Alexander Alekhine Interview

[@kingscrusher]

Amazing interview - I have covered some of Alekhine's games on my channel. Many thanks :)

[@CabraXadrez]

You have a lovely channel. This video of yours from Alekhine is my all time preferred: kzbin.info/www/bejne/enO9paBpaN2npJY

[@martm216]

Alekhine was undoubtedly one of the greatest chess players. His victory over Capablanca in 1927 was one of the greatest achievements in chess history.

[@KamilKaraali]

I really did not expect such a good English from Alekhine...It is great to hear his voice coming from 1938...Amazing !! Thanks

[@herubinoevc737]

he was fluent in many languages, which was like a common thing, actually, with educated people of the era, and a real necessity, when sync translators were uncommon, and good translators almost non-existent and even those near the 'quality' of the ever-faltering in its hopeless current state 'google translate'

[@thomasrhein7757]

Yes, really good English..., but his answers sound like they were prepared in advance

[@KamilKaraali]

@@thomasrhein7757 good point !! Yes

[@almubarak89458]

I got a brother named Kamil

[@KamilKaraali]

@@almubarak89458 Say hello from me

[@eighteenin78]

He played at the Margate (UK) chess tournament in late April 1938. It is possibly then when the BBC caught up with him to have a talk with the current world champion.

[@ifeanyiilogbaka7099]

Alekhine is my best grandmaster, closely followed by Kasparov and Tal, then Fischer. His voice is so gentle, compared to the Carnage he causes on the chessboard.

[@GlorifiedTruth]

Agree. I really expected him to sound more like a badass.

[@azazael8246]

He was an absolute monster on the board. So aggressive...when appropriate.

[@alexkalish8288]

Fantastic interview. He's so charming and intelligent. I wonder what happened to the Tsar's Cup ? This is a fantastic find - one of the greatest chess players ever - he's immortal. I didn't know he had a Phd. Bravo !

[@bekanav]

Some say he was a fake doctor... His doctoral dissertation, titled "La défense dans les échecs" ("The Defense in Chess") was accepted in the University of Sorbonne in Paris in 1925. So Aljechin didn't study law or was a lawyer unlike Morphy who graduated at 19 years old being so young he couldn't practice his profession. They said Morphy knew whole legislation of Louisiana by heart

[@kevinwellwrought2024]

Alekhine says memory is not that important but he knew by heart all the master chess games played in the past 15 years when he was alive!

[@kevinwellwrought2024]

@RaniaIsAwesome Alekhine was in fact a lawyer and aristocrat and according to many a true gentleman! His memory was phenomenal and he could play 80 players blindfold!!! He was also a master of tactics and endgame so his analytical skill was also superb. Chess is art of analysis and critical thinking and memory does not play such a big role in it although beginner chess players usually assume it is a memory game. Alekhine is a chess demigod the like of which we will never see again!

[@kevinwellwrought2024]

@wooshifgay462 I agree. I can hold up to 30 moves deep in any opening in my memory as if it is one piece altogether!

[@polarvortex3294]

There are people who live in exalted realms that sort of lose touch with what being normal really is: rich people who think of a Rolex as a "beater" watch; strongmen who lift heavy things as warm-up that would endanger the lives of others, etc. It's the same with memory & brains, I imagine. When amazing mental feats are normal for yourself, you might forget how unusual you are.

[@varadagopi6]

Fan of alekhine And thank for this video and Voice

[@AnjumMeer]

Amazing clip. Thanks for sharing!

[@EngineVSEngine]

Amazing how good he really was.

[@FredPlanatia]

Thanks for releasing this to the public. I wonder what he would say about today's world of chess with its constant reference to the 'final verdict' of the chess engine. He regarded chess as an art which is consumated at the board. I do not have the impression from this interview he devoted extensive hours to memorization of opening lines.

[@dannygjk]

He did work hard studying openings tho.

[@samiraljubory6223]

He is my Favorite chess legend 🥰😍👍🏻

[@NDakovic]

So likeable, he sounds like a true gentleman. I wish we had more of this today.

[@richardcochrane1966]

You might want to ask Jewish people how much of a "true gentleman" this bastard was...

