Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match (1927)

HISTORY OF THE WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

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Capablanca vs Alekhine 1927
Buenos Aires

From 1921 to 1927, Alexander Alekhine labored to become José Raúl Capablanca's logical challenger, winning or sharing first prize in 12 of 20 tournaments (he also won or shared six second prizes during this period). He also began a minute study of Capablanca's games, searching for weaknesses.¹ In the age of luminaries such as Rubinstein, Bogoljubow, and Nimzowitsch, Alekhine was not the only legitimate contender to the crown. He was, however, the only leading player able to secure the necessary finances to allow the match to take place. In 1927 the two giants met over the chessboard in Buenos Aires with the World Championship title at stake.

Capablanca
Argentinian newspaper photo. Click here for larger view.
Capablanca was, of course, a heavy favorite in this match. In addition to his own record, his heads-up record against Alekhine was far superior. They had met in four previous tournaments, and in each case Capablanca had placed higher. Their head-to-head record was an exceptional +5 -0 =7 for Capablanca. Grandmaster predictions were heavily in his favor. Rudolf Spielmann predicted that Alekhine would not win a single game, while the optimistic Bogolubov thought that he might perhaps win 2 games.²

In Argentina, from September 16 through November 29, 1927, the world witnessed the longest World Championship Match in the history of chess. The conditions for the match was the first to win 6 games. The star opening of this match was the Orthodox Defense to the Queen's Gambit which appeared in every game but two. After a titanic struggle of 34 games, Alekhine achieved the impossible: he defeated Capablanca 6 to 3, and became the 4th World Chess Champion.

click on a game number to replay game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Alekhine 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½

Capablanca 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½

click on a game number to replay game 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34
Alekhine 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1

Capablanca 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0

FINAL SCORE: Alekhine 6; Capablanca 3 (25 draws)
Reference: game collection WCC Index [Capablanca-Alekhine 1927]

NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]

    · Game #11     Capablanca vs Alekhine, 1927     0-1
    · Game #34     Alekhine vs Capablanca, 1927     1-0
    · Game #1     Capablanca vs Alekhine, 1927     0-1

¹ Kings of Chess: 21-Player Salute, by Larry Parr.
² World Championship Chess Matches by Graeme Cree

page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 34

Game Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening
1. Capablanca vs Alekhine 0-1 43 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match C01 French, Exchange

2. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 19 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D65 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack, Main line

3. Capablanca vs Alekhine 1-0 42 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match A47 Queen's Indian

4. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 49 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D64 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack

5. Capablanca vs Alekhine ½-½ 42 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D51 Queen's Gambit Declined

6. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 40 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D67 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line

7. Capablanca vs Alekhine 1-0 36 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D52 Queen's Gambit Declined

8. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 42 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D62 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack

9. Capablanca vs Alekhine ½-½ 34 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D51 Queen's Gambit Declined

10. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 20 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D62 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack

11. Capablanca vs Alekhine 0-1 66 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D52 Queen's Gambit Declined

12. Alekhine vs Capablanca 1-0 41 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D64 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack

13. Capablanca vs Alekhine ½-½ 27 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense

14. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 25 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D64 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack

15. Capablanca vs Alekhine ½-½ 30 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense

16. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 24 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D67 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line

17. Capablanca vs Alekhine ½-½ 59 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense

18. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 28 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D67 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line

19. Capablanca vs Alekhine ½-½ 21 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense

20. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 43 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D67 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line

21. Capablanca vs Alekhine 0-1 32 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense

22. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 86 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D67 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line

23. Capablanca vs Alekhine ½-½ 48 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense

24. Alekhine vs Capablanca ½-½ 41 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D67 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line

