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#5 Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine - Chess
Born to aristocratic parents in Russia, Alekhine was taught how to play chess by his mother at a very early age, and it soon transformed into his biggest passion. He was the fourth World Chess Champion and was widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players ever.
By the age of 10, Alekhine was plying his skills in the correspondence chess tournaments in Russia. He won the All-Russian Amateur tournament in 1909, aged only 15. He achieved moderate successes in the tournaments he participated outside of Russia but had slowly established himself as one of the best players in the country.
The First World War saw Russia ravaged completely, yet Alekhine continued representing his country in major tournaments. By the early 1920’s he was one of the best players in the world and had won most of the tournaments he participated in. With conditions not being favourable in communist Russia, he applied for citizenship in France to improve his prospects at competitive chess.
Alekhine became the World Chess Champion for the first time in 1927 against the then greatest Capablanca, post his French citizenship. It was quite someway to announce his arrival to an adopted country.
