Was Alekhine an anti-semite?

There was another thread here where Alekhine was discussed. I'd read somewhere that while in Nazi-occupied France he wrote some articles disparaging Jewish players. Is this true? And if so was he speaking as he believed or just sucking up to the occupation?

Germany kidnapped his wife and he did what they said to make her safe.....everyone wants to believe he was a nazi......but he loved chess alcohol and his wife.....i would have done the same as him.

even if he was....who cares....it has nothing to do with Chess...it's easy to attack the dead....

Alekhine is a God.....

Originally posted by Kunsoo
There was another thread here where Alekhine was discussed. I'd read somewhere that while in Nazi-occupied France he wrote some articles disparaging Jewish players. Is this true? And if so was he speaking as he believed or just sucking up to the occupation?

I think he went beyond just sucking up to the Nazis. He wrote a whole series of nauseating newspaper articles on subjects such as 'The Aryan Approach to Chess'. And we all know that Bobby Fischer has become a fairly revolting anti-Semite too. Of course, none of this alters the fact that both Alekhine and Fischer were two of the greatest ever chess players.

Originally posted by chessisvanity
Germany kidnapped his wife and he did what they said to make her safe.....everyone wants to believe he was a nazi......but he loved chess alcohol and his wife.....i would have done the same as him.

He didn't love his wife. ...make that wives. He married a succesion of hideously older women who were wealthy and could take care of his financial needs while he played chess. Most of them were 70 or so, while he was a young man in his 30's and 40's.
Pretty sick, really. Alekhine was a shameless opportunist. I don't doubt that he was an anti-semite, it would be part of his background and heritage.

Originally posted by Sam The Sham
He didn't love his wife. ...make that wives. He married a succesion of hideously older women who were wealthy and could take care of his financial needs while he played chess. Most of them were 70 or so, while he was a young man in his 30's and 40's.
Pretty sick, really. Alekhine was a shameless opportunist. I don't doubt that he was an anti-semite, it would be part of his background and heritage.

In 1939 there was chess olympiad in Buonesaires. World War II began during that olympiad and France, England and Poland refused to play with Germany. One of the initiators of this act was Alekhine. Also he did respect Lasker who was Jew. so I dont believe that Alekhine was nazi or anti-semit.

And how can you be so sure about his relationship with her wifes?

Originally posted by Korch

And how can you be so sure about his relationship with her wifes?

Come on, he married several rich old (VERY old) women. If there was a romantic interest, it was pretty twisted. Money was the common denominator in each marriage.

Originally posted by Korch
In 1939 there was chess olympiad in Buonesaires. World War II began during that olympiad and France, England and Poland refused to play with Germany. One of the initiators of this act was Alekhine. Also he did respect Lasker who was Jew. so I dont believe that Alekhine was nazi or anti-semit.

And how can you be so sure about his relationship with her wifes?

but he was antisemite !
BTW whats going on with Everyday ?

I don't believe he was an anti-semite, I believe he just went whichever way the wind blew politically. Had chess been dominated by Jewish players, he would have been bar-mitzvahed and become an orthodox jew.

Originally posted by Sam The Sham
He didn't love his wife. ...make that wives. He married a succesion of hideously older women who were wealthy and could take care of his financial needs while he played chess. Most of them were 70 or so, while he was a young man in his 30's and 40's.
Pretty sick, really. Alekhine was a shameless opportunist. I don't doubt that he was an anti-semite, it would be part of his background and heritage.

The stories that Alekhine married women many decades older than himself have been exaggerated. His second wife was 13 years older than him, his fourth 16 years older. His first and third are described as "much older" but I can't find any details. Many men find older women more attractive than those nearer to their own age and I don't think any of his marriages were for money.

i'm 28 and have been with 50 year olds....mind you they looked good....but yes its true....some men like older woman....i'm with Alekhine on this one.

Originally posted by Fat Lady
The stories that Alekhine married women many decades older than himself have been exaggerated. His second wife was 13 years older than him, his fourth 16 years older. His first and third are described as "much older" but I can't find any details. Many men find older women more attractive than those nearer to their own age and I don't think any of his marriages were for money.

"Alekhine’s savior was his third wife, Nadasha (or Natasha), whom he married
in Paris, where they both lived, in 1925, shortly before the tournament that year
in Baden-Baden. Like Alekhine, Nadasha came from a wealthy Russian family
and was well educated. In addition to Russian, she spoke German, French, and
English, and knew everything about etiquette. She always acted decently and
displayed exquisite taste in matters of art.
In appearance, however, this perfect lady was perfectly ridiculous, always
conspicuously dressed and loaded down with costume jewelry. Once when the
Alekhines’ were staying in Vienna, my hometown, and my wife had taken
Nadasha out to tea a few times, I heard waiters in the cafe refer to her among
themselves as “the Christmas tree.” Adding to the strange impression she made
was her posture, which suggested an imminent family event a possibility that
her wrinkled face irrefutably denied. When at Baden-Baden the rumor spread
that Madame Alekhine had previously been widowed first by a general and then
by an admiral, Grünfeld estimated that her age must have been somewhere
between seventy and eighty. “It takes time to become a general or an admiral"

In 1925 Alekhine was 33 years old.

I had also read that Alekhine had lost his fortune in the Soviet Revolution, and chess players didn't quite make the money they made after Bobby Fischer up the ante.

Anyway, it's hard to judge someone living under an occupation. I think he died in 1945, right? So there wouldn't have been time to apologize.

Other character defects, if you really need them, are losing the championship to Max Euwe in 1935 by showing up to the match drunk. Also dodging Capablanca's requests for a rematch after 1927, and only agreeing to play against players not at his level.

But he was a brilliant player, and apparently had one hell of a sense of humor. I've never read any accounts of him mistreating Jews in person, which would suggest that his WWII writings were under some sort of duress. Not apologizing for him, but I'm just not willing to judge someone in a situation in which I'll probably never face. Maybe I'll change my mind if I ever read any of his articles.

Alekhine is a God.

Well, I would put him at number 3 for his time, after Capablanca and Lasker. Maybe in the 1930s he was best, when he wasn't drinking.