Mikhail Botvinnik - Knowledge

2093:. In his openings research Botvinnik did not aim to produce tactical tricks that would only be effective once, but rather systems in which he aimed to understand typical positions and their possibilities better than his rivals. His advice to his pupils included "My theory of the openings fitted into one notebook" and "You don't have to know that which everyone knows, but it is important to know that which not everyone knows." In fact he used different notebooks in different periods, and copied a few analyses from one notebook to the next. The "Soviet School of Chess" that dominated competition from 1945 to about 2000 followed Botvinnik's approach to preparation and to openings research; and, although Soviet players had their own preferred styles of play, they adopted his combative approach and willingness to ignore "classical" principles if doing so offered credible prospects of a lasting advantage. 2116:. Botvinnik was not an infallible spotter of chess talent: although he said of the 11-year-old Kasparov, "The future of chess lies in the hands of this young man", he said on first seeing Karpov, "The boy doesn't have a clue about chess, and there's no future at all for him in this profession." But Karpov recounts fondly his youthful memories of the Botvinnik school and credits Botvinnik's training, especially the homework he assigned, with a marked improvement in his own play. Kasparov presents Botvinnik almost as a kind of father figure, going some way towards balancing the common public perception of Botvinnik as dour and aloof; and Kasparov inherited Botvinnik's emphasis on preparation, research and innovation. Botvinnik was still playing a major teaching role in his late 70s, when Kramnik entered the school, and made a favorable impression on his pupil. 984:. According to Botvinnik, Alekhine was most interested in playing an opponent who could raise the funds. After consulting the nearest available Soviet officials, Botvinnik discreetly challenged Alekhine, who promptly accepted, subject to conditions that would enable him to acclimatize in Russia and get some high-quality competitive practice a few months before the match. In Botvinnik's opinion, Alekhine was partly motivated by the desire for a reconciliation with the Soviet authorities, so that he could again visit his homeland. The match, including funding, was authorised at the highest Soviet political level in January 1939; however, a letter of confirmation was only sent two months later – in Botvinnik's opinion, because of opposition by his Soviet rivals, especially those who had become prominent before the 1195:, and in 1958 he won the rematch in Moscow; Smyslov said his health was poor during the return match. In 1960, Botvinnik was convincingly beaten 8½–12½ at Moscow by Tal, now 23 years old, but again exercised his right to a rematch in 1961, and won by 13–8 in Moscow. Commentators agreed that Tal's play was weaker in the rematch, probably due to his health, but also that Botvinnik's play was better than in the 1960 match, largely due to thorough preparation. Botvinnik changed his style in the rematch, avoiding the tactical complications in which Tal excelled and aiming for closed positions and endgames, where Tal's technique was not outstanding. Finally, in 1963, he lost the title to 1462:, winning only in the final cycle after the outcome of the tournament had been decided, suspicions have sometimes been raised that Keres was forced to "throw" games to allow Botvinnik to win the Championship. Chess historian Taylor Kingston investigated all the available evidence and arguments, and concluded that: Soviet chess officials gave Keres strong hints that he should not hinder Botvinnik's attempt to win the World Championship; Botvinnik only discovered this about half-way through the tournament and protested so strongly that he angered Soviet officials; Keres probably did not deliberately lose games to Botvinnik or anyone else in the tournament. 