100 Instructive Games of Alekhine - The Development of A Chess Genius - Fred Reinfeld, wg DATY DODANIA
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//-->,-··-·�½-·-·- ··-··-··-··-··-··-··-·1- ••.-.o•-··_.,·-·-··-··-·-· - · ._ , ..._ ,iiiiiiiII'IiIiiIIIITHE DEVELOPMENTOFA CHESS GENIUSI100 INSTRUCTIVEGAMESOF ALEKHINE(Formerly Titled: The Unknown Alekhine)ByiII'IIIIii''ItiIiIiFRED REINFELDIiiiiiIIiDOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.NEW YORK' -··-· ·-· ·- ··-··-··-··-·- ··-· -··-··-··-··-··-··-··-··-··-··-··--·-··- .....Copyright ©1959by Fred Reinfeld.All rights reserved under Pan American and International Copyright Conventions.pany, Ltd.,30Lesmill Road, Don Mills, Toronto,Ontario.Published in Canada by General Publishing ComPublished in the United Kingdom by ConstableandCompany,Ltd.,10Orange Street, Londonwe 2.This Dover edition, first publishedin 1959,is anunabridged and unaltered republication of" the worklishing Corporation under the titleThe Unknownoriginally published in1949by the Pitman PubAlekhine.The new Introduction by Fred Reinfeldappears for the first time in this Dover edition.Manufactured in the United States of AmericaDover Publications, Inc.New York,N.Y.10014180Varick StreetIntroduction to Dover EditionWho was the greatest chessplayer of all time? Opinionsdiffer, of course, but my favorite for that honor is Alexander Alekhine.The choice is admittedly a difficult one. Morphy, Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, Capablanca-they all have their enthusiastic advocates, and very properly so. And yet Alekhinetowers over them all, by whatever criterion you may careto choose.He can hold his own by the cold criterion of statistics-adazzling array of first prizes in some of the strongesttournaments ever held. To have held the World Championship in the days of such giants as Capablanca, Euwe, Nimzovich, Rubinstein, Reti, Tartakover is a feat that speaksfor itself. But what is perhaps even more significant is thatAlekhine was the first World Champion who regained thetitle after losing it.Alekhine won the title in1927by defeating the thenWorld Champion, Jose R. CapabJanqt, in one of the historic struggles of the chess world. He lost the title in1937to Dr. Max Euweina bitterly contested match marked bystartling alternations of superb fighting chess and astounding slips that made the chess world wonder whether Alekhinewas through.Twoyears later Alekhine recovered histide by a convincing display of his incomparable powers.Thereafter he retained the title for some eighteen years inall, at a time when chess cbmpetition had reached itsfiercest level.To play great chess requires two qualities that do notnecessarily go together; in fact, the presence of one mayirrhibit theother. A greatmaster must be possessed·of[v]FRED REINFELDendless combativeness. He cannot reach the to�½and staythere-unless he is obsessed with an all-dominating will towin. But at the same time he must be a great artist; hemust play beautiful chess, producing games that give usthe same pleasure that we get from Shakespf!are's plays,Beethoven's symphonies, Rembrandt's paintings. The combination of fighting spirit and innate artistry is a difficultone to fuse. Some players have the one quality, some havethe other. No one has ever combined both so masterfullyas Alekhine did."Idominate them all!" This proud observation of Alekhine's sounds naive, but it was true. His arch-rival Bogolyubov said of him that "Alekhine would rather die than notwin!" Reuben Fine added that chess "was the breath of !Heto him." When I met Alekhine at the Pasadena tournamentof1932Iwas astounded at his readiness to spend hoursanalyzing hypothetical possibilities in his games-or anyone else's.Alekhine's fighting spirit never waned; at the ageofforty-six he declared that he was, "more than anythingelse, a fighter, with a great deal of fighting spirit, and unalterable self-confidence." Like Marshal Foch, he believedin the slogan: "Always be audacious." Tartakover spokeadmiringly of Alekhine's Sonnenschach-chess that dazzleslike the sun.YetAlekhine was versatile and adaptable too. He couldbeat a great master with his own weapons, defeating Capablanca with position play and Bogolyubov with tactical play.But if we turn from the arena of grueling match andtournament play, we find that Alekhine was an incomparable artist. The battles have been over for a long time, andAlekhine and his rivals have passed away. But thegamesremain, and greatness is writ large over them-games thatevoke our gratitude and our deep delight. In his collectionsof his best games, Alekhine has left the world one of itsmost precious heritages of sublime human achievement. Forartistic grandeur these games are unequaled, and may forever remain so.[vi]
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