After Botvinnik defended his title against Smyslov in 1954, another qualifying cycle was once again held in three stages. After seven Zonal tournaments, a total of 21 players assembled in Gothenburg in 1955 to play…

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At FIDE’s 26th General Assembly, held in Copenhagen in 1950, the chief chess organization confirmed the regulations regarding the upcoming World Championship Cycle. As in the previous cycle, the qualification process consisted of three stages. …

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Starting with the FIDE World Championship Tournament 1948, the jurisdiction over the World Chess Championship title had fallen completely into FIDE’s hands. At the 1947 FIDE Congress, the qualifying system for the subsequent World Championships…

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After defeating Euwe in 1937, Alekhine was invited by Fide President Reub to play a match for the title against official FIDE challenger, Salo Flohr. Initially, Alekhine declined invitation; precisely during those years the new…

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According to the regulations of the 1935 World Chess Championship match, in the event of Alekhine losing the title, he was granted the right to return match. Soon after the match has ended, Alekhine challenged…

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Max Euwe, born at a dawn of the 20th century in Amsterdam, started competing in the international tournament only in the 1920s. Although he didn’t play chess professionally, pursuing mathematical studies all along, his talent…

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On 12th November 1929, one day after the finish of Alekhine – Bogoljubow 1929 World Championship match, the former champion Jose Raul Capablanca sent a letter to Alekhine in which he informed him he „confirmed…

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Already in Buenos Aires, immediately after their World Championship match in 1927, Alekhine and Capablanca met to discuss the conditions regarding the potential Alekhine – Capablanca rematch. According to Kasparov (Garry Kasparov On My Great…

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After Capablanca’s victory against Lasker in 1921, the latter claim he will no longer participate in World Championship matches. The first player to challenge Capablanca, immediately in 1921, was Akiba Rubinstein, the Polish champion and…

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November 19, 1888, is one of the most important dates in chess history. On this day, one of the greatest natural talents, the Cuban genius Jose Raul Capablanca, was born. Capablanca was a prodigy in…

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You might recall that in 1899, David Janowsky, one of the leading masters of the late 1890s and early 1900s, issued a formal challenge to Lasker. Due to the disagreement regarding the number of games…

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After his successful title defence against Tarrasch in 1908, Lasker could not rest on his laurels. The list of challengers waiting for their turn was growing every day. On December 2, 1908, Austrian master Karl…

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