasker taken when he was an old man, but we must notice that Lasker was a young man when he beat Steinitz in 1894.  So age may have had something to do with it.

But there are a couple of other things: 

1. He won five games in a row in the middle of the match, in part because he steered for positions that he thought Steinitz didn't handle so well -- queenless middlegames (where the Queens have been swapped and not much else).

Thought for the day

DrDave's picture

Submitted by DrDave on

"Some part of a mistake is always correct" 

Xsawery (Saveilly) Tartakower

 

The World Champions of Chess

Before the official World Champions  
Giaochino Greco 1620-34 Italy

Chess existed a long while before Greco came along, but he was pretty clearly the best chess player of his time and worth knowing about. 

There were all sorts of players after that who might have been the best in the world, like Philidor, Saint-Amant, and Staunton.

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David Regis, 71 Mary Street, Bovey Tracey, Devon TQ13 9HQ  

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