1240: 1105: 992: 52: 1215:; and he had also performed poorly in Soviet training contests. However, he lost only five of over thirty games in the two tournaments; three of the four who finished ahead of him in the 1951 championship were future world champions Smyslov and Petrosian and a leading world championship contender (and winner in both tournaments) Paul Keres; and he finished ahead of Petrosian and even with Smyslov in 1952. Botvinnik did not play in the Soviet team that won the 1952 2172:(checking all possible moves) several moves deep and today's vastly more powerful computers do this well enough to beat human world champions. However, his PIONEER program contained a generalized method of decision-making that, with a few adjustments, enabled it to plan maintenance of power stations all over the USSR. On September 7, 1991 Botvinnik was awarded an honorary degree in mathematics of the University of Ferrara (Italy) for his work on computer chess. 1416:. With World War II under way by this time, and the strong possibility of little or no chess practice for some time in the future, Botvinnik seems to have prevailed upon the Soviet chess leadership to hold another tournament "in order to clarify the situation". This wound up being the 1941 Absolute Championship of the USSR, which featured the top six finishers from the 1940 event, playing each other four times. After a personal appeal to the defence minister, 893: 8120: 917:, England. Krylenko authorised his participation and, to help Botvinnik play at his best, allowed Botvinnik's wife to accompany him – a privilege rarely extended to chess players at any time in Soviet history. Taking Lasker's advice, Botvinnik arrived ten days before play started. Although his Soviet rivals forecast disaster for him, he scored an undefeated shared first place (+6=8) with Capablanca, ½ point ahead of current World Champion 8130: 1839: 1769: 1734: 1727: 596: 582: 568: 519: 512: 498: 477: 1783: 1706: 589: 505: 1832: 1825: 1818: 1811: 1804: 1797: 1790: 1776: 1762: 1755: 1748: 1741: 1720: 1713: 1699: 1692: 638: 631: 624: 617: 610: 603: 575: 561: 554: 547: 540: 533: 526: 491: 484: 470: 1686: 464: 1008: 365:, which controlled admissions, had a policy of admitting only children of engineers and industrial workers. After an appeal by a local chess official, he was admitted in 1928 to Leningrad University's Mathematics Department. In January 1929, Botvinnik played for Leningrad in the student team chess championship against Moscow. Leningrad won and the team manager, who was also deputy chairman of the 369:, secured Botvinnik a transfer to the Polytechnic's Electromechanical Department, where he was one of only four students who entered straight from school. As a result, he had to do a whole year's work in five months, and failed one of the examinations. Early in the same year he placed joint third in the semi-final stage of the USSR Championship, and thus failed to reach the final stage. 1502:, in a 22-game series. Petrosian, almost 20 years younger, wore out the 52 year old Botvinnik in a series of protracted games, most of them over 40 moves, including six consecutive draws. The defending champion played poorly in games 18 and 19, and the match ended with three short draws. Petrosian thus claimed the world championship with a score of +5−2=15. 1024:, who had tied for first place, but had no achievements in international competition. The official's efforts led to a tournament for the title of "Absolute Champion of the USSR", whose official aim was to identify a Soviet challenger for Alekhine's title. The contestants were the top six finishers in the Soviet Championship – Bondarevsky, Lilienthal, 1986:– often long-term positional sacrifices whose purpose was not to force an immediate win, but to improve his position and undermine his opponent's. Botvinnik was also capable of all-out sacrificial attacks when he thought the position justified it. Botvinnik saw himself as a "universal player" (all-rounder), in contrast to an all-out attacker like 1110: 1109: 1106: 1111: 338:. On his return, he entertained his schoolmates with a vivid account of the rough sea journey back to Russia. Botvinnik was commissioned to annotate two games from the match, and the fact that his analyses were to be published made him aware of the need for objectivity. In December 1926, he became a candidate member of his school's 937: 1517:. Botvinnik evaded this "request" by saying that he wanted to write his own letter denouncing Korchnoi. By this time, however, his importance had waned and officials would not give him this "privilege", so Botvinnik's name did not appear on the group letter – an outcome Botvinnik may have foreseen. Bronstein and 1108: 1155:

Botvinnik strongly influenced the design of the system which would be used for World Championship competition from 1948 to 1963. Viktor Baturinsky wrote: "Now came Botvinnik's turn to defend his title in accordance with the new qualifying system which he himself had outlined in 1946." (This statement

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In the evenings, Botvinnik wrote a book in which he annotated all the games of the "Absolute Championship of the USSR", in order to maintain his analytic skills in readiness for a match with Alekhine. His work included wood-cutting for fuel, which left him with insufficient energy for chess analysis.

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title. The highest-level chess officials in the Soviet Union opposed this on the grounds that Botvinnik stood little chance against such a strong international opponent. In spite of this attempt to dissuade him, Krylenko insisted on staging the match, saying that "We have to know our real strength."

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By character they were absolutely opposites," their only child, Olga, recalled in 2012. Gayane was religious, while Botvinnik was fond of saying, "I am an atheist and a communist in the spirit of the first communist on earth, Jesus Christ." He reveled in his "hard character." She was apolitical. He

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in managing the Soviet economy. Botvinnik's research on chess-playing programs concentrated on "selective searches", which used general chess principles to decide which moves were worth considering. This was the only feasible approach for the primitive computers available in the Soviet Union in the

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Though ranking as formal World Champion, Botvinnik had a relatively poor playing record in the early 1950s: he played no formal competitive games after winning the 1948 match tournament until he defended his title, then struggled to draw his 1951 championship match with Bronstein, placed only fifth

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Botvinnik took an early lead in the 1940 USSR Championship, but faded badly in the later stages, eventually sharing fifth place. He attributed this to the unaccustomed difficulty of concentrating in a party-like atmosphere filled with noise and tobacco smoke. Botvinnik wrote to a friendly official,

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In autumn 1923, at the age of twelve, Botvinnik was taught chess by a school friend of his older brother, using a home-made set, and instantly fell in love with the game. He finished in mid-table in the school championship, sought advice from another of his brother's friends, and concluded that for

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was established in 1948, reigning champions had to play the strongest contender every three years, and successful title defenses became less common than in the pre-World War II years, when the titleholder could select his challenger. Despite this, Botvinnik held the world title for a longer period

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The Soviet Union regarded chess as a symbol of Communist superiority, and hence the Soviet chess world was extremely politicized. As Botvinnik was the first world-class player produced by the Soviet Union, everything he said or did (or did not say or do) had political repercussions, and there were

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in order to strengthen his claim for a title match with Alekhine, but this received no political support. In December 1943, he won the Moscow Championship, ahead of Smyslov. At the same time, opposition to his plan for a match with Alekhine re-surfaced, on the grounds that Alekhine was a political

1066:. The family found an apartment there, and Botvinnik obtained a job with the local electricity supply organization – at the lowest pay rate and on condition that he did no research, as he had only a Candidate's degree. Botvinnik's only child, a daughter named Olya, was born in Perm in April 1942. 275:

at home, and Mikhail and his older brother Isaak "Issy" attended Soviet schools. Botvinnik later recounted, "I was asked once, "What do you consider yourself to be from the point of view of nationality?" My reply was, "Yes, my position is 'complicated'. I am a Jew by blood, a Russian by culture,

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system is sensitive to the length of the periods being compared but places Botvinnik third in a comparison of players' best individual years (1946 for Botvinnik) and sixth in a comparison of fifteen-year periods (1935–1949 in Botvinnik's case). In 2005, Chessmetrics' creator Jeff Sonas wrote an

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alleged that this was done at the urging of the two Soviet representatives in FIDE, who were personal friends of Botvinnik. Averbakh also claims that Botvinnik's friends were behind FIDE's decision in 1956 to limit the number of players from the same country that could compete in the Candidates

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Botvinnik's example and teaching established the modern approach to preparing for competitive chess: regular but moderate physical exercise; analysing very thoroughly a relatively narrow repertoire of openings; annotating one's own games, those of past great players and those of competitors;

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During the last few years of his life, Botvinnik personally financed his economic computer project that he hoped would be used to manage the Russian economy. He kept actively working on the program until his death and financing the work from the money he made for the lectures and seminars he

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publishing one's annotations so that others can point out any errors; studying strong opponents to discover their strengths and weaknesses; ruthless objectivity about one's own strengths and weaknesses. Botvinnik also played many short training matches against strong grandmasters including

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In spring 1939, Botvinnik won the USSR Championship, and his book on the tournament described the approach to preparation which he had been developing since 1933. One striking feature of this was emphasis on opening preparation in order to gain a permanent positional advantage in the

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him it was better to think out "concrete concepts" and then derive general principles from these – and went on to beat his brother's friend quite easily. In winter 1924, Botvinnik won his school's championship, and exaggerated his age by three years in order to become a member of the

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quickly authorised the tournament. This was played in Moscow in June 1936, and Botvinnik finished second, one point behind Capablanca and 2½ ahead of Flohr. However, he took consolation from the fact the Soviet Union's best had held their own against top-class competition.

