Alexander Alekhine vs Emanuel Lasker
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alexander Alekhine | Emanuel Lasker | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1892 | 1868 |
| Died | 1946 | 1941 |
| Country of birth | France | Germany |
| Star sign | Scorpio | Sagittarius |
Who they are
Alexander Alekhine
When Alexander Alekhine arrived in Buenos Aires in September 1927 to challenge José Raúl Capablanca for the World Championship, the chess world expected a formality. Capablanca had not lost a competitive game in eight years. Grandmasters whispered that chess had reached its apex in the Cuban — that the game, played perfectly, would always draw, and that Capablanca was the player who played perfectly. Alekhine, a Russian émigré living in France, was a fine attacking player, perhaps the best combinational talent of his generation, but attacking chess against someone who never made errors was considered…
Full biography of Alexander Alekhine →
Emanuel Lasker
Twenty-seven years. The number sits in chess history like a geological formation — vast, improbable, and resistant to easy explanation. From 1894 to 1921, through two world wars, through the rise of Cubist art and the Russian Revolution and the invention of the automobile, Emanuel Lasker held the World Chess Championship without interruption. No champion before him had held the title longer than eight years. No champion after him has come close. He remains the longest-reigning World Chess Champion in the history of the game, and the mystery of how he did it — against…
Full biography of Emanuel Lasker →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: France and Germany.
- 24 years separate their births (1892 and 1868).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alexander Alekhine or Emanuel Lasker?
- Emanuel Lasker. Alexander Alekhine was born in 1892, Emanuel Lasker in 1868.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alexander Alekhine is filed under Sports (Chess). Emanuel Lasker is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.