Mikhail Botvinnik

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Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mikhail Botvinnik
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, PhD (Russian:

, pronounced [mxil m
sejvt btvinnk]; August 17 [O.S. August
4] 1911 May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian
International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess
Champion, widely considered one of the greatest chess
players of all time. Working as an electrical engineer and
computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very
few professional chess players who achieved distinction in
another career while playing top-class competitive chess. He
was also a pioneer of computer chess.
Botvinnik was the first world-class player to develop within
the Soviet Union, putting him under political pressure but also
giving him considerable influence within Soviet chess. From
time to time he was accused of using that influence to his own
advantage, but the evidence is unclear and some suggest he
resisted attempts by Soviet officials to intimidate some of his
rivals.
Botvinnik also played a major role in the organization of
chess, 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 famous pupils include World Champions
Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.
Contents
1 Early years
2 Soviet champion
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik in 1962

Full name Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik
Country
Soviet Union
Born
August 17, 1911

Kuokkala, Grand Duchy of Finland,
Russian Empire (now Repino, Russia)
Died
May 5, 1995 (aged 83)

Moscow, Russia
Title
Grandmaster
194857
World
Champion 195860
196163
Peak
rating
2660 (January 1971)[1]
3 World title contender

4 World Champion
5 Team tournaments
6 Late career
7 Political controversies
8 Assessment
8.1 Playing strength and style
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Botvinnik
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8.2 Influence on the game

9 Other achievements
9.1 Electrical engineering
9.2 Computer chess
10 Writings
10.1 Chess
10.2 Computers
11 Notable chess games
12 Tournament results
12.1 Match results
13 Notes
14 References
15 Further reading
16 External links
Early years
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was born on August 17, 1911,[2] in what was then Kuokkala in the Russiancontrolled but autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland,[3][4] but is now the district of Repino in Saint Petersburg.[5]
His parents were Russian Jews, his father was a dental technician and his mother a dentist,[6] which allowed the
family to live outside the Pale of Settlement to which most Jews in the Russian Empire were restricted at the time.
As a result, Mikhail Botvinnik grew up in Saint Petersburg's Nevsky Prospekt.[5][6] His father forbade the speaking
of Yiddish at home, and Mikhail and his older brother Issy attended Soviet schools.[5][6] Mikhail Botvinnik later
said, "I am a Jew by blood, Russian by culture, Soviet by upbringing." On his religious views, Botvinnik called
himself an atheist.[7]
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, Mikhail started reading newspapers, and became a
committed Communist.[6]
In autumn 1923, at the age of twelve,[2] Mikhail 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.[6] He finished in mid-table in the school
championship, sought advice from another of his brother's friends, and concluded that for 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 Petrograd Chess Assembly to which the Assembly's President turned a blind
eye.[6] Botvinnik won his first two tournaments organized by the Assembly. Shortly afterwards, Nikolai Krylenko, a
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chess fanatic and leading member of the Soviet legal system who later organized Joseph Stalin's show trials, began
building a huge nation-wide chess organization, and the Assembly was replaced by a club in the city's Palace of
Labor.[6]
To test the strength of Soviet chess masters, Krylenko organized the Moscow 1925 chess tournament. On a rest
day during the event,[6] world champion Jos Ral Capablanca gave a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad.
Botvinnik was selected as one of his opponents, and won their game.[8] 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 Stockholm, held
in Sweden, and scored +1 =1 against the future grandmaster Gsta Stoltz. 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 Komsomol branch. Around this
time his mother became concerned about his poor physique, and as a result he started a program of daily exercise,
which he maintained for most of his life.[6]
When Botvinnik finished the school curriculum, he was below the minimum age for
the entrance examinations for higher education.[9] While waiting, he qualified for his
first USSR Championship final stage in 1927 as the youngest player ever at that
time, tied for fifth place and won the title of National Master.[8] He wanted to study
Electrical Technology at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute and passed the
entrance examination; however, there was a persistent excess of applications for
this course and the Prolestud, 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.[9] 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 Prolestud, 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
Botvinnik in 1927
work in five months, and failed one of the examinations.[9] 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.[10]
His early progress was fairly rapid, mostly under the training of Soviet Master and coach Abram Model, in
Leningrad; Model taught Botvinnik the Winawer Variation of the French Defence, which was then regarded as
inferior for Black, but which Model and Botvinnik analyzed more deeply and then played with great success.[11]
Botwinnik won the Leningrad Masters' tournament in 1930 with 6/8, following this up the next year by winning
the Championship of Leningrad by 2 points over former Soviet champion Peter Romanovsky.[12]
Botwinnik married an Armenian woman named Gayane (Ganna) Davidovna, who was the daughter of his algebra
and geometry teacher. She was a student at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in Leningrad and, later, a
ballerina in the Bolshoi Theatre. They had one daughter, named Olga, who was born in 1942.
Soviet champion
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In 1931, at the age of 20,

Botvinnik won his first Soviet
Championship in Moscow,[2]
scoring 13 out of 17.[13] He
commented that the field was
not very strong, as some of the
pre-Revolution masters were
absent.[10] In late summer
1931, he graduated with a
degree in Electrical Engineering,
after completing a practical
assignment on temporary
transmission lines at the Dnieper
Hydroelectric Station. He
stayed on at the Leningrad
Polytechnical Institute to study
for a Candidate's degree.[10]
"Botvinnik vs Yudovich,
USSR Ch 1933" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1031833).
a
1
a
White to move
After sacrificing a piece to expose Black's
king, Botvinnik played 1. Bh5+ and
Yudovich resigned since mate is inevitable,
e.g. 1... Kxh5 2. Ng3+ Kg4 3. Qe4+ Rf4 4.
Qxf4#
In 1933, he repeated his Soviet

