As a chess player, Alexander Alekhine (pictured) was brilliant, but his biography contains a number of dark spots. In particular, his proximity to the Nazis has damaged the reputation of the fourth world champion. The Swiss historian and chess player Dr. Christian Rohrer wanted to find out how and to what extent Alekhine supported the Nazis, and he published his findings in an online article titled <a href="https://elib.uni-stuttgart.de/bitstream/11682/11576/1/2021 Rohrer Alekhine.pdf">"World chess champion and favourite of Hans Frank?: assessing Alexander Alekhine’s closeness to the National Socialist regime"</a>. Detailed, fascinating and well worth reading.
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What Russia Taught The World About Chess
Written by Alexey Zakharov
In the last hundred or so years, Russia became almost synonymous with chess. The country in its many incarnations Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and now “just” Russia produced more grandmasters and world champions than any other, and its players enriched the ancient game immensely.
So, let’s now delve (shallowly, and then, of course, more and more deeply) into what Russia and its predecessor states brought to the world of chess.
Long, Tongue-Twisting Names
It’s more of a joke entry, of course, but GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, the new challenger to GM Magnus Carlsen, is only the latest in the long, distinguished line of Russian and Soviet players who look like an absolutely insurmountable wall of letters when written in English, such as Roman Dzindzichashvili, Zurab Azmaiparashvili, Elena Fatalibekova, Alexander Konstantinopolsky, Olga Semenova-Tyan-Shanskaya, Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky, and Fyodor Dus-Chotimir
Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 31st instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues to talk about the right exchange. | Photo: Tommy Grooten