Alekhine's Anguish: A Novel of the Chess World

By Charles D. Yaffe

This is a fictionalized account of the life and career of world chess champion Alexander Alekhine. Born into Russian nobility, Alekhine lost his family and nearly his life to the Bolsheviks before becoming the world's most powerful chess player. The coming of World War II placed the grandmaster in a difficult position, forcing him to collaborate with the Nazis and to produce anti-Semitic materials. Desperate to win back his credibility after the war, Alekhine was preparing for a redemptive title match at the time of his sudden death. Alekhine's life was marked by alcoholism, fits of depression, scandalous affairs, marriages of convenience, painful compromises, and his battle to become "the Greatest."

The novel is told as fiction but is based on the actual people and events that were part of his triumphant career and troubled life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 078640695X
• ISBN13: 9780786406951
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.2" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Interesting Read!

Very good read. As I've posted in my other reviews, I collect chess novels. This book is along the lines of a "Luneburg Variation" by Maurensig or "The Chess Team" by Sawaski in terms of writing quality. Either I'm not used to the author's style, or the manuscript was a little choppy. The plot was there - but description of setting did lack some. The author uses much dialogue and dialogue tags to get description across. And the book is a bit pricey at $25 - I think this book should cost more around the $12 mark. Now for the GOOD part! Any chess player will enjoy this book on the early 20th century chess heroes. If you do not know how to play chess that is fine too, but you won't get much technical display with this book, which I personally feel is appropriate for a chess novel. The characters have excellent life! The Marshall character, the Capablanca character - very well done. The main character, Alexander Alekhine - I felt could have been a hair better. You see a chunk of Alekhine, yet there is this hollowness to his character. The situations of the characters and how they come to life in the chess world - fantastic! So, that's why I gave this book a 4 star rating. I'd probably only go 7 out of 10 on a ten point scale, but ultimately, outside of a little choppiness in reading, it was a very good story and that is essentially what a novel is about.

I couldn't put this book down!

The author develops a character that is so real, so tragic, yet so talented that I was unable to put him out of my mind. Although Alekhine was a real person, the author fictionalized him in the most creative and unpredictable ways. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen next, something totally unexpected occurred. The plot was exciting from beginning to end. It is truly a must read book!

A fun, exciting read of a master chess player's life.

This fictionalized history of Alexander Alekhine's life is an exciting read. I don't usually go in for history or biography, but the inclusion of conversations between Alekhine and the people whith whom he interacts give real life to this book. While it helps to have a basic knowledge of chess, the reader does not have to be a world chess champion himself to understand the excitement and frustrations of pursuing a career in the game.

A good read!

This book is a page-turner from beginning to end. For those who love chess, twentieth-century history, or simply an exciting story, this is a wild and fascinating ride.