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

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player. He is noted for his involvement in an incident at the

8th Chess Olympiad The 8th Chess Olympiad (), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), comprised an open tournament, as well as a Women's World Championship contest. The main team event took place between August 21 and September 19, 1939, in ...

, a team tournament where then-current champion

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...

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 the third World Chess Championship, world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he was widely renowned for his exceptional Chess ...

, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, 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 (1911-1983) was a Lithuanian–Canadian chess master. He was a five-time Lithuanian champion and was twice Canadian champion. He also represented Lithuania and later Canada at Chess Olympiads. Chess career Vaitonis pl ...

), 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 remains one of the most popular chess openings, featuring many variations. In ...

. According to

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

, 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 a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

early, exchanging one for a black

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

with an early

check Check or cheque, may refer to: Places * Check, Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Check'' (film), a 2021 Indian Telugu-language film * "The Check" (''The Amazing World of Gumball''), a 2015 episode of ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' ...

. 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 the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

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 relinquishing or vacating 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 ...

. 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

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