Lopez is best known for his involvement in an incident where current champion Alekhine had expected to play the previous champion Capablanca. In a surprise move the Cuban team replaced Capa on first board with Lopez.
At this Olympiad Lopez, playing in the qualifications and finals, performed poorly, winning just one game (against the Lithuanian, later Canadian) Povilas Vaitonis), drawing three, and losing eleven.
During the Olympiad Alekhine and Capablanca were in a battle to score the best individual performance, so when Alekhine, playing for France, expected to meet Capablanca in the 12th round and the Cubans paired him against Lopez in order to protect Capablanca's individual performance.
On the day of the match Alekhine arrived for their game half an hour early and walked around pumping himself up psychologically. He was furious when he learned he would be playing Lopez instead. The France-Cuba match was drawn, 2-2.
Capablanca later explained his absence in an article for an Argentine newspaper as being due to purely personal reasons. He claimed that because neither France nor Cuba was a leading contender there was no special significance as to whether or not he played.
Capa went on to emphasize that the event was a tournament for teams, not individuals and a week previously he had notified the Argentine Chess Federation that he did not intend to play against Alekhine and explained his reasons for his decision.
He claimed he made the announcement so that his intentions were known in advance and to prevent disappointment on the part of the public. He added that therefore his not playing was not an act of discourtesy to the Federation nor a lack of consideration for the public.
He also stated that his refusal to play Alekhine was incorrectly interpreted by some as his having refused a favor asked by the Argentine, adding that he had, and always had, the best intentions towards the chess public and the organizing body.
It is unknown what reasons Capablanca gave to the Argentine Chess Federation or if he gave them in writing. Additionally, Alekhine made no public comment on the incident.
The outcome was that Capablanca edged Alekhine for the best individual performance by two percentage points! Capa finished with 8.5-2.5 (77 percent) against Alekhine's 7.5-2.5 (75 percent).
As is often the case, even though the Alekhine - Lopez game is short and sharp, it was not the one sided shellacking that is often associated with such games. Black didn't make any major blunders, but instead made a few small slips here and there. Even then, Alekhine, too, gave his opponent some chances, but Lopez did not avail himself of them.
Alexander Alekhine - Alberto Lopez Arce
Result: 1-0
Site: Olympiad, Buenos Aires
Date: 1939
Ruy Lopez
[...] 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6 4.♗a4 ♘f6 5.♘c3 This is the Morphy Defense, Tarrasch Variation. While unusual it is not inferior to the far more common 5.O-O. 5...b5 6.♗b3 ♗e7 7.O-O O-O This is OK, but 7...d6 is more common. 8.♘d5 Black has several possible continuations here, but best seems to be 8...d6. 8...♗b7
8...♗c5 This should allow white to gain the advantage. 9.♘xf6+ Commonly played, but either 9.c3 or 9.d4 are better. 9...♕xf6 10.d3 d6 11.a3 ♗g4 12.♗d5 ♘d4 13.♗xa8 ♘xf3+ 14.gxf3 ♗xf3 Black soon won. Aslan,O-Harakis,A (2253)/ICC INT 2009
8...♘xe4 is playable. After 9.d4 exd4 10.♖e1 ♘c5 11.♘xd4 black is slightly better.
8...♘xe4 9.♘xe7+ ♕xe7 10.d4 ♗b7 11.♗d5 ♘f6 12.♗xc6 ♗xc6 13.♘xe5 is about even.
9.♘xe7+
9.♘xf6+ ♗xf6 10.♗d5 ♕c8 11.c3 ♘e7 12.♗xb7 ♕xb7 13.d4 and a draw was agreed in Bronstein,L (2357)-Perdomo,L (2312)/Olavarria 2005
9...♘xe7 This is the wrong way to recapture as now white gets a slight advantage. (9...♕xe7 is solid. 10.d3 ♘a5 11.♘h4 d5 with equal chances.) 10.♘xe5 c5 Apparently Lopez parts with a P in the hopes of obtaining counterplay, but he would have been better off taking the P.
10...♗xe4 11.d3 ♗d5 12.♗g5 ♗xb3 13.axb3 ♘e8 Black's position is quite cramped, but it is defensible. In Shootouts white scored 5 draws.
11.d3 d5 12.exd5 ♘exd5 13.♖e1 ♕b6 Attacking the N with 13...Qc7 would have been slightly better, but white already has a very good position. 14.c4 ♘c7 15.♗g5 ♖ad8 16.cxb5 axb5 17.♕c1 ♕d6
17...♗d5 eliminating the potentially dangerous B was much better. 18.h3 ♗xb3 19.axb3 ♘cd5 20.♘g4 ♖c8 21.♘xf6+ ♘xf6 22.♖e5 with the initiative.
18.a4 At some point this is usually a good move in the Ruy Lopez. According to Alekhine opening the a-file in the Ruy is always good for white. 18...♖de8 19.♗f4 A rare Alekhine slip that should have cost him almost all of his advantage.
19.♗xf6 This is the only correct move to keep a significant advantage. After 19...gxf6 20.♘g4 ♖xe1+ 21.♕xe1 ♕f4 22.f3 Black has successfully defended his K-side, but white gets a good ending after 22...♔g7 23.♕e3 ♕xe3+ 24.♘xe3 ♖a8 25.♖a2 bxa4 26.♖xa4 ♖xa4 27.♗xa4
19...♕d4 After this slip he does not get a second chance!
19...♘h5 20.h3 bxa4 21.♗xa4 ♘xf4 22.♕xf4 ♖e7 and white's advantage is minimal. In fact, in Shootouts five games were drawn.
20.♗g3 ♘cd5 21.axb5 ♘b4 22.♕c3 ♘fd5
22...♗d5 is met by 23.b6 ♖e7 24.♕xd4 cxd4 25.♖a4 Demonstrating the value of the open a-file. 25...♘c6 26.♗c4 ♗xc4 27.♖xc4 ♘xe5 28.♖xe5 ♖b7 29.♖b4 ♖fb8 30.♖eb5 with a won ending.
23.♕xd4 cxd4 24.♖ed1 ♖a8 25.♘c6 There is little point in playing on against Alekhine in this obviously lost position, so black resigned. Powered by Aquarium
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