1490:'s chronic kidney problems contributed to his defeat in his 1961 return match with Botvinnik, and his doctors in Riga advised that he should postpone the match for health reasons. Averbakh claimed that Botvinnik would agree to a postponement only if Tal was certified unfit by 1139:

and two ahead of Smyslov. He and Euwe both struggled in the last few rounds, and Botvinnik had a narrow escape against Euwe, who he acknowledged had always been a difficult opponent for him. This was Botvinnik's first outright victory in a tournament outside the Soviet Union.

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The following table gives Botvinnik's placings and scores in tournaments. The first "Score" column gives the number of points on the total possible. In the second "Score" column, "+" indicates the number of won games, "−" the number of losses, and "=" the number of draws.

211:, making a significant contribution to the design of the World Chess Championship system after World War II and becoming a leading member of the coaching system that enabled the Soviet Union to dominate top-class chess during that time. His pupils include World Champions 933:. This was the first tournament victory by a Soviet master outside his own country. When the result reached Russia, Krylenko drafted a letter to be sent in Botvinnik's name to Stalin. On returning to Russia, Botvinnik discovered he had been awarded the "Mark of Honour". 1494:

doctors, and that Tal then decided to play. The 1961 world championship lasted 21 games and Botvinnik won ten of them, for a total score of +10−5=6, reclaiming the title he had lost a year earlier and becoming the oldest winner of a FIDE world championship match at 50.

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In 1954, he wrote an article about inciting socialist revolution in western countries, aiming to spread communism without a third world war. And in 1960 Botvinnik wrote a letter to the Soviet Government proposing economic reforms that were contrary to party policy.

1044:, included training matches in noisy, smoky rooms and he slept in the playing room, without opening the window. He won the tournament, 2½ points ahead of Keres and three ahead of Smyslov; moreover, with plus scores in the "mini-matches" against all his rivals. 1543:, writing in 1976, observed that Botvinnik was at or near the top of the chess world for thirty years—from 1933, when he drew a match against Flohr, to 1963, when he lost the world championship for the final time, to Petrosian—"a feat equaled historically only by 6056:

said that: Stalin would not have given orders that Keres should lose to Botvinnik; Smyslov would probably have been the candidate most preferred by officials; Keres was under severe psychological stress as a result of the multiple invasions of his home country,

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article which examined various ways of comparing the strength of "world number one" players, some not based on Chessmetrics; and Botvinnik generally emerged as one of the top six (the greatest exceptions were in criteria related to tournament results).

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paid a visit, hoping to play a game against the new champion. Tal was met by Botvinnik's wife, who said the champion was asleep, and that she had made him take a rest from chess. In 1950, Botvinnik was one of the inaugural recipients of the

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In 1920, his mother became ill and his father left the family, but maintained contact with the children, even after his second marriage to a Russian woman. At about the same time, Botvinnik started reading newspapers, and became a committed

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declined, at its annual congress in 1965, to grant a losing champion the automatic right to a rematch. He remained involved with competitive chess, appearing in several highly rated tournaments and continuing to produce memorable games.

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for the Candidate's degree, obtaining this in June 1937, after his supervisor described the dissertation as "short and good", and the first work in its field. As a result of his efforts, he missed the 1937 Soviet championship, won by

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enemy and the only proper course was to demand that he be stripped of the title. The dispute ended in Botvinnik's favor, and in the dismissal of a senior chess official, one of those to have opposed Botvinnik's plan, who was also a

1982:, and was often willing to accept weaknesses that his opponent could not exploit in exchange for some advantage that he could exploit. He confessed that he was relatively weak in tactical calculation, yet many of his games feature 1615:

This may seem surprising in the light of Botvinnik's results in the 1950s and early 1960s, when he failed to win a world championship match outright (as reigning champion) and his tournament results were patchy. But after the FIDE

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that was reasonably good at finding the right move in difficult positions, but it often missed the right move in simple positions, e.g. where it was possible to checkmate in two moves. This "selective" approach turned out to be a

2134:, another grandmaster). He was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honour for his work on power stations in the Urals during World War II (while he was also establishing himself as the world's strongest chess player). He earned his 2129:

Engineering was as much of a passion for Botvinnik as chess – at Nottingham in 1936, where he had his first major tournament win outside the USSR, he said "I wish I could do what he's done in electrical engineering" (referring to

953:, who was then nearly fifty. Later in 1937, Botvinnik drew a match of thirteen games against Levenfish. Botvinnik challenged Levenfish, writing that Krylenko, angered by Botvinnik's absence from the tournament, ordered the match. 1355:

in May 1995. According to his daughter, Botvinnik remained active until the last few months of his life, and continued to go to work until March 1995 despite blindness in one of his eyes (and extremely poor vision in the other).

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Botvinnik generally sought tense positions with chances for both sides; hence his results were often better with the Black pieces as he could avoid lines that were likely to produce draws. He had a strong grasp of long-term

1625:. Botvinnik also became world champion at the relatively late age of 37, because World War II brought international competition to a virtual halt for six years; and he was 52 years old when he finally lost his title (only 1107: 1219:

in Helsinki: the players voted for the line-up and placed Botvinnik on second board, with Keres on top board; Botvinnik protested and refused to play. Keres' playing record from 1950 to early 1952 had been outstanding.

1390:, who was also in charge of Soviet chess, proposed that Ilya Rabinovich should deliberately lose to Botvinnik, to ensure that Botvinnik took first place. Botvinnik refused, saying "... then I will myself put a piece 1455:" of chess), had already proposed a World Championship tournament before the Groningen tournament began, and at this stage the Soviet Union was not a member and therefore took no part in framing that proposal. 5145:

The sources agree that Botvinnik was only two points short of white-washing his opposition, but disagree about the number of games played. There is a full tournament table giving Botvinnik a score of 15/17 at

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He later reported to Krylenko that the 1935 tournament made it difficult to judge the strength of the top Soviet players, as it included a mixture of top-class and weaker players. Botvinnik advocated a double

327:. Botvinnik was selected as one of his opponents, and won his game. In 1926, he reached the final stage of the Leningrad championship. Later that year, he was selected for Leningrad's team in a match against 861:

said his arrival only two hours before the first round began was a serious mistake and that he should have allowed ten days for acclimatization. Botvinnik wrote that he did not make this mistake again.

1420:, Botvinnik was exempted from war work for three days a week in order to concentrate on chess preparations. He won this tournament convincingly, and thus reclaimed his position as the USSR's top player. 1119:

After Botvinnik won the 1944 and 1945 Soviet championships, most top Soviet players supported his desire for a World Championship match with Alekhine. However, the allegations that Alekhine had written

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Botvinnik used what he regarded as the first version of his method of preparing for a contest, but fell two games behind by the end of the first six, played in Moscow. However, aided by his old friend

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in electrical engineering in 1951. In 1956, he joined the Research Institute for Electrical Energy as a senior research scientist. In 1960 he published a book on Asynchronized Synchronous Machines

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I mentioned this and even compared Botvinnik with a bulldozer, which sweeps away everything in its path. Keres smiled and said: 'But can you imagine what it was like to play him when he was young?'"

1231:, writing "these games had a definite significance for me". In 1956, he tied for first place with Smyslov in the 1956 Alexander Alekhine Memorial in Moscow, despite a last-round loss to Keres. 1191:

over 24 games in Moscow, +7−7=10, again retaining the title. In 1957, he lost to Smyslov by 9½–12½ in Moscow, but the rules then in force allowed him a rematch without having to go through the

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title for this achievement, yet he was later stripped of it, when it was thought more politically correct to make Botvinnik the first official Soviet GM (as distinct from the then-nonexistent

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over 24 games in Moscow, +5−5=14, keeping the world title, but it was a struggle for Botvinnik, who won the second-last game and drew the last in order to tie the match. In 1954, he drew with

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Botvinnik won further Soviet Championship titles in 1939, 1944, 1945, and 1952, bringing his total to six. In 1945, he dominated the tournament, scoring 15/17; however, in 1952 he tied with

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event featuring the top five Soviet players and the five strongest non-Soviet players available. Despite politicking over the Soviet choices, both Krylenko and the Central Committee of the

