Alberto López Arce

Alberto López Arce (23 April 1907 — unknown) was a Cuban chess 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, also of Cuba. The Cuban team instead assigned López Arce to play Alekhine in a game which Alekhine quickly won.

For other people named Alberto López, see Alberto López (disambiguation).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is López and the second or maternal family name is Arce.
Alberto López Arce
CountryCuba
Born(1907-04-23)23 April 1907
Diedunknown

The 8th Olympiad coincided with the outbreak of the Second World War, 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, 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), drawing three, and losing eleven.[1]

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 miniature which opened with the Ruy Lopez.[2] According to Garry Kasparov,

Alekhine vs. López Arce, Buenos Aires 1939
abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
f8 black rook
g8 black king
b7 black bishop
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
c6 white knight
b5 white pawn
d5 black knight
b4 black knight
d4 black pawn
b3 white bishop
d3 white pawn
g3 white bishop
b2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
d1 white rook
g1 white king
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Final position following 25. Nc6, at which point López Arce resigned.

So as not to spoil things, the ex-champion (Capablanca) even missed the France-Cuba match. 'On the day of the match,' an eye-witness recalled, 'Alekhine arrived in the tournament hall half an hour early and walked resolutely around the stage, working himself up for the game with Capablanca. He was beside himself when the Cubans turned out with a reserve (López Arce). Alekhine crushed him in (20) moves, but he was unable to hide his anger.'

— Garry Kasparov[3]

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%).[3]

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.[4] The players castled kingside on the seventh move. Alekhine advanced his knights early, exchanging one for a black bishop with an early check. During subsequent moves Alekhine captured four pawns. López Arce captured just two pawns, failing to recapture and equalize for the lost material. The players traded queens 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 passed pawn at b5, and had a bishop for López Arce's knight, retaining the bishop pair. Rather than continue, López Arce resigned.[2]

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
  1. "OlimpBase :: Men's Chess Olympiads :: Alberto López Arce". www.olimpbase.org.
  2. "Alexander Alekhine vs Alberto López Arce (1939)". www.chessgames.com.
  3. Kasparov, Garry (2003). My Great Predecessors. Vol. 1. Everyman Chess. p. 451. ISBN 9781781945155.
  4. "C77: four knights (Tarrasch) variation". 365chess.com.
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