A. Alekhine vs. E.D. Bogoljubow: World Chess Championship 1934

56-[5 ad] pages with tables and diagrams. Octavo (8 1/2" x 5 1/4") bound in original publisher's pictorial wrappers. First published in 1934.

The match began September 6, 1929 under the following conditions: Alekhine would get $6,000 dollars win or lose, with any surplus going to Bogoljubov. A winner would be declared if he scored 15½ points with 6 wins from a maximum of 30 games. Unlike the Capablanca-Alekhine 1927 match, which had been played in private, the Alekhine-Bogoljubov match would be played in public. The organizers insisted on this, in order to raise money from ticket sales. Only those cities that contributed to the purse would be allowed to host the match: Wiesbaden (games 1-8; 24-25), Heidelberg (games 9-11), Berlin (games 12-17), The Hague (games 18-19; 23), Rotterdam (game 20), and Amsterdam (games 21-22). Emanuel Lasker served as arbiter in the Berlin games.

Alekhine won the 1st game, but Bogoljubov kept pace, evening the score 1-1 after a win in Game 4. The world champion won the next game, and Bogoljubov came right back again to win Game 6, tying the score at 2-2. Alekhine attributed this loss to an "enforced exchange of queens" on move 15 which produced a position that "could not be defended against by accurate play.

The world champion now began to draw away with two consecutive victories. Alekhine regarded his win with the black pieces in Game 8 to be among his best. The match was now interrupted by a scheduled two week break so that Alekhine could attend the 6th FIDE congress in Venice. On resumption, Alekhine extended his lead to four games, but Bogoljubov clawed back to win games 13 and 14. This would be the challenger's last real resistance. Alekhine now won five of the next eight games, putting the match well out of reach. The final game proved a fitting example of the whole match, which featured exciting, but risky tactical chess throughout.

Condition: Light edge wear else very good.