Euwe was always an amateur player, not a professional; he taught mathematics in a girls' school in the Netherland for much of his active playing career, then was employed by a computer firm. He devoted much of his life to teaching chess, through books and articles. My favourite among his writings is a collection of articles about the middlegame with Hans Kramer, later published in two volumes. He collected and organised opening theory, he wrote books for beginners and masters, and he took the Presidency of FIDE. His own games are not often quoted in instructional books these days, but he was a very fine player, able to compete at the top level even in 1952, as we will see.

Smyslov on Euwe:

‘From my youth I was familiar with the facets of Euwe’s versatile chess activity: his books showed that he was a splendid teacher; the novelties employed in his games and his analyses in chess magazines showed that he was an outstanding theoretician. His aggressive handling of the opening on a realistic positional base, and his unexpected manoeuvres, his amazing skill in finding a veiled way out of a difficult position demonstrated the Dutch grandmaster’s wonderful tactical gift. Later I was also able to appreciate fully the other fine qualities of the fifth world champion -- industriousness, stamina, self- control, and his gentleman-like attitude to his opponents.’

Opening

The 'Strategy' part of Euwe's book Strategy and Tactics in Chess is mostly a long annotation of this game, where Black struggles to advance his backward c-pawn in the face of White's central pressure:

[Event "Leningrad"]
[Site "Leningrad"]
[Date "1934.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Botvinnik, Mikhail"]
[Black "Euwe, Max"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C83"]


 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4
Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Qe2
Nc5 12. Nd4 Nxb3 13. N2xb3 Qd7 14. Nxc6 Qxc6 15. Be3 Bf5 16. Rfd1 Rfd8 17. f3
Bf8 18. Qf2 a5 19. Rd2 b4 20. Rc1 Qa4 21. Nd4 Bg6 22. b3 Qe8 23. cxb4 Bxb4 24.
Rdd1 c5 25. Nc2 Bxc2 26. Rxc2 d4 27. Bg5 Rd5 28. f4 a4 29. Qf3 axb3 30. axb3
Rd7 31. f5 Rda7 32. Qg3 Ra1 33. Rcc1 Rxc1 34. Rxc1 Kh8 35. Rf1 Ra6 36. h3 Qa8
37. Kh2 Qe8 38. Rf3 Ba5 39. Bf4 Bc7 40. Rf1 Ra8 41. Re1 Qc6 42. e6 Bxf4 43.
Qxf4 fxe6 44. fxe6 Re8 45. e7 h6 46. Qf5 Qd6+ 47. Kh1 Kg8 48. Re6 Qd7 49. Qe5
1/2-1/2

Euwe was a great student of the opening, and described that "the opening weapon was knocked out of (Alekhin's) hand" in their first match. But he brought psychological guile as well as theory. Euwe also remarked:

"On discovering any difficulties, Alekhine preferred to stake everything. This is why, on encountering solid positions in the even-numbered games, he began playing in reckless style, which brought him a win in the fourth game and almost brought a win in the sixth. My objective with White was clear: after achieving a slight advantage, I had to resist in the tactical complications. Of course, this was not easy against a player of such class, but, on the other hand, it did not seem impracticable: after all, the tactical complications were created in positions that were favourable for me. That is, I was playing as though with a favourable wind... My new tactics were crowned with complete success. In the 12th and 14th games Alekhine again played extremely riskily and to win it was sufficient for me to make only two or three genuinely good moves."

[Event "World Championship 16th"]
[Site "Netherlands"]
[Date "1935.11.02"]
[Round "14"]
[White "Euwe, Max"]
[Black "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D82"]


1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4.
Bf4 Nh5 5. Be5 f6 6. Bg3 Nxg3 7. hxg3 c6 8. e3 Bg7 9. Bd3 O-O?? 10. Rxh7! f5 11.
Rh1 e5 12. dxe5 Bxe5 13. Nf3 Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 Qf6 15. cxd5 Qxc3+ 16. Kf1 Qf6 17.
Rc1 cxd5 18. Rc7 Nd7 19. Bb5 Qd6 20. Rc4 Nf6 21. Rch4 Qc5 22. Ba4 Qc3 23. Ng5
Kg7 24. Nh7 Rd8 25. Nxf6 Kxf6 26. Rh7 Be6 27. R1h6 Bf7 28. Kg1 Rg8 29. g4 Rg7
30. gxf5 Rxh7 31. Rxh7 gxf5 32. Bb3 Qe5 33. Qf3 Rc8 34. g4 Bg6 35. Rxb7 Qa1+
36. Kg2 Rh8 37. g5+ Kxg5 38. Qf4+ Kf6 39. Qd6+ Kg5 40. f4+ Kh6 41. Qe7 1-0

Middlegame

First, Euwe's famous demonstration of the power of mobile pawns:

[Event "NLD WC"]
[Site "style: Euwe the dynamo (NLD W"]
[Date "1935.??.??"]
[Round "26"]
[White "Euwe, Max"]
[Black "Alekhin, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A84"]
[Annotator "style: Euwe the dynamo ("]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "1935.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,93,26,18,52,4,43,28,46,46,56,56,50,61,61,55,54,45,143,45,45,30,36,47,
39,40,58,39,29,29,29,2,11,15,25,17,30,18,49,27,15,11,11,28,15,3,36,43,24,35,35,
21,42,44,48,33,68,77,61,6,0,16,8,8,80,2,0,0,80,23,57,23,143,0,0,62,29,51,61,75,
175,182,235,251,259,131,213,40,194,309,370,374,210,384,390,390] [%mdl 32768]} 
1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Nf3 Ne4 8. O-O
b6 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Ne5 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Bxg2 12. Kxg2 Qc8 13. d5 d6 14. Nd3 e5 15.
Kh1 c6 16. Qb3 Kh8 17. f4 e4 18. Nb4 c5 19. Nc2 Nd7 20. Ne3 Bf6 {[#] Alekhine
plays the Dutch against the best Dutch player - in the Netherlands! Euwe
sacrifices a piece for a pawn roller.} 21. Nxf5 Bxc3 22. Nxd6 Qb8 23. Nxe4 Bf6
24. Nd2 g5 25. e4 gxf4 26. gxf4 Bd4 27. e5 Qe8 28. e6 Rg8 29. Nf3 Qg6 30. Rg1
Bxg1 31. Rxg1 Qf6 32. Ng5 Rg7 33. exd7 Rxd7 34. Qe3 Re7 35. Ne6 Rf8 36. Qe5
Qxe5 37. fxe5 Rf5 38. Re1 h6 39. Nd8 Rf2 40. e6 Rd2 41. Nc6 Re8 42. e7 b5 43.
Nd8 Kg7 44. Nb7 Kf6 45. Re6+ Kg5 46. Nd6 Rxe7 47. Ne4+ {This game became known
as the pearl of Zaandvort} 1-0

People often emphasise the rational and logical in Euwe's chess, but he had as much imagination and verve as anyone. Anderssen was also a professor of mathematics!

Euwe surprised many by entering the Zurich Candidates' Tournament in 1953; his play in the second half of this double-round tournament showed the poor stamina of middle age, but in the first half, he was equal to any. Kotov won the first brilliancy prize for a game that is rightly famous, but the second and third brilliancy prizes went to Euwe.

Click [...] to choose a game:

[Event "Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "Zuerich"]
[Date "1953.08.31"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Geller, Efim P"]
[Black "Euwe, Max"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E28"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3
b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. f3 Nc6 9. Ne2 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. e4 Ne8 12. Ng3 cxd4 13. cxd4
Rc8 14. f4 Nxc4 15. f5 f6 16. Rf4 b5 17. Rh4 Qb6 18. e5 Nxe5 19. fxe6 Nxd3 20.
Qxd3 Qxe6 21. Qxh7+ Kf7 22. Bh6 Rh8 23. Qxh8 Rc2 24. Rc1 Rxg2+ 25. Kf1 Qb3 26.
Ke1 Qf3 0-1

[Event "Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "Zuerich"]
[Date "1953.09.13"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Euwe, Max"]
[Black "Najdorf, Miguel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E61"]
[PlyCount "73"]



1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3.
g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 c5 6. d5 e5 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. d6 Nc6 10. e3 b6
11. Bd5 Kh8 12. Ne4 Qd8 13. h4 f5 14. Ng5 Bb7 15. g4 e4 16. Ne2 Bxb2 17. Nf4
Qf6 18. gxf5 Bxa1 19. Nxg6+ Kg7 20. Nxe4 Bc3+ 21. Kf1 Qxf5 22. Nf4 Kh8 23. Nxc3
Rae8 24. Nce2 Rg8 25. h5 Rg5 26. Ng3 Rxg3 27. fxg3 Rxe3 28. Kf2 Re8 29. Re1
Rxe1 30. Qxe1 Kg7 31. Qe8 Qc2+ 32. Kg1 Qd1+ 33. Kh2 Qc2+ 34. Ng2 Qf5 35. Qg8+
Kf6 36. Qh8+ Kg5 37. Qg7+ 1-0

Endgame

Euwe is not much known for his endgame play, but it is as clear and witty as the rest of his game: his idea at move 24 is piquant, but the whole endgame is peppered with ideas.

[Event "VAS-ASC"]
[Site "Amsterdam NED"]
[Date "1941.01.05"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Landau, S"]
[Black "Euwe, M"]
[ECO "D28"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "112"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Bxc4 e6 6. O-O c5
7. Qe2 Nc6 8. Rd1 b5 9. Bb3 c4 10. Bc2 Nb4 11. e4 Nxc2
12. Qxc2 Be7 13. d5 exd5 14. Nc3 Bg4 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Rxd5
Qc7 17. Be3 O-O 18. Nd4 Be6 19. Rh5 g6 20. Rh6 Bf6 21. Nf3
Rad8 22. Bg5 Bxg5 23. Nxg5 Qf4 24. Qc1 Rd1+ 25. Qxd1 Qxg5
26. Qc1 Qxc1+ 27. Rxc1 Kg7 28. Rh4 g5 29. Rh3 Bxh3 30. gxh3
Rd8 31. Rc2 Rd4 32. f3 Kf6 33. Kf2 Ke5 34. Kg3 b4 35. Kg4 c3
36. bxc3 Rc4 37. Kxg5 bxc3 38. h4 Rc6 39. h5 h6+ 40. Kg4 Kd4
41. Kf5 Kd3 42. Rc1 c2 43. f4 Kd2 44. Rg1 c1=Q 45. Rxc1 Kxc1
46. Ke5 a5 47. Kd5 Ra6 48. e5 a4 49. f5 a3 50. e6 fxe6+
51. fxe6 Kb2 52. e7 Ra8 53. Ke6 Kxa2 54. Kf7 Kb3 55. e8=Q Rxe8
56. Kxe8 a2 0-1

A tricky Rook endgame follows an exciting opening and middlegame. There is much to savour here:

[Event "Wiesbaden"]
[Site "Wiesbaden"]
[Date "1925.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Spielmann, Rudolf"]
[Black "Euwe, Max"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C28"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Nge2 d5 6.
exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O Be6 8. Ne4 Be7 9. c3 f5 10. Qb3 Na5 11. Qa4+ c6 12. Bxd5 Bxd5
13. N4g3 b5 14. Qc2 O-O 15. f4 exf4 16. Nxf4 g6 17. b4 Nb7 18. Bb2 Bf6 19. Rae1
Qd7 20. c4 Bxb2 21. cxd5 Bd4+ 22. Kh1 cxd5 23. Qb3 Rfe8 24. Nxd5 Kh8 25. Ne2
Bg7 26. Nef4 Rxe1 27. Rxe1 Re8 28. Rc1 Nd8 29. h3 Ne6 30. Nxe6 Qxe6 31. Nc7
Qxb3 32. axb3 Rc8 33. Re1 Bc3 34. Re7 Bxb4 35. Rd7 Bd6 36. Rxd6 Rxc7 37. b4 Kg7
38. Kh2 Rc3 39. g4 fxg4 40. hxg4 Rb3 41. g5 Kf7 42. Rd7+ Ke6 43. Rxh7 Rxd3 44.
Rxa7 Rd4 45. Ra3 Kf5 46. Rb3 Kxg5 47. Kg3 Kf5 48. Kf3 Ke5 49. Ke3 Kd5 50. Rb1
g5 51. Rf1 Rxb4 52. Rf5+ Kc4 53. Rxg5 Rb2 54. Rg8 b4 55. Rc8+ Kb3 56. Kd3 Rh2
0-1