Them’s the Breaks in Life

“If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.” Julius Caesar

Have you ever questioned yourself about what goes into achieving a breakthrough? How do you know when you have truly broken through? Not some one-off fluke that is unsustainable, but a steady sustainable locked-in breakthrough…

From breakdown to breakeven to breakthrough to breakout to breakaway… A breakthrough is part of a process; a big picture where it is the means to an end and not the end result. When it comes to breakthroughs and lucky breaks in life, Alexander Alekhine had his fair share of them… He grew up in a wealthy family in Moscow early in the 20th century, learnt to play chess at the age of ten, and made it through Russia’s most turbulent years to eventually emerge as the world chess champion.

When World War One broke out in July 1914, the 22-year-old Alekhine was leading an international chess tournament in Mannheim in Germany. Russia promptly declared war on Germany so Alekhine and ten other Russian players were arrested and interned as enemies of the state. In September 1914 a number of the players including Alekhine were released after being deemed unfit for military service. Here Alekhine made his way back to Russia from Genoa via France, England, Sweden, and Finland. The more direct route home via the Dardanelles Strait near Turkey and the Black Sea was too dangerous.

Back home Alekhine arranged a chess simul tour to raise money to support the release of the other players still interned in Germany. Here he played multiple players at once including a number of simuls where he played blindfolded. The tour took in Russia (Petrograd or St Petersburg as it known today) and the Ukraine (Kiev and Odessa). As the war dragged on, Alekhine was constantly frowned upon and mocked for arrogantly playing chess whilst the country was at war. In mid-1916 he decided to do his bit for the war effort. He joined a mobile Red Cross Unit where he was stationed on the South-Western front in Galicia bordering the Austro-Hungarian empire in the Ukraine where he spent approximately three months before returning to Moscow.

After the February Revolution broke out in Petrograd in early 1917 civil disturbances spread across the Russian empire. Eventually, the October 1917 coup overthrew the Tsar and plunged the Russian Empire into civil war. The situation became precarious for people with a wealthy or noble background like Alekhine. During his chess simul tours Alekhine made two trips to Odessa, the strategic Ukrainian port on the Black Sea. So, with the situation out of control in Moscow and Petrograd, Alekhine sort refuge in Odessa in October 1918 to play a chess tournament and a series of exhibitions. His aim was to make some money and wait out the difficult times, but this was not necessarily Alekhine’s best move…

The Russian empire ruled the Ukraine from the second half of the 17th century so when civil war broke in Russia in 1917, a power vacuum engulfed the Ukraine. Russia essentially withdrew from World War One by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which meant conceding a number of territories including the Ukraine. By May 1918 the Ukraine was occupied by German forces but after they capitulated with the Armistice in November 1918 total chaos swept across the Ukraine. Academics say that in the modern history of Europe no country experienced such complete anarchy, bitter civil strife, and total collapse of authority as did the Ukraine at this time. Six different armies; those of the Ukrainians, the Bolsheviks, the White Movement (anti-Bolshevik), the Entente (French), the Poles and the anarchists operated on its territory. Kiev changed hands five times in less than a year. Cities and regions were cut off from each other by the numerous fronts. Communications with the outside world broke down almost completely. The starving cities emptied as people moved into the countryside in their search for food. Yet here was Alekhine caught up in the middle of it.

The sudden end of World War One and the fluid political situation in the Ukraine meant the Odessa chess tournament never took place. French forces arrived in Odessa in late 1918 to stabilise the strategic port but they had no appetite for armed conflict, especially after four years of fighting on the Western Front in World War One. As a consequence, the French sojourn in Odessa unexpectedly ended with an emergency evacuation in April 1919. As soon as the French left Odessa, the Bolsheviks took over. Here the repressions and summary executions began. Anyone suspected of being against the communists were arrested by the Odessa Cheka, (the Bolshevik Security Agency). This included Alekhine who was playing chess at the time when a man a leather jacket representing the Odessa Cheka approached and demanded that Alekhine follow him.

