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Alekhine played first board for France in the 3rd Olympiad, played at Hamburg, Germany. This was the first time that a reigning world champion was to play in a Chess Olympiad. The French team finished in 12th place out of the 18 participating countries. Poland, led by Akiva Rubinstein, took first place, with Hungary second, and Germany in third.

Alekhine won the brilliancy prize for his game against Gideon Ståhlberg (Sweden). He did not win a medal because the medalists played 17 games each.

Alekhine rested during his scheduled games against the strongest opponents he would have faced, including Flohr, Marshall, Maroczy, Rubinstein, and Sultan Khan.

In <Alexander Alekhine's Chess Games, 1902-1946>, authors Skinner and Verhoeven speculate on the reason for this behavior:

"The reason for this was probably due more to his unwillingness to undertake the time and effort required in the absence of any substantial prize money, rather than any fear of meeting those particular opponents."