Championship win, in his home
city of Leningrad, with
14/19,[13] describing the results
as evidence that Krylenko'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 Communist Party official in arranging contests involving both Soviet
and foreign players, as there had been none since the Moscow 1925 chess tournament.[10] Soon afterwards,
Botvinnik was informed that Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky, one of the older Soviet masters and a member of the
Soviet embassy in Prague, had arranged a match between Botwinnik [10] and Salo Flohr, a Czech grandmaster
who was then regarded as one of the most credible contenders for Alexander Alekhine's World Chess
Championship title.[14] 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."[10]
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 Ragozin 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 foxtrot and Charleston to a professional standard.[10]
In his first tournament outside the USSR, the Hastings 193435, Botvinnik achieved only a tie for 5th6th places,
with 5/9. He wrote that, in London after the tournament, Emanuel Lasker 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.[15] Botvinnik
wrote that he did not make this mistake again.[16]
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Botvinnik placed first equal with Flohr, point ahead of Lasker and one point ahead of Jos Ral Capablanca, in
Moscow's second International Tournament, held in 1935.[17] After consulting Jos Ral Capablanca and Lasker,
Krylenko proposed to award Botvinnik the title grandmaster, but Botvinnik objected that "titles were not the point."
However, he accepted a free car and a 67% increase in his postgraduate study grant, both provided by the
People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry.[15]
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 roundrobin 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 Komsomol quickly
authorised the tournament.[15] This was played in Moscow in June
Botvinnik vs Lasker in 1936
[15]
1936, and Botvinnik finished second, one point behind Capablanca
and 2 ahead of Flohr.[17] However, he took consolation from the fact the Soviet Union's best had held their own
against top-class competition.[15]
In early winter, 1936, Botvinnik was invited to play in a tournament at Nottingham, England. Krylenko authorized
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,[15] he scored an undefeated shared first
place (+6 =8) with Capablanca, point ahead of current World Champion Max Euwe and rising American stars
Reuben Fine and Samuel Reshevsky, and 1 point ahead of ex-champion Alexander Alekhine.[17][18] This was the
first tournament victory by a Soviet master outside his own country.[16] 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".[15]
Three weeks later, he began work on his dissertation 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.[15] As a
result of his efforts, he missed the 1937 Soviet championship, won by
Grigory Levenfish, who was then nearly fifty. Later in 1937, Botvinnik
drew a match of thirteen games against Levenfish.[19][20][21] Accounts
differ about how the match was arranged: Levenfish later wrote that
Botvinnik challenged him; while Botvinnik wrote that Krylenko, angered
by Botvinnik's absence from the tournament, ordered the match.[19]
Levenfish vs. Botvinnik (right), 1937
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;[22] however, in 1952 he tied with Mark Taimanov and won the play-off match.[13]
World title contender

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In 1938, the world's top eight players met in the Netherlands to compete in the AVRO tournament, whose winner
was supposed to get a title match with the World Champion, Alexander Alekhine.[23] Botvinnik placed third,
behind Paul Keres and Reuben Fine.[24] According to Botvinnik, Alekhine was most interested in playing an
opponent who could raise the funds.[19] 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.[19][25] 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.[19] 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 Russian Revolution[19]
and the outbreak of World War II prevented a World Championship match.[23]
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 middle game, rather than seeking immediate tactical surprises that
could only be used once.[26]
Botvinnik took an early lead in the
Capablanca vs Botvinnik in 1936
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, commenting that the champion was to be the
winner of a match between Igor Bondarevsky and Andor Lilienthal, 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, Paul Keres (who had recently become a Soviet citizen), future World
Champion Vasily Smyslov, Isaac Boleslavsky and Botvinnik who were to play
a quadruple round-robin. Botvinnik's preparation with his second, Viacheslav
Botvinnik in 1936
Ragozin, included training matches in noisy, smoky rooms and he slept in the
playing room, without opening the window. He won the tournament, 2 points
ahead of Keres and three ahead of Smyslov; moreover, with plus scores in the "mini-matches" against all his
rivals.[27]
In June 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Botvinnik's wife Gayane, a ballerina,[28] told him that her
colleagues at the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre were being evacuated to the city of Perm,[29] then known as
Molotov in honour of Vyacheslav Molotov.[30] 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.[29]
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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 woodcutting for fuel, which left him with insufficient energy for chess analysis. Botvinnik obtained from Molotov an order
that he should be given three days off normal work in order to study chess.[29]
In 1943, after a two-year lay-off from competitive chess, Botvinnik won a tournament in Sverdlovsk, scoring 1
out of 2 against each of his seven competitors who included Smyslov, Vladimir Makogonov, Boleslavsky, and
Ragozin.[29][31] Chessbase regards this as one of the fifty strongest tournaments between 1851 and 1986.[32]
Shortly afterwards, Botvinnik was urged to return to Moscow by the People's Commissar for Power Stations, an
admirer and subsequent good friend. On his return, Botvinnik suggested a match with Samuel Reshevsky 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 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 KGB colonel.[33][34]
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 anti-Semitic articles
while in Nazi-occupied France made it difficult to host the match in the USSR. Botvinnik opened negotiations with
the British Chess Federation to host the match in England, but these were cut short by Alekhine's death in 1946.[33]
When the Second World War ended, Botvinnik won the first high-level post-war tournament, at Groningen in
1946, with 14 points from nineteen games, point ahead of former World Champion Max Euwe and two ahead
of Smyslov.[35] He and Euwe both struggled in the last few rounds,[36] and Botvinnik had a narrow escape against
Euwe, who he acknowledged had always been a difficult opponent for him.[37] This was Botvinnik's first outright
victory in a tournament outside the Soviet Union.[38]
Botvinnik also won the very strong Mikhail Chigorin Memorial tournament held at Moscow 1947.
World Champion
Botvinnik strongly influenced the design of the system which would be used for World Championship competition
from 1948 to 1963.[23][39] 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 referred to Botvinnik's 1951
title defence).[40]
On the basis of his strong results during and just after World War II, Botvinnik was one of five players to contest
the 1948 World Chess Championship, which was held at The Hague and Moscow. He won the 1948 tournament
convincingly, with a score of 14/20, three points clear, becoming the sixth World Champion.[41] While he was on
vacation in Riga after the tournament, an eleven-year old boy called Mikhail Tal 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.[28][42]
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Botvinnik then held the title, with two brief interruptions, for the next fifteen years, during which he played seven
world championship matches. In 1951, he drew with David Bronstein 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.[43] In 1954, he drew with Vasily Smyslov over 24 games at Moscow, +7 7 =10, again
retaining the title.[44] In 1957, he lost to Smyslov by 912 in Moscow,[45] but the rules then in force allowed
him a rematch without having to go through the Candidates' Tournament, and in 1958 he won the rematch in
Moscow;[46] Smyslov said his health was poor during the return match.[47] In 1960, Botvinnik was convincingly
beaten 812 at Moscow by Tal, now 23 years old,[48] but again exercised his right to a rematch in 1961, and
won by 138 in Moscow.[49] 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.[50][51] Finally, in 1963, he lost the title
to Tigran Petrosian, by 912 in Moscow.[49] FIDE 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.
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 in the 1951 Soviet Championship,
and tied for third in the 1952 Gza Marczy Memorial tournament in Budapest; and he had also performed poorly
in Soviet training contests.[13][52] 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 Chess
Olympiad 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.[53][54] Keres' playing record from 1950 to early 1952 had been
outstanding.[13][52]
Botvinnik won the 1952 Soviet Championship (joint first with Mark Taimanov in the tournament, won the play-off
match).[13] He included several wins from that tournament over the 1952 Soviet team members in his book
Botvinnik's Best Games 19471970, writing "these games had a definite significance for me".[54] In 1956, he tied
for first place with Smyslov in the 1956 Alexander Alekhine Memorial in Moscow, despite a last-round loss to
Keres.
Team tournaments
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 Amsterdam 1954 he was on board one and won the gold medal with
8/11. Then at home for Moscow 1956, he was again board one, and scored 9/13 for the bronze medal. For
Munich 1958, he scored 9/12 for the silver medal on board one. At Leipzig 1960, 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 10/13. He was
back on board one for Varna 1962, scored 8/12, but failed to win a medal for the only time at an Olympiad. His
final Olympiad was Tel Aviv 1964, 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 54/73 for an outstanding 74.6 percent.[55]
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Botvinnik also played twice for the USSR in the European Team Championship. At Oberhausen 1961, he scored
6/9 for the gold medal on board one. But at Hamburg 1965, he struggled on board two with only 3/8. Both times
the Soviet Union won the team gold medals. Botvinnik played one of the final events of his career at the Russia
(USSR) vs Rest of the World match in Belgrade 1970, scoring 2/4 against Milan Matulovi, as the USSR
narrowly triumphed.
Late career
After losing the world title for the final time, to Tigran
Petrosian in Moscow in 1963, Botvinnik withdrew
from the following World Championship cycle after
FIDE 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.
He retired from competitive play in 1970, aged 59,
preferring instead to occupy himself with the
development of computer chess programs and to
assist with the training of younger Soviet players,
earning him the nickname of "Patriarch of the Soviet
Chess School" (see below).
Szabo vs. Botvinnik (right), Oberhausen 1961
Botvinnik's autobiography, K Dostizheniyu Tseli,

was published in Russian in 1978, and in English translation as Achieving the Aim (ISBN 0-08-024120-4) 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 Boris Yeltsin era.
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.
During the last few years of his life he 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 attended, despite prominent health problems.
Botvinnik died of pancreatic cancer in May 1995.[56] 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).
Political controversies
The Soviet Union regarded chess as a symbol of Communist superiority, and hence the Soviet chess world was
extremely politicized.[57][58] 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 rumors that Soviet opponents were
given hints that they should not beat him.
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David Bronstein wrote that Boris Verlinsky had won the 1929 Soviet Championship and was granted the first
Soviet Grandmaster 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 FIDE grandmaster
title).[39]
Botvinnik wrote that before the last round of the 1935 Moscow tournament, Soviet Commissar of Justice Nikolai
Krylenko, 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 en
prise and resign".[59] The game was drawn, and Botvinnik shared first place with Salo Flohr.
Botvinnik sent an effusive telegram of thanks to Joseph Stalin after his victory at the great tournament in Nottingham
in 1936.
Botvinnik played relatively poorly in the very strong 1940 Soviet Championship, finishing in a tie for fifth/sixth
places, with 11/19, two full points behind Igor Bondarevsky and Andor Lilienthal. 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".[60]
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, Vyacheslav Molotov,
Botvinnik was exempted from war work for three days a week in order to concentrate on chess preparations.[61]
He won this tournament convincingly, and thus reclaimed his position as the USSR's top player. Bronstein claimed
that at the end of the 1946 Groningen tournament, a few months after the death of reigning world champion
Alexander Alekhine, Botvinnik personally invited Samuel Reshevsky, Reuben Fine, Max Euwe, Vasily Smyslov,
and Paul Keres to join him in a tournament to decide the new world champion,[39] but other evidence suggests that
FIDE (the "governing body" 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.[23]
Since Keres lost his first four games against Botvinnik in the 1948 World Championship tournament, 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.[62]
Bronstein insinuated that Soviet officials pressured him to lose in the 1951 world championship match so that
Botvinnik would keep the title,[39] but comments by Botvinnik's second, Salo Flohr, and Botvinnik's own
annotations to the critical 23rd game indicate that Botvinnik knew of no such plot.[63]
In 1956, FIDE changed the world championship rules so that a defeated champion would have the right to a return
match. Yuri Averbakh 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 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.[64]
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Botvinnik asked to be allowed to play in the 1956 Candidates Tournament, as he wanted to use the event as part
of his warm-up for the next year's title match, but his request was refused.[65]
Mikhail Tal'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 Moscow doctors, and that Tal then decided to
play.[64]
In 1954, he wrote an article about inciting socialist revolution in western countries, aiming to spread Communism
without a third world war.[64] And in 1960 Botvinnik wrote a letter to the Soviet Government proposing economic
reforms that were contrary to party policy.[66]
In 1976 Soviet grandmasters were asked to sign a letter condemning Viktor Korchnoi as a "traitor" after Korchnoi
defected. 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.[67] Bronstein and Boris Spassky
openly refused to sign the letter.[53]
Assessment
Playing strength and style
For more information see Comparison of top chess players throughout history
Reuben Fine 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 Emanuel Lasker and Wilhelm Steinitz".[68] The statistical rating system used in
Raymond Keene and Nathan Divinsky's book Warriors of the Mind concludes that Botvinnik was the fourth
strongest player of all time: behind Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov and Bobby Fischer but ahead of Jos Ral
Capablanca, Lasker, Viktor Korchnoi, Boris Spassky, Vasily Smyslov and Tigran Petrosian.[51] The Chessmetrics
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 (19351949 in
Botvinnik's case).[69][70] In 2005 Chessmetrics' creator Jeff Sonas wrote an 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).[71] FIDE did
not adopt the Elo rating system until 1970, by which time Botvinnik's strength had been declining for several years.
According to unofficial calculations by rpd Elo, Botvinnik was the highest-rated player from 1937 to 1954,
peaking about 2730 in 1946.[72]
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 world championship cycle 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
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titleholder could select his challenger. Despite this, Botvinnik held the world title for a longer period than any of his
successors except Garry Kasparov. 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 Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Lasker were older when they were defeated).
Botvinnik's best years were from 1935 to 1946;[70] during that period he dominated Soviet chess;[73] and the
USSR's 154 win in the 1945 radio match against the USA proved that the USSR's top players were
considerably better than the USA's (who had dominated international team competitions in the 1930s).[74]
Botvinnik generally sought tense positions with chances for both
sides;[75] hence his results were often better with the Black pieces as
he could avoid lines that were likely to produce draws.[8][76] He had
a strong grasp of long-term strategy, and was often willing to accept
weaknesses that his opponent could not exploit in exchange for some
advantage that Botvinnik could exploit.[76][77] He confessed that he
was relatively weak in tactical calculation, yet many of his games
feature sacrifices 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.[78] Botvinnik
saw himself as a "universal player" (all-rounder), in

contrast to an all-out attacker like Mikhail Tal or a defender like
Tigran Petrosian.[51] Reuben Fine considered Botvinnik's collection
of best games one of the three most beautiful up to the mid-1950s
(the other two were Alexander Alekhine's and Akiba Rubinstein's).[8]
Kasparov quotes Tigran Petrosian as saying, "There was a very
unpleasant feeling of inevitability. Once in a conversation with Keres I
mentioned this and even compared Botvinnik with a bulldozer, which
sweeps away everything in its path. Keres smiled and said: 'But can
Stolberg vs Botvinnik, USSR Ch. 1940

a
1
a
Black to move
After tying up White's pieces on the
queenside, Botvinnik won with a sudden
kingside attack: 1... Rxh3+ 2. gxh3 d4 and
White resigned, as he could not stop
... Qd5 and mate next move.
you imagine what it was like to play him when he was young?'"[79]
Influence on the game

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; 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.[80][81] Botvinnik also played many short training matches against strong
grandmasters including Salo Flohr, Yuri Averbakh, Viacheslav Ragozin, and Semion Furman in noisy or smoky
rooms if he thought he would have to face such conditions in actual competition.[2][82][83] Vladimir Kramnik 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.[80]
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Although 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 Semi-Slav Defense in the Queen's Gambit Declined, the Kasparov/Botvinnik
system in the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined, the Caro-Kann Defence (both the PanovBotvinnik Attack for White and various approaches for Black), the Winawer Variation of the French Defence, the
Botvinnik System in the English Opening. 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.[51][76] His advice to his pupils included "My theory of the openings fitted into one
notebook" and "You dont 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.[84] 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.[85][86]
In 1963 Botvinnik founded his own school within the Soviet coaching system, and its graduates include world
champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, and other top-class players such as Alexei
Shirov, Vladimir Akopian and Jaan Ehlvest.[87][88] 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."[2]
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.[89] 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;[79] and Kasparov inherited Botvinnik's emphasis on preparation, research and
innovation.[90] 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.[80][87]
Other achievements
Electrical engineering
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
Milan Vidmar, another grandmaster).[8] 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 doctorate in electrical engineering in 1951.[91] In 1956, he joined the Research Institute for
Electrical Energy as a senior research scientist.[92]
Computer chess
In the 1950s Botvinnik became interested in computers, at first mainly for playing chess but he later also coauthored reports on the possible use of artificial intelligence in managing the Soviet economy.[93] 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 early 1960s, which were only capable of searching three or four half-moves
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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 algorithm 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 dead end, as computers were powerful enough by the mid-1970s to perform a brute-force
search (checking all possible moves) several moves deep and today's vastly more powerful computers do this well
enough to compete against human world champions.[94][95] 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.[96] On September 7, 1991 Botvinnik was awarded an honorary degree in mathematics
of the University of Ferrara (Italy) for his work on computer chess.[97]
Writings
Chess
Botvinnik, M.M. (1960). One hundred selected games (http://books.google.com/?
id=Mwriu9JqfPQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=mikhail+botvinnik&q=). Courier Dover. ISBN 0-48620620-3. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1972). Cafferty, B., ed. Botvinnik's best games, 19471970. Batsford. ISBN 0-71340357-8.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1973). Garry, S., ed. Soviet chess championship, 1941: Complete text of games with
detailed notes & an introduction. Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-22184-9.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1973). World Championship: The Return Match Botvinnik vs. Smyslov 1958. Chess
Digest Magazine.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1973). Alekhine vs. Euwe return match 1937. Chess Digest.
Matanovic, A.; Kazic, B.; Yudovich, M.; Botvinnik, M.M. (1974). Candidates' matches 1974. Centar Za
Unapredivanje Saha.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1978). Anatoly Karpov: His Road to the World Championship. Elsevier. ISBN 0-08021139-9.
Botvinnik, M.M.; Estrin, Y. (1980). The Gruenfeld Defense. Rhm Pr. ISBN 0-89058-017-0.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1981). Cafferty, B., ed. Achieving the Aim. Pergamon Press. ISBN 0-08-024120-4.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1981). Selected Games: 19671970. Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-024123-9.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1982). Marfia, J., ed. Fifteen Games and Their Stories. Coraopolis, Pennsylvania,
U.S.A: Chess Enterprises. ISBN 0-931462-15-0.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1985). Botvinnik on the Endgame. Chess Enterprises. ISBN 0-931462-43-6.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1996). Neat, K. and Stauss, E., ed. Half a Century of Chess. Cadogan Books.
ISBN 1-85744-122-2.
Botvinnik, M.M. (2000). Neat, K., ed. Botvinnik's Best Games Volume 1: 19251941. Moravian Chess.
ISBN 978-80-7189-317-2.
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Botvinnik, M.M. (2000). Neat, K., ed. Botvinnik's Best Games Volume 2: 19421956. Moravian Chess.
ISBN 80-7189-370-6.
Botvinnik, M.M. (2000). Neat, K., ed. Botvinnik's Best Games Volume 3: 19571970 Analytical &
Critical Works. Moravian Chess. ISBN 80-7189-405-2.
Botvinnik, M.M. (2002). Championship Chess : Match Tournament for the Absolute Chess
Championship of the USSR, Leningrad-Moscow 1941. Hardinge Simpole. ISBN 978-1-84382-012-3.
Botvinnik, M.M. (2004). Match for the World Chess Championship Mikhail Botvinnik-David Bronstein
Moscow 1951. Edition Olms. ISBN 3-283-00459-5.
Botvinnik, M.M. (2004). Botvinnik, I., ed. World Championship Return Match: Botvinnik V.
Tal,Moscow 1961. Olms. ISBN 978-3-283-00461-3.
Computers
Botvinnik, M.M. (1970). Computers, Chess and Long-Range Planning. Springer Verlag. ISBN 0-38790012-8.
Botvinnik, M.M. (1984). Computers in Chess: Solving Inexact Search Problems. Springer-Verlag.
ISBN 0-387-90869-2.
Notable chess games

Botvinnik vs Chekhover, Moscow 1935, Rti Opening, 10 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?
gid=1031877)[18]
Botvinnik vs Capablanca, AVRO 1938, Nimzoindian Defense, 10[8] At first sight Botvinnik's opening play
looks unpromising, but he knew how his attack would develop.
Keres vs Botvinnik, USSR Absolute Championship 1941, Nimzoindian Defense, 01
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032050)[8] Playing as Black, Botvinnik demolishes a
world title contender in 22 moves.
Tolush vs Botvinnik, USSR Championship 1944, 01 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?
gid=1032104)[8] Long-term positional sacrifices.
Denker vs Botvinnik, USA vs USSR radio match 1945, 01 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?
gid=1032119) Botvinnik uses the Botvinnik System in the Semi-Slav Defense to bulldoze US champion
Arnold Denker.
Botvinnik vs Keres, Alekhine Memorial Tournament Moscow 1966, 10
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032736) Botvinnik shows his superior understanding of
closed positions, and when to open them.
Botvinnik vs Portisch, Monaco 1968, 10 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032787) A
fireworks display starting with an exchange sacrifice on the c-file, a tactic on which Botvinnik wrote the
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book.[85]
Tournament results
The following table gives Botvinnik's placings and scores in tournaments.[20] 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.
Date
Location
Tournament
Placing
Score
1923
Leningrad
School championship
1924
Leningrad
School championship
1st
5/6
+5
-1
=0
1924
Leningrad
non-category
1st
11 +11
/ 13 -1
=1
1924
Leningrad
2B and 3rd Categories
1st
11 +11
/ 13 -1
=1
1924
Leningrad
2A Category
1925
Leningrad
2A and 1B Categories
1st
10 / +10
11
-1
=0
1925
Leningrad
1st Category
3rd
7 /
11
+7
-3
=1
1925
Leningrad
1st Category
1926
Leningrad
Leningrad Championship, Semifinals
1st
1926
Leningrad
Leningrad Championship
2nd=
7/9
+6
-1
=2
1926
Leningrad
Northwest Provincial
Championship, Semi-finals
2nd=
9/
11
+8
-1
=2
Notes
Botvinnik estimates
"about 10th out of
16".[20]
Tournament
unfinished[20]
Tournament
unfinished[20]
11 +11
/ 12 -0
=1
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1926
Leningrad
Northwest Provincial
Championship
3rd
6 /
10
+4
-1
=5
1927
Leningrad
Tournament of "Six"
2nd
7 /
10
+6
-1
=3
1927
Moscow
5th USSR Chess Championship
5th=
12
/ 20
+9
-4
=7
1928
Leningrad
Regional Metalworkers'
Committee Championship
1st
8 /
11
+7
-1
=3
1929
Leningrad
Regional Committee of
Educational Workers'
Championship
1st
11
/ 14
+9
-0
=5
1929
Odessa
6th USSR Chess Championship,

Quarter-finals
1st
7/8
+6
-0
=2
1929
Odessa

Semi-finals
3rd=
2 /
5
+2
-2
=1
1930
Leningrad
Masters' Tournament
1st
6 /
8
+6
-1
=1
1931
Leningrad
1st
14 / +12
17
-1
=4
1931
Moscow

Semi-finals
2nd
6 /
9
1931
Moscow
1st
13 +12
/ 17 -2
=3
1932
Leningrad
1st
10 /
11
+9
-0
=2
1932
Leningrad
Masters' Tournament in House of

Scientists
1st
7/
10
+6
-2
=2
1933
Leningrad
Masters' Tournament
1st=
10 /
13
+7
-0
+6
-2
=1
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=6
1933
Leningrad
1st
14 / +11
19
-2
=6
1934
Leningrad
Tournament including Euwe and

Kmoch
1st
7 /
11
+5
-1
=5
1934
Hastings
Hastings International Chess

Congress
5th=
5/9
+3
-2
=4
1935
Moscow
2nd International Tournament
1st=
13 /
19
+9
-2
=8
1936
Moscow
3rd International Tournament
2nd
12 /
18
+7
-1
=10
1936
Nottingham International Tournament
1st=
10 /
14
+6
-0
=8
1938
Leningrad
1st
14 / +12
17
-1
=4
1938
Amsterdam, AVRO tournament

etc.
3rd
7 /
14
+3
-2
=9
1939
Leningrad
1st
12
/ 17
+8
-0
=9
1940
Moscow
5th=
11
/ 19
+8
-4
=7
1941
Leningrad,
Moscow
Absolute Chess Championship of

the USSR
1st
13
/ 20
+9
-2
=9
1943
Sverdlovsk
Masters' Tournament
1st
10
/ 14
+7
-0
=7
1943
Moscow
Moscow Championship
1st
13 +12
/ 16 -1
=3

Semi-finals
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1944
Moscow
1st
12 +11
/ 16 -2
=3
1945
Moscow
1st
15 / +13
17
-0
=4
1946
Groningen
International Tournament
1st
14 +13
/ 19 -3
=3
1947
Moscow
Tchigorin Memorial Tournament
1st
11 /
15
1948
The Hague,
Moscow
World Chess Championship

Tournament
1st
14 / +10
20
-2
=8
1951
Moscow
5th
10 /
17
+6
-3
=8
1952
Budapest
Maroczy Jubilee
3rd=
11 /
17
+7
-2
=8
1952
Moscow
1st=
13
/ 19
+9
-1
=9
1955
Moscow
22nd USSR Chess Championship
3rd=
11
/ 19
+7
-3
=9
1956
Moscow
Alekhine Memorial
1st=
11 /
15
+8
-1
=6
1958
Wageningen International Tournament
1st
4/5
+3
-0
=2
International Chess Congress

(Premier)
1st
8/9
+7
-0
=2
1961/2 Hastings
+8
-1
=6
1962
Stockholm
1st
8 /
9
+8
-0
=1
1965
Noordwijk
1st
6/7
+5
Defeated Taimanov in a
play-off for first place.
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-0
=2
1966
Amsterdam IBM Tournament
1966/7 Hastings
International Chess Congress

(Premier)
1st
7 /
9
+7
-1
=1
1st
6 /
9
+5
-1
=3
1967
Palma de
Mallorca
2nd=
12
/ 17
+9
-1
=7
1968
Monte
Carlo
2nd
9/
13
+5
-0
=8
1969
Wijk aan
Zee
Hoogovens (Grandmaster
Section)
1st=
10
/ 15
+6
-0
=9
1969
Belgrade
7th
8 /
15
+5
-3
=7
1970
Leiden
Quadrangular Tournament
3rd=
5 /
12
+1
-2
=9
Four players. Each

opponent was played
four times.
Match results
Here are Botvinnik's results in matches.[20] In the second "Score" column, "+" indicates the number of won games,
"" the number of losses, and "=" the number of draws.
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Date
Opponent
Result
Location
Score
Notes
1933
Salo Flohr
Tied
Moscow, Leningrad
6 / 12
+2 =8 2
Challenge
1937
Grigory Levenfish
Tied
Moscow, Leningrad
6 / 13
+5 =3 5
Challenge
1940
Viacheslav Ragozin
Won
Moscow, Leningrad
8 / 12
+5 =7 0
Training
1951
David Bronstein
Tied
Moscow
12 / 24
+5 =14 -5
World title
1952
Mark Taimanov
Won
Moscow
3 / 6
+1 =5 -0
USSR Ch playoff
1954
Vasily Smyslov
Tied
Moscow
12 / 24
+7 =10 -7
World title
1957
Vasily Smyslov
Lost
Moscow
9 / 22
+3 =13 -6
World title
1958
Vasily Smyslov
Won
Moscow
12 / 23 +7 =11 -5
Rematch
1960
Mikhail Tal
Lost
Moscow
8 / 21
+2 =13 -6
World title
1961
Mikhail Tal
Won
Moscow
13 / 21
+10 =6 -5
Rematch
1963
Tigran Petrosian
Lost
Moscow
9 / 21
+2 =14 -5
World title
Notes
1. Unofficial Elo rating list released Spring 1969 from Olimpbase (http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/OFC/chart.html?
ofc=../graphs/Botvinnik,%20Mikhail%20URS.json)
2. Thomas, R. McG., Jr. (May 7, 1995). "Mikhail Botvinnik, Chess Champion and Teacher of Champions, Dies at
83" (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CEEDC173BF934A35756C0A963958260). New York
Times.
3. "Russian Jewish Encyclopedia" (http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_b.htm). 1995. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
4. Service, R. (2000). "Russia from Far and Near". Lenin: a biography (http://books.google.com/?
id=frDGHIxc4EUC&pg=PA180&dq=kuokkala#PPR8,M1). Harvard University Press. pp. 180181. ISBN 0-67400828-6. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
5. Beizer, M. (2007). "The Jews of a Soviet Metropolis". In Gitelman, Z. and Ro'i, Y. Revolution, repression, and
revival (http://books.google.com/?id=Cd3RM6Emko0C&pg=PA118&dq=kuokkala+repino#PPA118,M1). Rowman
& Littlefield: the Soviet Jewish Experience. pp. 113119. ISBN 0-7425-5817-7. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
6. Botvinnik, M.M.; Cafferty, B. "FirstMoves". Achieving the Aim. pp. 116.
7. Andy Soltis (2014). Mikhail Botvinnik: The Life and Games of a World Chess Champion. McFarland. p. 74.
ISBN 9780786473373. "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 was an ardent
Marxist. As time went by, she found it hard to deal with the stress that he seemed to thrive on."
8. Fine, R. (1952). "Mikhail Botvinnik". The World's Great Chess Games. Andr Deutsch (now as paperback from
Dover). pp. 234243.
9. Botvinnik, M.M.; Cafferty, B. "The Polytechnic". Achieving the Aim. pp. 1622.
10. Botvinnik, M.M.; Cafferty, B. "The Polytechnic". Achieving the Aim. pp. 2339.
11. How to Play the French Defence, by Wolfgang Uhlmann, Mikhail Botvinnik, Viktor Korchnoi, and Anatoly Karpov,
RHM Press, 1975, introduction
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RHM Press, 1975, introduction