25. Capablanca vs Alekhine ½-½ 40 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense

page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 34

REFINE SEARCH: White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 25 OF 26 · Later Kibitzing>
Jan-17-10		visayanbraindoctor: <I was amazed at his diligence and capacity for work. On any one analysis he was capable of spending several evenings. In analysis Alekhine was very objective. There was one case, when after a multi-hour analysis we arrived at the conclusion that the position had finally been exhausted, and he wrote out an extensive commentary on several pages. Late in the evening I left to go to sleep. At 4 A.M. a telephone call awoke me. I raised the receiver. "Come to me immediately ", I heard Alexander Alexandrovich�s voice. Entering Alekhine�s room, I found him behind the chessboard. It was the position that we had "drawn". "We did not notice the move b7-b6�, announced Alekhine, �which refutes everything. Let us take a look at it". And we took up the analysis again, sitting throughout the morning and the entire following day, since Alekhine turned out to be right."> As I said, had Alekhine been born 90 years later, with state-salaried seconds in the 1980s USSR and computer databases in the 1990s, without a doubt he would have studied the hell out of most present-day modern openings. Like Kasparov, he would have been an opening monster.

Jan-17-10		offramp: <visayanbraindoctor>, I want to thank you very much for the extensive and highly interesting posts over the last few days! Many thanks!

Jan-18-10		visayanbraindoctor: Thanks <offramp> I did not know that telephones were in common use in Europe even before WW1. <At 4 A.M. a telephone call awoke me. I raised the receiver. "Come to me immediately ", I heard Alexander Alexandrovich�s voice.> The telephone would have given human society then a decidedly 'modern' flavor. Hhmm, on-call surgeons then would have slept with their phones besides their beds, just as many of them do now. KRrrriinnggg, hello this is the nurse on duty speaking; Yawn.. OK, what's the case.. Age of patient.. Vital signs please... I will be there, but gimme a few minutes, gotta drink coffee first... Probably same old story in 1914 as in today. I'd bet the surgeons then were as addicted to coffee as they are today.

Jan-18-10		visayanbraindoctor: Alekhine also knew exactly just how strong the other top masters were, and knew that Capablanca had grown stronger than Lasker. Referring to a swan's last beautiful song.. <"Lasker�s song has been sung�, he said, �their match is at hand".> Poignantly prophetic.

Jan-18-10		AnalyzeThis: Alekhine didn't quite have Lasker figured out. Lasker put a plus score up on the board against Alekhine. Nevertheless, Alekhine did recognize when Lasker was too old to play Capa.

Jan-19-10		M.D. Wilson: All this suggests that Alekhine was one of the hardest working and driven chess players in history. Perhaps only Fischer and Kasparov surpassed him in this regard.

Jan-19-10		AnalyzeThis: He was when he was serious, and not boozing it up.

Jan-20-10		M.D. Wilson: And marrying rich widows.

Jun-09-10		GrahamClayton: Here is Richard Reti's prediction about the match: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

Jun-10-10		paulalbert: Reti's analysis was amazingly accurate. Paul Albert

Jun-10-10		black.pr0jekt: 2 legends

Jul-07-10		GrahamClayton: Here is a picture of the chess clock that was used for games 7-13 of the match: http://www.crumiller.com/chess/ches...

Jul-13-10		SatelliteDan: A lot has been said how Capa lost due partly to over confidence. It is also no secrect that Alekine "began a minute study of Capablanca's games, searching for weaknesses". What I wonder is because of this did Capablanca experience time pressure (which would be rare) in this particular match? Thinking Alekine, because of his studies was able to save time in calculation.

Jul-29-10		GrahamClayton: Here is a picture of the board and pieces and one of the clocks, which is housed in the Argentine Chess Club: http://files.chesscomfiles.com/imag...

Jul-29-10		GrahamClayton: And some surviving scoresheets: http://files.chesscomfiles.com/imag...

Aug-24-10		asiduodiego: Both Alekhine and Capablanca are my favorite players, but for quite the opposite reasons. Capablanca is clear, natural, and Alekhine is complex and grandious. If Capablanca is the Mozart of Chess, Alekhine surely is the Beethoven.