[@FredPlanatia]

@@richardcochrane1966 Apparently the evidence on Alekhine's aledged antisemitism or collaboration with the Nazis is unclear. The articles attributed to him which criticised 'jewish chess' for example where repudiated by Alekhine and its unclear whether he wrote them as they stood or whether they were revised for propaganda purposes. In addition his actions and those of Jews on his behalf do not support the antisemitism ascribed to him. At least that is what I derive from reading the wikipedia article about Alekhine.

[@sunnatsadikov8664]

​@@richardcochrane1966 wow, now I respect him even more.

[@MrGyges]

The interviewer was Freddie Grisewood of the BBC

[@dan_gabriel]

I always imagined his voice to be a bariton, bass voice.

[@EdMcF1]

It is, if you listen to Karpov first.

[@vitocorleone1423]

What an amazing mind! Pure genius, great player! He was a lawyer too and knew several foreign languages. I really hope we will have other knights of the art like him today

[@willyh.r.1216]

Alexander Alexandrovitch Alekhine, the brilliant chess executioner and a great mathematician. The only chess champion who keeping his world chess champion title with him in his death. His final match games specially against Capablanca and Max Euwe at that time were fabulous and technically complicated. His blind folding games were exceptionally accurate. He is a chess legend, in the same category as Bobby Fischer. Unfortunately, cigarettes and alcohol deteriorated quickly his health.

[@xavier3153]

dont spread false news ,he was not into mathematics

[@MrGyges]

The commentator was Freddie Grisewood

[@Jimserac]

Wow ! Completely unexpected. And yet, perfect. During my chess playing years from the early 60's in high school through my last tournament in1974, I spent a good deal of time studying Alekhin's games. I could never emulate his style and failed every time I tried. I later learned that my style was more like a Lasker. But I felt I knew Alekhin after years of studying his play. His voice is far more high pitched than I would expect, almost like someone Erich von Stroheim would cast in a spy movie. Yet Alekhin's mind and his status as a well educated aristocratic Russian emigre' intellectual shines through. His English elocution is damn near perfect with the slightest trace of an accent. Great find. One wishes one could have even a 20 minute conversation with this guy, the things one might learn. Thanks !!!

[@mvvenkataraman]

When we brothers were lads, My brother saw Alekhine As a young child with x-ray eyes, He was going on admiring him, His English is clear and perfect, His expression is understandable, I can see in it extreme clarity To reveal clearly his character, He wants to solve every matter Is the tone of his perfect speech, I am awed by his noble analysis, Immortal damn hurt genius indeed His life was tormented by politics? M V Venkataraman

[@azazael8246]

This guy was insane. He was so good...I remember parroting like an 18 move checkmate when I was a teen from one of his games.......he saw that far ahead somehow. Still amazing...and immortal.

[@fuadpalchayev7269]

Amazing! Thank you very much!

[@Crazypotato4961]

His sound is so similar to that of Einstein's

[@kdub1242]

I was just thinking that too. Remarkably similar.

[@barracuda7018]

His ingenuity is not less than that of Einstein, actually his iq might have been even higher..

[@herubinoevc737]

I believe this is due to same distortions brought by the same low quality contemporary recording machines. To me, many people from that era sound strangely alike, b/c voice was recorded only partially.

[@timguy5882]

@@herubinoevc737 but the guy asking the questions doesn't really sound like Einstein.

[@emiral1807]

For me Alekhine sounds like a german speaking english. very fluent though!!

[@haniashkir1670]

His English accent is amazing and his chess skills

[@barracuda7018]

Natural born genius...

[@azazael8246]

If one could make an arrangement of deceased spirits returning to aspire to their craft.......I would be on board.

[@jamesnezhmetkovvassilyvik8112]

So you must have a vision to become an accurate player similar to a painter

[@tglimm]

All I could think when I heard that was: AlphaZero, AlphaZero, AlphaZero!!!!

[@ivosirakov1278]

@@tglimm and what AZ has to do with that?

[@tglimm]

@@ivosirakov1278 AlphaZero doesn't need vision or creative drive to crush any human player.

[@ivosirakov1278]

@@tglimm yes but any human do

[@shekharkohli6051]

@@tglimm incorrect?!

[@bradforddrake8633]

He has a very interesting voice! i love his cat, with name of "chess!"

[@shanastroskyphazer8172]

Very interesting thank you !!

[@tonydavis5512]

It is quite incredible that in my experience I have found chess and table-tennis go hand in hand for many players!

[@albertusmagnus5829]

Great bloke - down to earth - thanks for posting

[@petersiegfriedkrug]

His English is also amazing.

[@s4m3r]

Ah, the days when chess required no memory :)

[@trinajska]

He died still being a world champion,what a legend.

[@murarikaushik33]

Was he not defeated by Max Euwe?

[@Jose.AFT.Saddul]

@@murarikaushik33 yes. But alekhine would take the world title back from him. And keep it until his death.

[@luizfernandotesck144]

This is priceless.

[@PeterSzpiriev]

Alexander Alekhine 's voice of perfect and Genial, his voice is genial and perfect and Tsar of there are some movie with Euwe

[@steelers6titles]

Alekhine studied chess intensely (like Bobby Fischer later). He had defeated Jose Capablanca, who didn't study the game nearly as much, for the world title in 1927, and held it until he was defeated by Max Euwe of the Netherlands in 1935. He regained it in 1937, and held it through World War 2, when international tournament play was put on hold. He still held the title when he died in Portugal in 1946. Alekhine was a lawyer by training.

[@malashen]

He speaks English with an accent, but it's not an accent a present day Russian would speak with. Educated Russians at that time had a pronounciation different from the morern one, even when they spoke their native language.

[@GünayAvcı-s3d]

Varsa hangisi bay stockfish hollandada mı!?😊

[@apk8340]

There he is, The GOAT of chess!

[@TTharvest]

i agree

[@joseperez8774]

A truly piece of history... amazing

[@klaustoth6982]

love the photo that shows alekhine so happy together with his cat.

[@fontagnus]

Well, that’s an aural shock. I had always imagined Alekhine having a low, raspy, heavy-drinker voice.

[@Nu1SaNc8]

What great champion

[@GNU_Linux_for_good]

That's a jewel. Thank you.

[@ahmedsayeed1330]

He sounds German. Such a pleasure.

[@davidcopson5800]

This was very interesting, though I have heard Alekhine speak before in English and other languages. I slightly disagree with him on one point, that being chess players don't need to have good memories. It is a fact that many of the top players had/have phenomenal memories, and it is certainly the case today where dozens of opening variations need to be memorised far into the game.

[@XSteve-gz5ko]

i guess the times have changed a fair bit from then.

[@beaconite4249]

I agree. How can anyone play blindfold chess without an amazing memory? And not just one game but many at the same time.

[@mromito15]

Good grief.

[@fundhund62]

@@beaconite4249 What does blindfold chess have to do with memory? You need good visualization skills.

[@beaconite4249]

@@fundhund62 yes, you do but where are good visualization skills stored if not in your memory?

[@noobdestroyer9364]

His voice caught me off guard, i expected it to be manlier lmao

[@vrishankpandey8537]

Alekhine sounds German and his voice is identical to Einstein!

[@Freakinawesome333]

1:34 How times have changed hahaha!

[@starwarsfamilyguy0]

Love his voice

[@spamerspamov2212]

I WAS HERE!!!

[@nigelsouthworth808]

Thanks

[@raydevera9636]

Alexhine was not only good in chess but a well educated genius...

[@fuckbankers]

It's good to know that I don't have to worry about my bad memory.

[@MrGranfield]

Alekhine was a polyglot.

[@michaelrose93]

*"One does not require an outstanding memory"* 1:44 < Yeah, those were the days!!! *"I hate chess... because I know what chess is all about. It's all about memorization"* - Bobby Fischer

[@rubensrmagtoto8439]

He sounds like hydra .captain marvel movies

[@Remro88]

Somehow i can't match the voice to the pictures of him. I won't deny the authenticity of the recording, yet the voice seems too sharp. His english too perfect for a french man from russia.

[@chessforfunonly1586]

How did those guys learn English?

[@-_Nuke_-]

His voice reminds me on Einstein

[@dilejjja]

What a gentleman chess players were back in the day. And today you have bunch of guys making idiots of themselves on their streams.

[@chotirawee]

Now, I want to play ping pong with Alekhine

[@AlessandroPinto-py8ih]

Hannibal Alekhine or Alexander Lecter

[@GünayAvcı-s3d]

👍

[@TheGeezzer]

Alekhine towered over them all!

