Alexander Alexanderovich Alekhine (born October 31, 1892 in Moscow, Russia, died March 24, 1946 in Estoril, Portugal) was a world chess champion.
Alekhine was born into a rich family: his father was a landowner and a member of the Duma, his mother, who along with his brother taught him chess in 1903, was the daughter of a rich industrialist. In 1914, after playing a tournament in Saint Petersburg, he was among the first chess players to gain the title of grandmaster.
Following the Russian Revolution, in 1919 he was suspected of espionage and imprisoned in Odessa. He was eventually freed and soon moved to France where in 1925 he became a French citizen, entered the Sorbonne Law School, and gained his doctor title by writing a thesis on the Chinese prison system.
In 1927 he won the title of World chess champion from Capablanca; subsequently, he refused to grant Capablanca a rematch. In 1935 he lost the title to Max Euwe, a loss that is often attributed to Alekhine's alcohol abuse. He gave up alcohol and regained the title from Euwe in 1937. He held the title until his death.
During World War II, Alekhine collaborated with Nazi Germany, serving as German chess representative and writing articles critical of Jewish players. As a consequence, after the war he was not invited to chess tournaments anymore.
While planning for a champion match against Botvinnik, he died on March 24, 1946 in his hotel room in Estoril, Portugal and is buried in the Cimetiere de Montparnasse, Paris, France.