Sep-01-10		GrahamClayton: An interesting item from the "Hobart Mercury", dated 12 March 1931: "The chess champion, Dr Alekhine has accepted the challenge of Capablanca to meet him for a purse of 5,000 pounds, the winner to take 60%".

Sep-05-11		kingscrusher: I have video annotated the decisive encounters between Alekhine and Capablanca: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RuM...

Sep-05-11		Petrosianic: <If Capablanca is the Mozart of Chess, Alekhine surely is the Beethoven.> Tal expounded on this in an interview he once gave with Chess Life & Review. But he didn't mention Capa or Alekhine, Beethoven or Mozart, so maybe... <CL&R: We have compared chess players to composers. Tal: So have I. I wrote that Botvinnik is like Bach-like a building: you cannot remove one note nor one stone, nor one move. Smyslov: Tchaikowsky . . CL&R: ?! Tal: ... a career like a slow river, crescendo-decrescendo. Keres is like Chopin: lightness, a reflection of the blue sky. Petrosian: Liszt . . . CL&R: ??!! Tal: . . . wonderful technique. Bronstein: Debussy. Larsen: Prokofiev-surrealists. CL&R: And Fischer? Tal: A computer! CL&R: No, that's Botvinnik. Tal: Botvinnik became a computer after he lost the title.>

Sep-05-11		AVRO38: <Here is a picture of the board and pieces and one of the clocks, which is housed in the Argentine Chess Club: http://files.chesscomfiles.com/imag>... That's the final position of the match by the way..Here's the famous photo of Alekhine at the board with this position clearly visible taken immediately after Capa's resignation: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... This match was remarkable for so many reasons: 1) The quality of the games is incredible. 2) The contestants are arguably #1 and #2 all time. 3) The stubborn match strategy of both sides. 4) The final game is one of the finest games of chess ever played, an amazing way to end this amazing match. The one drawback is the overuse of the QGD, but this is also part of the charm of the match because it displays the stubborn refusal of both players to concede even the slightest moral victory to his opponent. Suffice it to say they don't make 'em like this any more.

Oct-15-11		The Rocket: <"And so, even then the twenty-two year old Alekhine cherished the dream of gaining the world championship and had outlined a plan of his own making in order to turn his dream into reality."> Quite inspirational story. Of course the popular conception that it was hard work over talent in alekhines match win is nonsese. <"Alekhine evidently possesses the most remarkable chess memory that has ever existed. It is said that he remembers by heart all the games played by the leading masters during the last 15-20 years"> Capablanca Alekhine was born to play game so to speak...

Oct-15-11		The Rocket: Alekhine was also invited for study by a psychologist for a study regarding his chess memory to see how it correlated with other memory tests like in geometrics In Alekhines case there was no correlation! http://www.blindfoldchess.net/blog/... which makes no sense:)

Oct-15-11		visayanbraindoctor: The Rocket: Alekhine was also invited for study by a psychologist for a study regarding his chess memory to see how it correlated with other memory tests like in geometrics In Alekhines case there was no correlation! That's remarkable. Thanks for the info. I will post it on the Alekhine page.

Oct-30-11		Calli: J. R. Capablanca - "I haven't the patience, the temperment to linger endlessly over games like Lasker and Alekhine. That was how Alekhine beat me. It took three months to finish that match. He wore me out, physically and mentally. Yet I think I should have won." C.N. 7337 - Interview in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 18 February 1931, page 24

Oct-30-11		Petrosianic: For "should have won", substitute "could have won". Capa definitely didn't play better in that match, and he didn't make any effort to sharpen the play and avoid the grinding down process, which is why we had 32 Queen's Gambit Declineds in 34 games. Alekhine won that match by abandoning his regular enterprising style of play that had always failed against Capa in the past, and tried to out-Capablanca Capablanca, with conservative positional games. Capa wasn't ready for that, and couldn't or wouldn't adapt, even though he had plenty of time to try. He may have been the better player, but he deserved to lose that match.

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