The reasoning behind Alekhine’s arrest is not clear but his bourgeoisie links to intellect and wealth made him a prime target. Some believe Alekhine was denounced by a disgruntled Odessa chess player, but others say it was a result of his accommodation. At the time Alekhine was staying at the London Hotel in a room previously occupied by a “foreign officer” who built a hidden storage in the room to keep secret documents. The “foreign officer” was most likely to be fellow Russian chess player, Boris Malyutin, who fled Odessa to fight with the White Movement against the Bolsheviks. Ultimately, when the Chekists raided the hotel, they found documents in Alekhine’s room and he was automatically accused of collaborating with allied spies.

Executions by the Odessa Cheka were carried out on a daily basis. According to the records, during the first eleven months, over 10,200 people were arrested. Of these, around 1,200 were executed by firing squad, approximately 1,600 were sent to prison camps, and another 4,500 were freed. The fate of the remaining 2,900 or so people is unknown. Alekhine was just one of many in the firing line, so how did he escape death?

Some say Leon Trotsky, head of the Revolutionary Council, personally visited Alekhine in jail and played a number of games against him before ordering his release, but there is no evidence to suggest Trotsky was in Odessa in 1919. Others credited Dmitry Manuilsky, a prominent Bolshevik activist in Kiev with the release, but dates and activities do not align and Manuilsky himself was under arrest at the time such was the mistrust and disorder. Another theory suggests one of the five revolutionary tribunal judges refused to sign Alekhine’s death sentence out of respect to the player, but this is regarded as implausible given Alekhine’s bourgeoisie background.

The most plausible theory of Alekhine’s escape comes from the intervention of fellow chess player Yakov Vilner who worked in the revolutionary tribunal. When Vilner spotted Alekhine’s name on the execution lists he reached out to a key connection in Kiev; Christian Rakovsky, the head of the Ukrainian Government and one of the founding fathers of the Odessa Cheka. Rakovsky intervened and authorised Alekhine’s last-minute reprieve.

Alekhine was spared but he had lost everything. He had no money and no right to getting food ration cards. He was constantly hungry, his clothes fell apart, and he looked like a tramp in the street. He returned to Moscow and chess where he swept the Moscow Championship in January 1920. In March 1920, Alekhine married Alexandra Batayeva to legitimise their daughter but they divorced soon after. He spoke a number of languages fluently and he landed a job as a French translator. His office was in a train and so he travelled all over Russia. Here he met Annaliese Ruegg, a swiss writer, who was visiting Russia on an extensive lecture tour. They were married in March 1921 in Moscow in a scam marriage of convenience. Ruegg was well connected and she convinced the Russian government to allow Alekhine to travel aboard. A Russian named Radek gave the permission: "May Alekhine be a counter revolutionist, but he is also a chess genius. His talent can only become effective outside of Russia."

Alekhine defected – he left Russia never to return. He went to Paris, left his second wife, and headed back to Berlin where he started playing competitive chess again. Here he resumed his long-term plan to become the world champion. His strategy was to cherry pick the tournaments he entered to earn the right to challenge Jose Raul Capablanca, whom he predicted would become world champion…

Capablanca indeed won the world title in April 1921 by beating Emanuel Lasker. At a tournament in London in 1922, Capablanca proposed the “London Rules”, a written set of rules for world championship challenges. Under the rules the challenger had to guarantee $10,000, ($150,000 in 2020), in prizemoney as well as cover the cost of the match including travel, food and lodgings, and any costs associated with the venue. Although Capablanca won an agreement from the world’s leading players, no one was able to meet the conditions and potential challenges from Akiba Rubenstein (1922), Frank Marshall (1923) and Aron Nimzowitsch (1926) all failed. Meanwhile, Alekhine bided his time negotiating with various sponsors to finance the match. In early 1927 he secured a firm commitment from the Argentine Chess Federation. Capablanca agreed and the match was set for Buenos Aires in September 1927.

For all of Alekhine’s lucky breaks with World War One, the Russian Civil War, and the greater Russian Revolution, how did he go about taking on Capablanca?

Breakdown: there is no breakthrough without a breakdown. That is, to succeed it is necessary to fail and a breakthrough is a goal. Alekhine first played Capablanca in St Petersburg in 1913 and 1914 on five occasions for no wins, one draw and four losses. Capablanca was a Cuban chess prodigy widely renowned for his endgame skills and speed of play. From February 1916 to March 1924 he was undefeated across 70 tournament games for a record of 84% (47 wins, 23 draws, 0 losses). During his reign as world champion his record was 74% (42 wins, 37 draws and 3 losses). Capablanca was a man of very few blunders.

Breakeven: is when a breakthrough becomes a matter of time. After Alekhine left Russia he played Capablanca in London in 1922 and New York in 1924 and early 1927 for a record of: no wins, six draws and one loss. Capablanca dominated the New York tournament (1927), finishing 2? points in front of Alekhine, who took second. Although Alekhine had improved dramatically he was still without a win and many doubted he was capable of winning six games against Capablanca... Geza Maroczy predicted victory was bound to go to Capablanca, and Rudolf Spielmann said he would be surprised if Alekhine "were to win even a single game."

Breakthrough: Alekhine, playing the French Defence as black, not only wins the first game of his world championship challenge, but his first game against Capablanca. Despite the win, Alekhine said the game was praised too much, both players were short of time, and it represented a comedy of errors. Capablanca missed several chances to draw the game just as Alekhine missed a similar number of winning opportunities. Capablanca won games 3 and 7 to lead 2-1 before Alekhine won games 11 and 12 to regain the lead 3-2.

Breakout: Eight draws followed until the decisive game 21 when Alekhine outplayed Capablanca. Going into the match Alekhine was noted for his aggressive, attacking play – a style that suited Capablanca’s riskless positional play which many considered as boring. That said, Alekhine rained in the enterprising play for the world championship and played the most conservative chess of his life. Put simply, Alekhine beat Capablanca at his own game playing Capa-style. Chess commentators suddenly picked up on Alekhine’s successful change in playing style. A breakout in approach. Here the breakthrough was reinforced:

After Capablanca plays Rd1 to pin the bishop against the queen, Alekhine lands the knockout blow with Nxe3 and Capablanca resigned. His option of Qxd5 is met by black with Rxd5. White cannot recapture with ef as black plays Bxf3 thereby winning the rook. White is piece and a pawn down with no satisfactory compensation or counter play. Many chess pundits regarded this as the best game of the match. Capablanca was simply blown off the board and it put Alekhine 2 points clear at 4-2.

For the chess enthusiasts, the full game played out as follows: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 Be7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Rc1 a6 8. a3 h6 9. Bh4 dxc4 10. Bxc4 b5 11. Be2 Bb7 12. O-O c5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Nd4 Rc8 15. b4 Ncd7 16. Bg3 Nb6 17. Qb3 Nfd5 18. Bf3 Rc4 19. Ne4 Qc8 20. Rxc4 Nxc4 21. Rc1 Qa8 22. Nc3 Rc8 23. Nxd5 Bxd5 24. Bxd5 Qxd5 25. a4 Bf6 26. Nf3 Bb2 27. Re1 Rd8 28. axb5 axb5 29. h3 e5 30. Rb1 e4 31. Nd4 Bxd4 32. Rd1 Nxe3

Breakaway: When the breakthrough is confirmed. After game 21 Capablanca closed the gap with a win in game 29 but Alekhine had the momentum and he won games 32 and 34 to win 6-3 and become the fourth world chess champion. It would be the longest world championship for another 57 years until Karpov and Kasparov played the epic 48 game match in 1984.

If we look back over our own breakthroughs it is often a “Breakdown to Breakaway” process the gradually unfolds, yet what else goes into it? What else contributed to Alekhine’s success against Capablanca?

Unlike Capablanca, Alekhine was no chess prodigy. He trained hard over many years dealing with plenty of setbacks along the way. Whilst Alekhine won the first game, it was not a time for him to rest on his laurels. Yes, it did set a precedent, but he had to repeat the win another five times to prove it was no fluke. Along thew way he demonstrated how past performance is not an indicator of future performance.

A breakeven where we don’t make a profit or a loss can often feel like more like a loss or a stalemate, yet this is often the moment when you feel like giving up that the breakthrough comes. Here asking “why?” leads to an understanding but it is asking “why not?” that leads to a change in beliefs and the breakthrough. From that point on, the initial breakthrough is an important discovery step that takes our understanding and beliefs to the next level to find a solution to the challenges we face.

Ultimately, for Alekhine there was no denying the focus behind his Rasputin-like stare in the photo taken during the 1927 match. The uncertainty he endured and witnessed during the Russian Revolution added to his resolve to overcome Capablanca step by step from the initial breakdown to the final breakaway moment. For all of us there are lessons of patience and persistence.