Alberto Lopez 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.

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.

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 which opened with the Ruy Lopez. According to Garry Kasparov,

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.'

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. 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 and for the lost . 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 at b5, and had a bishop for López Arce's knight, retaining the . Rather than continue, López Arce resigned.