World Championship 1935: Euwe – Alekhine
Max Euwe was a mathematics teacher who played chess in what time his profession allowed. Across thirteen Dutch towns he patiently wore down the fearsome Alekhine, and in the thirtieth and final game secured the point that made an amateur World Champion.
◈The amateur challenger
Euwe was almost no one's idea of a champion — diffident, scholarly, and firmly committed to his teaching. Yet he had improved markedly, finishing second to Alekhine at Bern 1932 and Zürich 1934 and sharing first at Hastings 1934/35, and he had done deep original work on the openings. Alekhine, fresh from years of dominance, was confident to the point of boastfulness — but shrewd enough to insist the contract include a return-match clause should he lose.
Capablanca, invited to weigh the two, offered a cool verdict: Alekhine was the more brilliant, Euwe the more balanced and reliable.
◈The Pearl of Zandvoort and the long haul
Euwe started disastrously with just a half point from his first four games, then clawed back a three-point deficit as the match wore on. It stood level at 12–12 after twenty-four games; Euwe's win in the twenty-sixth — the celebrated "Pearl of Zandvoort" — gave him the lead, and he clinched the title in the last game to finish 15½–14½, +9−8=13.
Some later attributed the result to Alekhine's drinking, an interpretation that unfairly diminished a worthy champion who would go on to serve chess for decades, including as President of FIDE.
◈Cross Table
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Euwe | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 15½ |
| Alekhine | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 14½ |
1 win · ½ draw · 0 loss — click a game number to replay it.
“Dr. Alekhine's game is 20% bluff. Dr. Euwe's game is clear and straightforward — not so strong as Alekhine's in some respects, but more evenly balanced.”