The hall of the City Casino in Sofia is packed, and a Bulgarian chess player stands opposite each of the 40 boards. In the middle, Alexander Alekhine walks around - the fourth world champion, famous for his sharp combination style. On two of the boards, he plays without looking at the positions. At the end of the evening, however, four Bulgarians record victories against the great master.
The session is held on April 13, 1936, at the invitation of the Sofia Chess Club. Alekhine arrives in the capital a day earlier with his wife Grace Wishard. According to chess historian Tomasz Lisowski, the two toured Sofia with representatives of the local chess community, and their company included the Siamese cat Chess - an unusual companion who later became one of the most recognizable details of the champion's image.
The four games that remain in history
Alekhin lost to Arshavir Tanielyan, Alexander Tsvetkov, Andrey Malchev and Georgi Semerdzhiev. Among the Bulgarian chess players who finished on a par with him were Alexander Kiprov, Naiden Voinov, Atanas Radoslavov and Teodor Trayanov - the symbolist poet, diplomat and chairman of the Bulgarian Chess Union.
Different data have been published about the overall result of the session. In his study of Alekhine's visit to Sofia, Tomasz Lisowski indicates 27 wins, 9 draws and 4 losses for the champion. Bulgarian chess chronicles indicate 26 wins, 10 draws and 4 losses. In both versions, the four Bulgarian wins are the undisputed distinctive part of the event. Several games from the session have also been preserved, including Tanielyan's victory and Voinov's draw.
„The session continued until late at night and ended with a score of +26 -4 =10 for Alekhine“, writes chess figure Stefan Sergiev in his historical overview of Bulgarian chess.The champion who lost twice and won the crown
Alexander Alekhine was born on October 31, 1892 in Moscow, into a wealthy family. Even as a young man, he was among the strongest chess players in the world, and in 1927 he achieved one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of the game – defeated José Raúl Capablanca in Buenos Aires and took the world title from the Cuban.
Alekhin defended his crown against Efim Bogolyubov in 1929 and 1934. Then came the unexpected defeat by Max Euwe in 1935. Two years later, the Frenchman of Russian origin regained the title in a rematch in the Netherlands. According to the World Chess Federation, Alekhine remains the only world champion to die without losing his title on the chessboard.
His life was marked by war, revolution and emigration. After leaving Russia, he settled in Europe, received French citizenship and turned chess into a profession, a performing art and a means of traveling the world. He is known for his simultaneous sessions, his games full of sacrifices and attacks, and his books in which he analyzed his own matches.
Alekhine died on March 24, 1946, in Estoril, Portugal, at the age of 53. Decades earlier, on a Sofia evening, four Bulgarians managed to do something that even great champions rarely do - stop four of his games at once.
Sources: chessarch.com, new.bnr.bg, chessfish.com