12. http://www.chessmetrics.com, the Mikhail Botvinnik results file
13. Cree, G. "The Soviet Chess Championship 19201991"
(http://web.archive.org/web/20080128115927/http://members.aol.com/graemecree/chesschamps/ussr/index.htm).
Archived from the original (http://members.aol.com/graemecree/chesschamps/ussr/index.htm) on January 27,
2008. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
14. Fine, R. (1952). "Max Euwe". The World's Great Chess Games. Andr Deutsch (now as paperback from Dover).
pp. 192200.
15. Botvinnik, M.M.; Cafferty, B. "Postgraduate Study". Achieving the Aim. pp. 4162.
16. One Hundred Selected Games (to 1946), by Mikhail Botvinnik, Dover Publishers
17. Golombek, H. (1959). "Triumphant Return". Capablanca's Hundred Best Games of Chess. G. Bell & Sons.
pp. 203249.
18. Chernev, I. (1995). Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-48628674-6.
19. Botvinnik, M.M.; Cafferty, B. "The Match that was Never Played". Achieving the Aim. pp. 6974.
20. Botvinnik, M.M.; Garry, S. (1949; translation published 1960). "Results in Tournaments and Matches". One
Hundred Selected Games. Dover. pp. 269270. Check date values in: |date=(help)
21. "Chess Matches: from Lopez to Kramnik" (http://www.endgame.nl/match.htm). Retrieved 2009-06-11.
22. The sources agree that Botvinnik was only 2 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 "14th USSR
Championship, Moscow 1945"
(http://web.archive.org/web/20080128115927/http://members.aol.com/graemecree/chesschamps/ussr/ussr14.htm).
Archived from the original (http://members.aol.com/graemecree/chesschamps/ussr/ussr14.htm) on January 27,
2008. Retrieved 2009-06-11. But Chessmetrics says the score was 16/18, at "Event Details: Moscow (URS
Championship), 1945" (http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/SingleEvent.asp?
Params=199510SSSSS3S015154000000121100222100000010100). The difference is that Chessmetrics says Salo
Flohr also competed, but scored only 1/3 as he then retired from the tournament.
23. Winter, E. (20032004). "Interregnum" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/interregnum.html). Chess
History Center.
24. "AVRO 1938" (http://www.endgame.nl/AVRO1938.htm).
25. Khariton, L. (2004-12-29). "Lev Khariton:The Battle That Never Was" (http://ryxi.com/games/78-639-lev-kharitonthe-battle-that-never-was-read.shtml). Retrieved 2008-05-23. Based on Botvinnik's memoirs.
28. Stevens, E. (May 30, 1960). "A Nod For A Title"
(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1071370/index.htm). Sports Illustrated. Retrieved
2009-08-14.
30. Penfield, M. (2006). Horoscopes of Europe (http://books.google.com/?
id=ffpPAYq7Kr0C&pg=PA142&dq=perm+molotov). American Federation of Astrology. p. 142. ISBN 0-86690567-7. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
31. "Sverdlovsk 1943" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1009466). Retrieved 2009-06-06.
22/27
3/29/2015
32. Fruth, M. "The Greatest Tournaments in the History of Chess" (http://www.chessbase.com/shop/product.asp?

