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Max Euwe

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Chess Champ

The Resume

    (May 20, 1901-November 26, 1981)
    Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Birth name was Machgielis Euwe
    World chess champion (1935-37)
    President of the world chess federation, FIDE (1970-78)
    Last name pronounced 'ER-va'

Why he might be annoying:

    His upset victory over Alexander Alekhine to become world champion was widely viewed as the result of Alekhine's alcoholism rather than Euwe's skill.
    He collapsed at the end of his title defense against Alekhine, losing four of the last five games, which his second, Reuben Fine, attributed to nervous tension.
    He finished last in the five-player tournament organized by FIDE (1948) to determine the new world champion after Alekhine's death.
    When negotiations with Bobby Fischer over defense of his world championship bogged down, he stripped Fischer of his title and gave it to Anatoly Karpov (1975).

Why he might not be annoying:

    Several chess champions (including Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, and Gary Kasparov) have analyzed his defeat of Alekhine and concluded that the standard of play was worthy of a world champion.
    Another factor in his collapse in his rematch against Alekhine was that Fine had to be hospitalized with appendicitis and was no longer available to assist between games.
    He won the Netherlands national championship a record twelve times (1921-55).
    As president of FIDE, he resisted demands from the Soviets that defecting players like Viktor Korchnoi be banned from international matches.
    As president of FIDE, he traveled to over 100 countries, often at his own expense, to promote chess internationally.
    He was married to Caroline Bergman for 55 years.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying