Linder: Max Euwe - Fifth World Chess ChampionWorld Chess Champion Series The Gentleman Champion The fifth book of the World Chess Champions series focuses on the life and career of the Dutchman Max Euwe. This soft spoken professor of mathematics rocked the chess world in 1935 when he defeated the seemingly irresistible force, Alexander Alekhine, to become world champion. Many chessplayers thought this was an upset of the first magnitude. Hardly. Euwe was at his prime and the best in the world at