[@deanmcintyre4334]

Shouldve kept one of the polgar sisters away from chess as a control group

[@Osckarre]

< drops chess board and pieces into garbage can on the way out of the room!

[@MrSupernova111]

Wow! Amazing! Alekhine the ping pong player! lol

[@fireballxl-5748]

Great find. But he's being disingenuous saying there is no stress.......he was drunk most of the time.

[@Chess-Gyaan]

Only in the first title defence against Euwe. That's because he underestimated him direly. Otherwise he told himself in the end of this clip how he prepared and valued physical shape during a match. He became sober for the return match only a year later and crushed him. I think he talking mostly about his 1927 match where he prepared like no one else (maybe Rocky) both physically and chesswise , and that's why he won against someone like Capablanca. Just because he was drinking a lot towards the later half of his life (as most genius artists are) majorly because of the massive personal problems he was having (you don't have the capacity to imagine ,never having lived in a world war time) due to the evil world politics ,gives no Tom dick and harry a right to judge a great player and personality like Alekhine. But then, I forget, this is internet.

[@fireballxl-5748]

@@Chess-Gyaan Hold your horses! (American slang) means: just wait a minute. My comment was merely a statement of fact.....YOU are the one who turned it into a judgment. Facts are AA often was drunk but that doesn't mean he was a bad chess player or person. In fact, since he was drunk a lot and still was world champion makes his talent even greater. Yes, his habit was to lose the first match, then sober up and crush his opponents on the rematch. That is undeniable....it's history. So before you run to your sarcasm button and press it wildly, stop and THINK to see if this is really a negative comment or just a statement of fact. A fact you are not comfortable with but a fact nevertheless. One should not jump to conclusions, as you did thinking I was disparaging AA, but then again, I forget, this is the internet.

[@langletprolet8378]

@@Chess-Gyaan He wasn’t judging him. Bruh..,

[@GünayAvcı-s3d]

Bende tek zayıf hamle göremezsin😊

[@radrook2153]

That voice doesn't go with his appearance.

[@Atlargein]

Great champion not so great his voice( squeaky high pitched)😬

[@alecmisra4964]

The white russian that led the way to the red ones.

[@rosariovazquez4425]

Que cobarde. Demuestra el miedo que le tiene o le tenía a Capablanca al no aceptar la revancha.

[@FDGOD74]

Qué específicamente demuestra su miedo? Captaste aunque sea algo de la entrevista o solo viniste a escribir tu comentario resentido? Entre ellos dos ganó el mejor. Y omitiremos el tema de todos los obstáculos que ponía el propio Capablanca a los pretendientes que lo retaban.

[@hordechess7629]

Wasn't the interviewer Max Euwe?

[@fundhund62]

In view of 3:02 that's rather unlikely ;)

[@roygobets6053]

No. Dr. Euwe was Dutch and the accent of the interviewer is quintessentially British. Alekhine’s English is remarkably proper and fluent. Very impressive.

[@davidcopson5800]

@@fundhund62 Indeed.

[@hordechess7629]

Thank you all.

[@p.jhodeflea789]

I didn't expect such a voice from Alekhine . Does not fit with his physical.

[@11Kralle]

I bet there are some snippets of him speaking german somewhere. One can hear that he pronounces his english like Einstein a.s.o.

[@justinbieber8028]

“A great chess player can’t be created” Judit Polgar: ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?

[@fundhund62]

She went through the same education as her sisters, but surpassed them by a wide margin. So yes, she might be sure of that, as well.

[@steelers6titles]

Interview is scripted, for entertainment. Perhaps Alekhine needed the money. Chess not requiring memory? Alekhine studied the game intensely.

[@100neshama]

Let's not forget that Alekhine is controversial due to the fact he wrote anti-Semitic articles disparaging Jewish chess players when France was under Nazi control. Though he claimed it was done under duress it is not entirely clear that was the case.

[@WeCube1898]

How ironic of it for Alekhine to be Anti-Semitic since he himself had a hebraic heritage.

[@chokin78]

@@WeCube1898 can you share the source? Thanks!

[@JohnSmith-un9jm]

@@WeCube1898 Stupid! Alekhine was not jewish. Don't insult the genius of Alekhine by insinuating such a lie.

[@aminnakib5188]

Alekhine is underated legend

[@ojas3464]

👍