AVRO 1938 chess tournament

The tournament was presented as one to provide a challenger to World Champion Alexander Alekhine, though it had no official status.

However, when FIDE organised its 1948 match tournament for the world title after Alekhine's death in 1946, it invited the six surviving AVRO participants (Capablanca had also died), except Flohr who was replaced by Vasily Smyslov.

[2] The tournament was supposed to select a challenger to Alekhine's crown, but due to the advent of World War II, no match could be held.

[4] His wife Olga recalled that his high blood pressure nearly cost him his life: "A doctor screamed at me, 'How could you let him play?'"

[5] In a 1939 interview Capablanca attributed his performance to "very high blood pressure and related circulatory disorders".