pid=197). Retrieved 2009-06-06.
34. Kingston, T. (2002). "Yuri Averbakh: An Interview with History Part 1"
(http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles181.pdf) (PDF). The Chess Cafe.
35. Pachman, L. (1987). "Groningen 1946: Defeat of the Two Leaders". Decisive Games in Chess History
(http://books.google.com/?
id=jlgJTCyonAgC&pg=PA118&dq=%22Decisive+Games+in+Chess+History%22+pachman+Groningen+1946#PP
A118,M1). Courier Dover. pp. 118124. ISBN 0-486-25323-6. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
36. Botvinnik, M.M.; Garry, S. (1949; translation published 1960). "Nineteen-Fortysix". One Hundred Selected Games.
Dover. p. 242. Check date values in: |date=(help)
37. Botvinnik, M.M.; Cafferty, B. "The Match-tournament, 1848". Achieving the Aim. pp. 99.
38. Brace, E.R. (1977). An Illustrated Dictionary of Chess. Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 123. ISBN 1-55521-394-4.
39. Bronstein, D. and Furstenberg, T. (1995). The Sorcerer's Apprentice. London and New York: Cadogan Chess.
40. Botvinnik's Best Games 19471970, by Mikhail Botvinnik, introduction by Viktor Baturinsky, p. 2, translated by
Bernard Cafferty; Batsford Publishers, London 1972
41. Weeks, M. "World Chess Championship: 1948 FIDE Title Tournament" (http://www.markweeks.com/chess/48$c$wix.htm).
42. 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.
43. Weeks, M. "World Chess Championship: 1951 BotvinnikBronstein Title Match" (http://www.markweeks.com/chess/4951$wix.htm).
44. Weeks, M. "World Chess Championship: 1954 BotvinnikSmyslov Title Match" (http://www.markweeks.com/chess/5254$wix.htm).
45. Weeks, M. "World Chess Championship: 1957 SmyslovBotvinnik Title Match" (http://www.markweeks.com/chess/55571wix.htm).
46. Weeks, M. "World Chess Championship: 1958 BotvinnikSmyslov Title Match" (http://www.markweeks.com/chess/55572wix.htm).
47. Watson, J. "Book Reviews by John Watson" (http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/jwatsonbkrev81.html). chess.co.uk.
48. Weeks, M. "World Chess Championship: 1960 TalBotvinnik Title Match" (http://www.markweeks.com/chess/58601wix.htm).
49. Weeks, M. "World Chess Championship: 1961 BotvinnikTal Title Match" (http://www.markweeks.com/chess/58602wix.htm).
50. "Tal vs Botvinnik 1961" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=54393). chessgames.com.
51. Warriors of the Mind, Raymond Keene and Nathan Divinsky, 1989.
52. "USSR first entered Chess Olympiad 1952" (http://www.avlerchess.com/chessmisc/USSR_first_entered_Chess_Olympiad_in_1952_287587.html).
53. Saidy, A. (December 3, 2007). "Bronstein: I Played Chess For My Dad's Jailers"
(http://main.uschess.org/content/view/8042/365). United States Chess Federation.
54. Botvinnik, M.M. (1972). Botvinnik's Best Games 19471970. Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-0537-8. (translated from
the Russian by Bernard Cafferty)
55. "Player list" (http://www.olimpbase.org/players2.html). olimpbase.org. Click Botvinnik's name and a pop-up
23/27
3/29/2015
55. "Player list" (http://www.olimpbase.org/players2.html). olimpbase.org. Click Botvinnik's name and a pop-up
appears that summarises his Olympiad playing record.
56. http://www.scr-kuppenheim.de/extra/sosonko.htm
57. Kingston, T. (2001). "The KeresBotvinnik Case Revisited: A Further Survey of the Evidence"
58. Moul, C. and Nye, J.V.C. (2006). "Did the Soviets Collude?: A Statistical Analysis of Championship Chess 1940
64" (http://weber.ucsd.edu/~jlbroz/PElunch/sovietchesscartel.pdf) (PDF). Washington University in St. Louis.
59. Botvinnik, M.M. (1981). Achieving the Aim. Pergamon Press. ISBN 0-08-024120-4. This is the English
translation. The Rabinovich incident is summarized at Kingston, T. (1998). "The KeresBotvinnik Case: A Survey
of the Evidence Part II" (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kb2.pdf). The Chess Cafe.
60. Varnusz, E. (1994). Paul Keres' Best Games, Volume 1: Closed Games. London: Cadogan. p. xi. ISBN 1-85744064-1. (translated by Andras Barabas)
61. Hartston, W. (May 8, 1995). "Obituary : Mikhail Botvinnik"
(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19950508/ai_n13981379). The Independent.
62. Kingston wrote a 2-part series: Kingston, T. (1998). "The KeresBotvinnik Case: A Survey of the Evidence Part
I" (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kb1.pdf). The Chess Cafe. and Kingston, T. (1998). "The KeresBotvinnik
Case: A Survey of the Evidence Part II" (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kb2.pdf). The Chess Cafe. Kingston
published a further article, Kingston, T. (2001). "The KeresBotvinnik Case Revisited: A Further Survey of the
Evidence" (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles165.pdf) (PDF). The Chess Cafe. 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 Yuri Averbakh 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, Estonia, and of his subsequent
treatment by Soviet officials up to late 1946; and Keres was less tough mentally than his rivals Kingston, T.
(2002). "Yuri Averbakh: An Interview with History Part 1" (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles181.pdf)
(PDF). The Chess Cafe. and Kingston, T. (2002). "Yuri Averbakh: An Interview with History Part 2"
63. "Bronstein's fateful 23rd game" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=946). chessbase.com.
64. Kingston, T. (2002). "Yuri Averbakh: An Interview with History Part 2"
65. Monokroussos, D. (December 6, 2005). "An interesting tidbit from the latest Chess Life"
(http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1133849392.shtml). cites the December 2005 issue of Chess Life as its
source.
66. Khariton, L. "Orwell or Botvinnik?" (http://www.chessbanter.com/rec-games-chess-politics-chess/3483-orwellbotvinnik-200-words-lev.html).
67. Khariton, L. "English Lessons (Remembering M.M.Botvinnik)" (http://www.chessbanter.com/rec-games-chessmisc-chess/7721-lev-khariton-english-lessons-remembering.html). chessbanter.com.
68. Fine, R. (1976). The World's Great Chess Games (2 ed.). Dover Publications. p. 263. ISBN 0-486-24512-8.
69. "Peak Average Ratings: 1 year peak range" (http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PeakList.asp?
Params=199510SSSSS1S000000000000111000000000000010100).
70. "Peak Average Ratings: 15 year peak range" (http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PeakList.asp?
Params=199510SSSSSFS000000000000111000000000000010100).
71. Sonas, J. (2005). "The Greatest

Chess Player of All Time Part IV" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?

