Editing Alexander Alekhine (section)

===Accusations of antisemitism===
During World War II, Alekhine played in several tournaments held in Germany or German-occupied territory, as did many strong players in occupied and neutral countries.<ref name="SBchessVignettes"/><ref>These players included, among others, Keres, Bogoljubov, Stoltz, [[Erik Lundin]], [[Bjørn Nielsen]], [[Nicolaas Cortlever]], [[Karel Opočenský]], [[Jan Foltys]], [[Luděk Pachman]], [[Gedeon Barcza]], [[Mario Napolitano]], [[Braslav Rabar]] and [[Teodor Regedziński]].</ref> In March 1941, a series of articles appeared under Alekhine's name in the ''Pariser Zeitung'', a German-language newspaper published in Paris by the occupying German forces. Among other things, these articles said that Jews had a great talent for exploiting chess but showed no signs of chess artistry; described the [[Hypermodernism (chess)|hypermodern]] theories of Nimzowitsch and Réti as "this cheap bluff, this shameless self-publicity", hyped by "the majority of Anglo-Jewish pseudo-intellectuals"; and described his 1937 match with Euwe as "a triumph against the Jewish conspiracy".<ref name="winterWasAlekhineNazi"/><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/alekhine5.html | title=Two Alekhine Interviews (1941) by Edward Winter | access-date=2018-06-09 | archive-date=2018-06-11 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180611202908/http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/alekhine5.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

During interviews with two Spanish newspapers in September 1941, Alekhine criticised Jewish chess strategy. In one of these, he said that Aryan chess was aggressive but "the Semitic concept admitted the idea of pure defence", thus the "Jewish" style was supposed to focus merely on exploiting the opponents' mistakes. He also praised rival chessplayer Capablanca for taking the world title from "the Jew Lasker".<ref name="winterWasAlekhineNazi" /> He is reported to have expressed similar views in an interview to the Czech media Svět in 1942.<ref>[https://www.svoboda.org/a/30999674.html Помесь схимника с хищником. Внезапные ходы шахматиста Алехина]</ref>

Almost immediately after the liberation of Paris (and before World War II ended), Alekhine publicly stated that "he had to write two chess articles for the ''Pariser Zeitung'' before the Germans granted him his exit visa&nbsp;... Articles which Alekhine claims were purely scientific were rewritten by the Germans, published and made to treat chess from a racial viewpoint." He wrote at least two further disavowals, in an open letter to the organizer of the 1946 London tournament (W. Hatton-Ward) and in his posthumous book ''¡Legado!''. These three denials are phrased differently.<ref name="winterWasAlekhineNazi" />

Extensive investigations by [[Ken Whyld]] have not yielded conclusive evidence of the authenticity of the articles. Chess writer Jacques Le Monnier claimed in a 1986 issue of ''Europe Échecs'' that in 1958 he saw some of Alekhine's notebooks and found, in Alekhine's own handwriting, the exact text of the first antisemitic article, which appeared in ''Pariser Zeitung'' on March 18, 1941. In his 1973 book ''75 parties d'Alekhine'' ("75 of Alekhine's games"), however, Le Monnier had written "It will never be known whether Alekhine was behind these articles or whether they were manipulated by the editor of the ''Pariser Zeitung''."<ref name="winterWasAlekhineNazi" />

British chess historian [[Edward G. Winter]] notes that the articles in the ''Pariser Zeitung'' misspelled the names of several famous chess masters, which could be interpreted as evidence of forgery or as attempts by Alekhine to signal that he was being forced to write things that he did not believe; but these could simply have been [[typesetting]] errors, as Alekhine's handwriting was not easy to read. The articles contained (probably) incorrect claims that [[Lionel Kieseritzky]] (''Kieseritsky'' in English, ''Kizierycki'' in Polish) was a Polish Jew, although Kieseritzky was neither Polish nor Jewish.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review243.pdf |title=Immortal loser |first=Marek |last=Soszynski |access-date=2009-01-29 |archive-date=2009-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225055650/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review243.pdf |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Winter concludes: "Although, as things stand, it is difficult to construct much of a defence for Alekhine, only the discovery of the articles in his own handwriting will settle the matter beyond all doubt." Under French [[copyright]] law, Alekhine's notebooks did not enter the [[public domain]] until January 1, 2017.<ref name="winterWasAlekhineNazi">{{cite web |url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/alekhine.html |title=Was Alekhine a Nazi? |access-date=2008-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511193958/http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/alekhine.html |archive-date=11 May 2008  |url-status=live}} Winter cites many original documents including:
*''Alekhine Nazi Articles'', a privately printed booklet edited by Ken Whyld, that contains an English translation of the ''Pariser Zeitung'' articles;
*Alekhine's disavowal of these articles in ''News Review'', November 23, 1944, also reported in ''British Chess Magazine'' December 1944 and ''Chess'' January 1945;
*Alekhine's posthumous book ''¡Legado!'';
*interviews in the September 3, 1941, editions of ''El Alcázar'' and ''Informaciones'', which report Alekhine as making anti-Semitic statements about chess.</ref>

There is evidence that Alekhine was not antisemitic in his personal or chess relationships with Jews. In June 1919, he was arrested by the [[Cheka]], imprisoned in [[Odessa]] and sentenced to death. [[Yakov Vilner]], a Jewish master, saved him by sending a telegram to the chairman of the [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] Council of People's Commissars, who knew of Alekhine and ordered his release.<ref>{{cite web|author=Wall, W.|title=Russian Chess History|url=http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/russia.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026151255/http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/russia.htm|archive-date=2009-10-26|access-date=2008-05-20}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|failed=y|date=December 2013}} Alekhine accepted and apparently used chess analysis from [[Charles Jaffe]] in his World Championship match against Capablanca. Jaffe was a Jewish master who lived in New York City, which Alekhine often visited, and upon his return to New York after defeating Capablanca, Alekhine played a short match as a favour to Jaffe, without financial remuneration.{{sfn|Saidy|Lessing|1974|pp=190–191}} Alekhine's second for the 1935 match with [[Max Euwe]] was the master [[Salo Landau]], a Dutch Jew. The American Jewish grandmaster [[Arnold Denker]] wrote that he found Alekhine very friendly in chess settings, taking part in consultation games and productive analysis sessions. Denker also wrote that Alekhine treated the younger and (at that time) virtually unproven Denker to dinner on many occasions in New York during the 1930s, when the economy was very weak because of the [[Great Depression]]. Denker added that Alekhine, during the early 1930s, opined that the American Jewish grandmaster [[Isaac Kashdan]] might be his next challenger (this did not in fact take place).<ref name="DenkerParr"/> He gave chess lessons to 14-year-old prodigy [[Gerardo Budowski]], a German Jew, in Paris in spring 1940.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tablerotico.com/colaboraciones/gbudowski/jrc_budowski_madre.htm |title=Gerardo Budowski en Torneo de Ajedrez por Equipos 2005 |language=es |access-date=2009-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206224857/http://www.tablerotico.com/colaboraciones/gbudowski/jrc_budowski_madre.htm |archive-date=2009-02-06 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Alekhine also married an American woman who may or may not have had Jewish ancestry, Grace Wishaar, as his fourth wife. Grace Alekhine was the women's champion of Paris in 1944.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter18.html |title=Chess Notes Archive [18] |access-date=2008-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509145147/http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter18.html |archive-date=9 May 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>