Alberto López Arce (23 April 1907 — unknown) was a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player. He is noted for his involvement in an incident at the 8th Chess Olympiad, a team tournament where then-current champion Alexander Alekhine had expected to play the previous champion

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capablanc ...

, also of Cuba. The Cuban team instead assigned López Arce to play Alekhine in a game which Alekhine quickly won. The 8th Olympiad coincided with the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, which disrupted the tournament.

8th Olympiad

Alberto López Arce competed in the 8th Chess Olympiad as part of the tournament's Cuban team. Held in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, the Olympiad was a round-robin tournament, hosting teams of five players representing each of the participating countries. Throughout the qualifications and final round he performed poorly, winning just one game (against

Povilas Vaitonis Povilas (Paul) Vaitonis (15 August 1911 in Užpaliai, Kovno Governorate – 23 April 1983 in Hamilton, Canada) was a Lithuanian–Canadian International Master of chess. He was a five-time Lithuanian champion, and was twice Canadian champion. Va ...

), drawing three, and losing eleven. During the tournament Alekhine and Capablanca had an "extremely sharp rivalry" to log the best individual performance. Alekhine had expected to meet Capablanca in a late 12th-round game; instead, the Cuban team assigned López Arce to play the champion, in order to protect Capablanca's individual performance statistic. Alekhine was "furious", and proceeded to defeat López Arce in a 25-move which opened with the

Ruy Lopez The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez is named after 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura. It is one o ...

. According to Garry Kasparov, At the conclusion of the Olympiad's final round Capablanca had secured the best individual performance, with 8½-11 (or 77%), while Alekhine had 7½-10 (or 75%).

Alekhine vs. López Arce, 1939

The game began as a Ruy Lopez, developing into the four knights ( Tarrasch) variation ( ECO C77) during the opening moves. The players castled kingside on the seventh move. Alekhine advanced his

knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

early, exchanging one for a black

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

with an early check. During subsequent moves Alekhine captured four pawns. López Arce captured just two pawns, failing to and for the lost . The players traded

queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

on the 23rd move. White's 25th move, Nc6, was the final move played, forking a black knight at b4 and a black pawn at d4. Alekhine had won a material advantage as well as an advantageous position. He was up two pawns, including a at b5, and had a bishop for López Arce's knight, retaining the . Rather than continue, López Arce

resigned Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nd5 Bb7 9.Nxe7+ Nxe7 10.Nxe5 c5 11.d3 d5 12.exd5 Nexd5 13.Re1 Qb6 14.c4 Nc7 15.Bg5 Rad8 16.cxb5 axb5 17.Qc1 Qd6 18.a4 Rde8 19.Bf4 Qd4 20.Bg3 Ncd5 21.axb5 Nb4 22.Qc3 Nfd5 23.Qxd4 cxd4 24.Red1 Ra8 25.Nc6 1-0 (Resignation)

References

External links

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Alberto López Arce
chess games at 365chess.com 1907 births Year of death missing Cuban chess players Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century chess players {{chess