24/27
3/29/2015
71. Sonas, J. (2005). "The Greatest Chess Player of All Time Part IV" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?
newsid=2409). Chessbase. Part IV gives links to the three earlier parts
72. Elo (1978), p. 89
73. Yuri Averbakh, referring to the late 1940s, said "Botvinnik was a killer in chess." "Yuri Averbakh: An Interview
with History, Part 1" (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles181.pdf) (PDF).
74. Wall, W. "USA vs USSR radio match, 1945"
(http://web.archive.org/web/20091028082845/http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/radio.htm).
Archived from the original (http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/radio.htm) on 2009-10-28.
75. Chernev, I. (1967). "Superb Strategist: Mikhail Botvinnik". Combinations: the heart of chess
(http://books.google.com/?
id=so6Tikr2bXYC&pg=PA194&dq=mikhail+botvinnik#v=onepage&q=mikhail%20botvinnik). Courier Dover.
pp. 194195. ISBN 0-486-21744-2. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
76. Byrne, R. (January 27, 2008). "An Imaginative Tactician Who Was at Ease in Complexity"
(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7DD173BF934A35756C0A963958260). New York Times.
77. Golombek, H. (1954). The Game of Chess. Penguin Books.
78. See the list of Botvinnik's games, especially Botvinnik vs Portisch, Monaco 1968
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032787)
79. Kasparov, G.K. (2003). My Great Predecessors, part II. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-342-X.
80. Kramnik, V. (2005). "Kramnik Interview: From Steinitz to Kasparov"
(http://www.kramnik.com/eng/interviews/getinterview.aspx?id=61). Vladimir Kramnik.
81. Botvinnik, M.M. (2004). Botvinnik vs Bronstein, Moscow 1951
(http://www.bcmchess.co.uk/reviews/bcmrev0410.html). Olms. ISBN 3-283-00459-5. The URL links to a review.
82. Timman, J. (2006). Secret Matches: The Unknown Training Games of Mikhail Botvinnik
(http://www.chesscafe.com/text/secretmatches.pdf) (PDF). Hardinge Simpole. ISBN 1-84382-178-8.
83. "The Unfortunate Fate of Salo Flohr"
(http://www.chessville.com/misc/History/PastPawns/UnfortunateFateofSaloFlohr.htm). Retrieved 2008-06-10.
84. Botvinnik, I. (2004). "Mikhail Botvinnik's Opening Course". In Neat, K. Return Match for the World Chess
Championship: Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Tal, Moscow 1961
(http://www.chessville.com/reviews/BotvinnikBronstein1951BotvinnikTal1961.htm). Edition Olms. ISBN 3-28300459-5. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
85. Botvinnik, M.M. (1960). One hundred selected games (http://books.google.com/?
id=Mwriu9JqfPQC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=botvinnik+%22soviet+school+of+chess%22). Courier Dover
Publications. ISBN 0-486-20620-3. Note the preface "The Russian and Soviet School of Chess"
86. Goldberg, S. (2007). "Strategies of the Soviet School" (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review605.pdf) (PDF).
87. Henderson, J. "Boy from the Black Sea" (http://www.chess.co.uk/wcc2000/kramint.html). interview with Vladimir
Kramnik
88. Ehlvest, J. (2004). The Story of a Chess Player (http://www.chessville.com/reviews/StoryofaChessPlayer.htm).
Arbiter Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-9763891-0-X.
89. Karpov, A. (1992). Karpov on Karpov: A Memoirs of a Chess World Champion. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-12060-5.
90. Russell, H.W. "Interview with Garry Kasparov Part 1" (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles208.pdf) (PDF).
91. Botvinnik's Best Games 19471970, by Mikhail Botvinnik, introduction by Viktor Baturinsky, translated by Bernard
Cafferty, Batsford Publishers, London 1972
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92. McCauley, M. (1997). "Botvinnik, Mikhail Moiseevich". Who's Who in Russia Since 1900
(http://books.google.com/?id=4A6rFD_AXOEC&pg=PA205&dq=mikhail+botvinnik). Routledge. p. 46. ISBN 0415-13898-1. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
93. "Publications in Computer Games" (http://www.cs.unimaas.nl/links/ReferentiesICGAJournal.html).
94. Brudno, Michael (May 2000). "Competitions, Controversies, and Computer Chess"
(http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~brudno/essays/cchess.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2008-11-18.
95. Larame, F.D. (July 2000). "Chess Programming Part III: Move Generation"
(http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1126.asp). gamedev.net. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
96. Abramson, B. (2005). "The Artificial Science". Digital phoenix: why the information economy collapsed and how it
will rise (http://books.google.com/?
id=HmyqbzrlVpkC&pg=PA89&dq=mikhail+botvinnik&q=mikhail%20botvinnik). MIT Press. pp. 8990.
ISBN 978-0-262-01217-1. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
97. Santi, Ettore (2006). "Michail Botvinnik: un programma "intelligente" per giocare a scacchi"
(http://matematica.unibocconi.it/interventi/botvinnik/scacchi_botvinnik.htm).
References
Elo, rpd (1978). The Rating of Chessplayers, Past and Present. Arco. ISBN 0-668-04721-6
Hartston, William R. (1986). Kings of Chess. Pavilion. ISBN 1-85145-075-0
Hooper, David and Kenneth Whyld (1996). The Oxford Companion to Chess. Oxford University.
ISBN 0-19-280049-3
Sunnucks, Anne (1970). The Encyclopaedia of Chess. Hale. ISBN 0-7091-1030-8
Winter, Edward G. (ed.) (1981). World chess champions. Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-024094-1
Di Felice, Gino (2010). Chess Results 19511955. McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-4801-2.
Di Felice, Gino (2010). Chess Results 19561960. McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-4803-6.
Further reading
Chernev, Irving (1995). Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games. New York: Dover.
pp. 109126. ISBN 0-486-28674-6.
Hurst, Sarah (2002). Curse of Kirsan: Adventures in the Chess Underworld. Russell Enterprises.
ISBN 1-888690-15-1.
Botvinnik, Mikhail (translated from the Russian by Stephen Garry) (1981) [1961]. One Hundred Selected
Games. Dover. ISBN 0-486-20620-3.
Botvinnik, Mikhail (1972). Botvinnik's Best Games 19471970 (translated from the Russian by Bernard
Cafferty). Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-0537-8.
Kasparov, Garry (2003). My Great Predecessors, part II. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-342-X.
Thomas, R.M. (May 7, 1995). "Mikhail Botvinnik, Chess Champion and Teacher of Champions, Dies at
26/27
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83" (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CEEDC173BF934A35756C0A963958260). New

York Times.
External links
Mikhail Botvinnik (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?
pid=11207) player profile and games at Chessgames.com
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik hundredth anniversary
Wikiquote has quotations

related to: Mikhail
Botvinnik
(http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7465) ChessBase.com
Film newsreel about a simultaneous display of Salo Flohr and Mikhail Botvinnik, Hilversum (NL), 1 January
1964 (http://www.beeldengeluid.nl/media/7535/simultaan-schaken)
Achievements
Vacant
Interregnum of World Chess
Champions
Title last held by
World Chess Champion

19481957
Succeeded by
Vasily Smyslov
Preceded by
Vasily Smyslov

19581960
Succeeded by
Mikhail Tal
Preceded by
Mikhail Tal

19611963
Succeeded by
Tigran Petrosian
Alexander Alekhine
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

title=Mikhail_Botvinnik&oldid=643357027"
Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Mikhail
Botvinnik.
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Chess theoreticians Communist Party of the Soviet Union rank-and-file Deaths from pancreatic cancer
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Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, PhD (Russian:

Mikhail Botvinnik in 1962

August 17, 1911

May 5, 1995 (aged 83)

2660 (January 1971)[1]

3 World title contender

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

8.2 Influence on the game

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1931, at the age of 20,

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1933, he repeated his Soviet

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Botvinnik won further Soviet Championship titles in 1939, 1944, 1945,

World title contender

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Szabo vs. Botvinnik (right), Oberhausen 1961

Botvinnik's autobiography, K Dostizheniyu Tseli,

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

saw himself as a "universal player" (all-rounder), in

Stolberg vs Botvinnik, USSR Ch. 1940

Influence on the game

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Notable chess games

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2B and 3rd Categories

Leningrad Championship, Semifinals

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

5th USSR Chess Championship

6th USSR Chess Championship,

6th USSR Chess Championship,

7th USSR Chess Championship,

7th USSR Chess Championship

Masters' Tournament in House of

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

8th USSR Chess Championship

Tournament including Euwe and

Hastings International Chess

2nd International Tournament

3rd International Tournament

Nottingham International Tournament

Amsterdam, AVRO tournament

11th USSR Chess Championship

12th USSR Chess Championship

Absolute Chess Championship of

11th USSR Chess Championship,

Mikhail Botvinnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

13th USSR Chess Championship

14th USSR Chess Championship

Tchigorin Memorial Tournament

World Chess Championship

19th USSR Chess Championship

20th USSR Chess Championship

22nd USSR Chess Championship

Wageningen International Tournament