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M.M. Botvinnik: Asynchronized Synchronous Machines: 1960 Moscow, Translated by L.A.Thompson, International Series of Monographs on Electronics and Instrumentation, Pergamon Press 1964

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and Emanuel Lasker were older when they were defeated). Botvinnik's best years were from 1935 to 1946; during that period he dominated Soviet chess; and the USSR's 15½–4½ win in the

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Bronstein insinuated that Soviet officials pressured him to lose in the 1951 world championship match so that Botvinnik would keep the title, but comments by Botvinnik's second,

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branch. Around this time his mother became concerned about his poor physique, and as a result he started a programme of daily exercise, which he maintained for most of his life.

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final stage in 1927 as the youngest player ever at that time, tied for fifth and sixth places and gained the title of master. He wanted to study Electrical Technology at the

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In the 1980s, Botvinnik proposed a computer program to manage the Soviet economy. However, his proposals did not receive significant attention from the Soviet government.

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When Botvinnik finished the school curriculum, he was below the minimum age for the entrance examinations for higher education. While waiting, he qualified for his first

1271:, where he won the bronze with 9/12, playing board 2 as he had lost his title to Petrosian. Overall, in six Olympiads, he scored 54½/73 for an outstanding 74.6 percent. 1183:

Botvinnik held the world title, with two brief interruptions, for the next fifteen years, during which he played seven world championship matches. In 1951, he drew with

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in response to 1.d4. While Botvinnik did not use a wide range of openings, he made major contributions to those he did use, for example: the Botvinnik Variation of the

1263:, he played board two behind Mikhail Tal, having lost his title to Tal earlier that year, but he won the board two gold medal with 10½/13. He was back on board one for 842:

and coach Abram Model, he leveled the score in Leningrad and the match was drawn. When describing the post-match party, Botvinnik wrote that at the time he danced the

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after the publication of further evidence which he summarizes in his third article. In a subsequent two-part interview with Kingston, Soviet grandmaster and official

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Here are Botvinnik's results in matches. In the second "Score" column, "+" indicates the number of won games, "−" the number of losses, and "=" the number of draws.

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said, "Botvinnik's chess career was the way of a genius, although he was not a genius", meaning that Botvinnik was brilliant at making the best use of his talents.

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1965, he struggled on board two with only 3½/8. Both times the Soviet Union won the team gold medals. Botvinnik played one of the final events of his career at the

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pawn openings with the white pieces. In his eight World Championship matches, he never started a game with an e4-opening, and his usual choices as White were the

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Botvinnik played relatively poorly in the very strong 1940 Soviet Championship, finishing in a tie for fifth/sixth places, with 11½/19, two full points behind

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had by then altered the rules, and he was not allowed a rematch. The rematch rule had been nicknamed the "Botvinnik rule" because he twice benefited from it.

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Grandmaster Tal tells a different version of events in his autobiography, "The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal". 1997. Reprint ed. Everyman Chess, 2013, p. 21.

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and Moscow. He won the 1948 tournament convincingly—with a score of 14/20, three points clear—becoming the sixth World Champion. While he was on vacation in

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In 1935, Botvinnik married Gayane Davidovna Ananova, of Armenian descent, who was the daughter of his algebra and geometry teacher. She was a student at the

358: 5226: 8184: 806:'s plan to develop a new generation of Soviet masters had borne fruit. He and other young masters successfully requested the support of a senior Leningrad 6561: 1251:

Botvinnik was selected for the Soviet Olympiad team from 1954 to 1964 inclusively, and helped his team to gold medal finishes each of those six times. At

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he was on board one and won the gold medal with 8½/11. Then at home for Moscow 1956, he was again board one, and scored 9½/13 for the bronze medal. For

2089:(both the Panov–Botvinnik Attack for White and various approaches for Black), the Winawer Variation of the French Defense, the Botvinnik System in the 1535: 1337:) in 1981. A staunch Communist, he was noticeably shaken by the collapse of the Soviet Union and lost some of his standing in Russian chess during the 8103: 8098: 1318:

programs and to assist with the training of younger Soviet players, earning him the nickname of "Patriarch of the Soviet Chess School" (see below).

