First, the move had to be foreseen a long time ere... otherwise there's no justification for losing 2 pawns. The b7 fork looks like a convincing answer to the captures on f7 by black.

Then Alekhine seems to be saying - "well, there's no choice - this is a real emergency, the King has to join in as well" - and he steps in and defends everything - the knight, the c7 pawn. The king gets in the middle of the board, so to speak - but all of the possible attacking directions are blocked and no access is possible - the king is safe! A sharp and sobering move of rare beauty and effect.

Of course, in the ensuing 'confusion' in black's game the a8 rook is 'forgotten' - but actually a question is posed to the Queen.

Black says - well, you are a piece down. You expected to get the piece back, and now you can have - no, MUST have a rook. But it will take you 2 tempi to get back, and actually you'll never have time to get back.

...Be7 is a final kick against the Queen. Even sacrificing her now wouldn't help.

I also like ...Bxf3 - the bishop 'didn't know' that the pawn was protected. Why not simply take it?

The black king was basking in the e8 sun, just like every day. Soon, he thinks, my turn will come to switch places with my friend, the rook on h8, and go into a long winter sleep, until the ending. But this is Alekhine - quite possibly no ending, and sleep until the next game. Alekhine won't even have to wake me up in case he wants me to go to h8 - just give me a little nudge to the left.

But then - ho!! The white Queen dips in, shaking the peaceful earth as she crashes into b7 with a mighty fork, threatening everything in sight - Rook, Knight, King, Pawn - the whole position seems to go to pieces, and white has triumphantly pocketed two tell-tale pawns. The king wakes up instantly and walks right into the fray. He steps into d7, and seems to tell the knight and pawns on c7 and d6 as he gives them the extra strength necessary in the situation - "courage, guys - we'd better stick in this together. These are times of crisis and what we really need is unity!". Together they form an impenetrable barrier to the flustered white queen, who can do no better than sink herself into the corner for a long, long sleep...

There's even further aesthetic pleasure to be elicited from this move, by examining the way it is expressed in the original, descriptive notation.

There it is no less than 9... K - Q2 !!

First of all - nothing like two capital letters.

Second - look which letters these are, representing the main figures of royalty (and indeed, the Queen herself visited this square not so long ago, as if to examine whether the place is suitable for her noble and well-admired man to step into) - not only in chess, but also and most notably in cards!

Third and possibly most important - listen to the tough, hardened (also hard-boiled) sound of these two consonants - K to Q 2 !! This SOUNDS like a strong move, a move that takes a lot of calcium in the bones to make, a move of steel, as the character of the Black-pieced fighter must have been to envision, figure out and execute it over the board, as war is raging.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The bishop, as he takes on f3, shows that he's made of the same material as the brave king. "I see a pawn - I bite!" with no fear of consequence. This is the way bishops should be! I would have given him a medal.

I'm deeply impressed by this game, did I already say?

Black to move:

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