WORLD CHESS CHAMPION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 January 1942, Page 4

WORLD CHESS CHAMPION

NOW PLAYING IN PARIS. TOURNEY AT CAFE VEFOUR. A recent issue of a Paris evening newspaper just received in London says that Dr Alekhine, world chess champion, has been playing in a tournament at the Cafe Vefour, in the gardens of the Palais Royal. Details of the tournament are not given, but there is certainly no one in Paris at the present time who could hope successfully to oppose Alekhine. Dr Alekhine, of Russian origin, became naturalised French only a few years ago, and was a well-known figure in the Paris chess world, to be seen often at the Regence. He was a reserve officer in the French army. Recently he is alleged to have written unkindly about the Jewish chess masters of the past. It is only fair to insist that there is no conclusive evidence that he was guilty of such an ungracious act.

If he plays at all against the Ger- • mans he must have a difficult time ; letting them down lightly. A refugee i from Paris says that if a German goes ■ into a cafe in Paris where chess is > being played and insists on a game, his i opponent plays stupidly and loses as quickly as possible as a subtle protest. At first the German is boastful of his victory, but retires irritated and annoyed when he discovers that the opponent’s poor play is only a way of intimating that he does not wish to play chess with a German. To return to Dr Alekhine, he was never very popular with the French. He has a curious, uninviting exterior, but is a very good fellow when one .gets to know him, and he always spoke with pleasure of his visits to

England and America. The Cafe Vefour, where he is said to have been playing in a tournament recently, has a chess history of its own. It was in this cafe that Napoleon, then a young officer, used to indulge in an occasional game of chess. Established in 1760, the Cafe Vefour had preserved the original Louis XVI painted walls and ceilings. Part of the Regence Club transferred their boards to this cafe as the Palais Royal chess club, about ten years ago, when the glass-house cafe in the gardens fell in and had to be demolished. In the years preceding the present war, while chess players were seated over their quiet games, from the first floor above the cafe would come cries of: “Help! Assassin! Never will she be yours! Why did you kiss the servant!” —Actors of the Palais Royal and other theatres used to rehearse there.