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Chess Assembly – to which its president turned a blind eye. Botvinnik won his first two tournaments organized by the Assembly. Shortly afterwards,

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Tournament, and that this was to Botvinnik's advantage as it reduced the number of Soviet players he might have to meet in the title match.

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In 1933, Botvinnik repeated his Soviet Championship win, in his home city of Leningrad, with 14/19, describing the results as evidence that

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in the tournament, won the play-off match). He included several wins from that tournament over the 1952 Soviet team members in his book

881:, but Botvinnik objected that "titles were not the point." However, he accepted a free car and a 67% increase in his postgraduate study 8174: 6861: 6679: 6298: 5166: 886: 8194: 6158: 384:, which was then regarded as inferior for Black, but Botvinnik analysed it more deeply and played this variation with great success. 140: 6237: 6216: 6130: 8299: 207:

Botvinnik was the first world-class player to develop within the Soviet Union. He also played a major role in the organization of

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deep (i.e. A's move, B's move, A's move, B's move) if they tried to examine every variation. Botvinnik eventually developed an

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Kasparov quotes Tigran Petrosian as saying, "There was a very unpleasant feeling of inevitability. Once in a conversation with

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articles while in Nazi-occupied France made it difficult to host the match in the USSR. Botvinnik opened negotiations with the

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until 1970, by which time Botvinnik's strength had been declining for several years. According to unofficial calculations by

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Botvinnik won the Leningrad Masters' tournament in 1930 with a score of 6½/8, following this up the next year by winning the

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Bronstein claimed that at the end of the 1946 Groningen tournament, a few months after the death of reigning world champion

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considered Botvinnik's collection of best games one of the three most beautiful up to the mid-1950s (the other two were

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On the basis of his strong results during and just after World War II, Botvinnik was one of five players to contest the

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In 1963, Botvinnik founded his own school within the Soviet coaching system, and its graduates include world champions

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In 1956, FIDE changed the world championship rules so that a defeated champion would have the right to a return match.

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Botvinnik retired from competitive play in 1970, aged 59, preferring instead to occupy himself with the development of

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Botvinnik obtained from Molotov an order that he should be given three days off normal work in order to study chess.

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1934–35, Botvinnik achieved only a tie for 5th–6th places, with 5/9. He wrote that, in London after the tournament,

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and passed the entrance examination; however, there was a persistent excess of applications for this course and the

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and his mother, Shifra (Serafima) Rabinovich (1876–1952), a dentist, which allowed the family to live outside the

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Championship Chess : Match Tournament for the Absolute Chess Championship of the USSR, Leningrad-Moscow 1941

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Film newsreel about a simultaneous display of Salo Flohr and Mikhail Botvinnik, Hilversum (NL), 1 January 1964

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was an ardent Marxist. As time went by, she found it hard to deal with the stress that he seemed to thrive on.

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for Power Stations, an admirer and subsequent good friend. On his return, Botvinnik suggested a match with

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official in arranging contests involving both Soviet and foreign players, as there had been none since the

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proved that the USSR's top players were considerably better than those from the US (who had dominated

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Botvinnik wrote that before the last round of the 1935 Moscow tournament, Soviet Commissar of Justice

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in Moscow, scoring 13½ out of 17. He commented that the field was not very strong, as some of the pre-

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At first sight Botvinnik's opening play looks unpromising, but he knew how his attack would develop.

1028:(whose home country, Estonia, had recently been annexed by the Soviet Union), future World Champion 8234: 7456: 1617: 1125: 831: 815: 236: 126: 90: 1267:, scored 8/12, but failed to win a medal for the only time at an Olympiad. His final Olympiad was 865:

Botvinnik placed first equal with Flohr, ½ point ahead of Lasker and one point ahead of

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Soviet chess championship, 1941: Complete text of games with detailed notes & an introduction

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attack: 1...Rxh3+ 2.gxh3 d4 and White resigned, as he could not stop ...Qd5 and mate next move.

