Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) was World Chess Champion from 1927 to 1935 and again from 1937 until his death. He won the crown by defeating Capablanca in 1927, lost it to Max Euwe in 1935, and regained it in their 1937 rematch.

His chess is strongly associated with combinational play. A combination is a calculated sequence of moves designed to produce a concrete result. It often includes threats that demand a response or sacrifices, meaning voluntary offers of a pawn or piece to gain another advantage. Alekhine was especially strong not only at carrying out such sequences but at creating the conditions for them first: improving his pieces, provoking weaknesses, and attacking in successive waves.

That makes it misleading to describe him merely as an attacker who relied on short calculated sequences. His sacrifices were often the consequence of careful strategic preparation, not a replacement for it. He could also exchange pieces and enter a favorable endgame, the phase in which fewer pieces remain, once the attack had achieved its purpose.

Alekhine died in 1946 while still holding the World Championship, a unique event in the official championship line. An agreement had been reached for a possible match with Mikhail Botvinnik, but Alekhine's death prevented it from taking place.