Chess 06 Dec 1923, Thu Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, New York) Newspapers.com
Alexander Alekhine Here; Impresses Chess Players
By Hermann Helms
After meeting Alexander Alekhine of Russia, who arrived yesterday from Montreal, not only to tour the United States but to arrange a match for the world's championship as well, one is forced to the conclusion that if this young visitor, in the prime of his manhood, study and robust, with intelligence far above the average, is unable to defeat Capablanca when the opportunity to encounter him offers, then truly may the great Cuban retire on his laurels and forever after be regarded as absolutely invincible. If Alekhine cannot accomplish the seemingly impossible, then, one is very much tempted to believe, no one else can. In other words, the impression the Russian makes is distinctly favorable.
A six-footer, of military bearing, with light hair and clear, blue kindly eyes, which nevertheless reflect the powerful intellect that enables him to play 21 “blindfold” games simultaneously in Montreal, Alekhine has a winning personality that will make hosts of friends for him wherever he goes. His looks betray the unconquerable ambition of youth, and for poise and self-possession he will not be at any disadvantage with Capablanca. The many who will meet him during his stay in our midst and will shake hands with him are hereby duly wanred, for he has an iron grip that will make the unprepared one surly wince.
His straight figure and broad shoulders bespeak the athlete rather than the mental gymnast that he is, but one suspects with good reason that he is a combination of the two. It should be borne in mind that he has had no parlor existence, despite his chess playing proclivities. At Mannheim, in 1904, he was interned by the Germans, and in time made his escape. For two years, as captain of artillery in the Russian army, he saw real fighting, was wounded, laid up in hospitals and later served with the Red Cross at the front.
When the revolution broke out Alekhine left his home in Moscow and went to the south of Russia. Eventually he was imprisoned at Odessa and in peril of execution. The circumstances that he was a chess master and did not harbor counter-revolutionary ideas, he says, were largely instrumental in effecting his release. Under the old regime he was in the legal department of the Foreign Office at St. Petersburg. No ordinary man, therefore, is Alexander Alekhine.
Upon his arrival here yesterday, Alekhine put up at the Hotel Sherman Square, the home of the Manhattan Chess Club, and in the afternoon met many of the prominent members of that club. Dr. Louis Cohn, Leonard B. Meyer and Norbert Lederer lost no time in making arrangements, as a result of which Alekhine will give his first performance there next Wednesday evening.
On Thursday evening Alekhine will be at the Brooklyn Chess Club for the purpose of playing simultaneously against forty opponents. He is prepared to carry on two of the games in “blindfold” fashion. In addition, he will permit his adversaries to name the openings they wish him to play. On the evening of Dec. 15 he will be at the Providence Chess Club, after which he will return in order to fill other engagements here.
Weather permitting, Alekhine expects to make the rounds of the metropolitan chess clubs this evening in order to pay his respects.
Alekhine in Montreal.
While in Montreal, which is now one of the most important chess centers on the North American continent, Alekhine had a hard-fought game with Georges Marechal, a leading expert in the Canadian metropolis, which was largely responsible for the Russian's visit to Canada. It was even all the way through until the French-Canadian made an unfortunate blunder, whereupon he resigned.
Alexander Alekhine vs Georges Marechal
Simul, 37b (1923) (exhibition), National Athletics Association, Montreal CAN, Nov-22
Formation: Queen Pawn Game: London System (D02) 1-0