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to join him in a tournament to decide the new world champion, but other evidence suggests that

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When the Second World War ended, Botvinnik won the first high-level post-war tournament, at

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Return Match for the World Chess Championship: Mikhail Botvinnik – Mikhail Tal, Moscow 1961

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His early progress was fairly rapid, mostly under the training of Soviet Master and coach

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Click Botvinnik's name and a pop-up appears that summarises his Olympiad playing record.

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in Moscow in 1963, Botvinnik withdrew from the following World Championship cycle after

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In 1943, after a two-year lay-off from competitive chess, Botvinnik won a tournament in

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Match for the World Chess Championship Mikhail Botvinnik-David Bronstein Moscow 1951

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to host the match in England, but these were cut short by Alekhine's death in 1946.

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In the 1950s Botvinnik became interested in computers, at first mainly for playing

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were restricted at the time. As a result, Botvinnik grew up in Saint Petersburg's

7893: 7493: 7483: 6001: 5869: 5755: 5589: 5544: 4843: 4118: 2090: 2054: 1580: 1556: 1510: 1372: 1368: 1184: 1004:, rather than seeking immediate tactical surprises that could only be used once. 787:, after completing a practical assignment on temporary transmission lines at the 407: 268: 6745: 6280: 6112: 6075: 6064: 6044: 5910:"Did the Soviets Collude?: A Statistical Analysis of Championship Chess 1940–64" 5891: 5804: 5769: 5628: 5613: 5430: 968:

In 1938, the world's top eight players met in the Netherlands to compete in the

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Botvinnik also played twice for the USSR in the European Team Championship. At

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Keres vs. Botvinnik, USSR Absolute Championship 1941, Nimzoindian Defense, 0–1

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regards this as one of the fifty strongest tournaments between 1851 and 1986.

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Soviet by upbringing."" On his religious views, he called himself an atheist.

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concludes that Botvinnik was the fourth strongest player of all time: behind

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rumors that Soviet opponents were given hints that they should not beat him.

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Botvinnik's Best Games Volume 3: 1957–1970 – Analytical & Critical Works

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Shortly afterwards, Botvinnik was urged to return to Moscow by the People's

1054:. Botvinnik's wife Gayane, a ballerina, told him that her colleagues at the 991: 8133: 6894:

Digital phoenix: why the information economy collapsed and how it will rise

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This is the English translation. The Rabinovich incident is summarized at

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also competed, but scored only 1/3 as he then retired from the tournament.

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Botvinnik, M.M.; Garry, S. (1960) . "Results in Tournaments and Matches".

972:, whose winner was supposed to get a title match with the World Champion, 7674: 7400: 7390: 6278:, referring to the late 1940s, said "Botvinnik was a killer in chess." – 5850: 4776: 4268: 4243: 3908: 1995: 1987: 1540: 1487: 1432: 1172: 988:– and the outbreak of World War II prevented a World Championship match. 981: 922: 373: 51: 7288:"Mikhail Botvinnik, Chess Champion and Teacher of Champions, Dies at 83" 6033: 6022: 5952: 5404: 5075: 5073: 5071: 5069: 5067: 5065: 4462:"Mikhail Botvinnik, Chess Champion and Teacher of Champions, Dies at 83" 913:

In early winter, 1936, Botvinnik was invited to play in a tournament at

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masters were absent. In late summer 1931, he graduated with a degree in

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and resign". The game was drawn, and Botvinnik shared first place with

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had won the 1929 Soviet Championship and was granted the first Soviet

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commenting that the champion was to be the winner of a match between

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a piece to expose Black's king, Botvinnik played 1.Bh5+ and Yudovich

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To test the strength of Soviet chess masters, Krylenko organized the

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August 4] 1911 – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian

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In 1976, Soviet grandmasters were asked to sign a letter condemning

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In 1963, Botvinnik played his last world championship match against

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since mate is inevitable, e.g. 1...Kxh5 2.Ng3+ Kg4 3.Qe4+ Rf4 4.Qxf4

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Botvinnik vs. Keres, Alekhine Memorial Tournament Moscow 1966, 1–0

2168:, as computers were powerful enough by the mid-1970s to perform a 1954: 1325:, was published in Russian in 1978, and in English translation as 749: 6853: 6811: 6463: 6058: 5543: 5475: 5414: