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Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik was the sixth World Chess Champion. He was one of the most prolific champions of all time, winning the title on three separate occasions. He is known as the father of Soviet Chess and of computer chess. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was born in Kuokkala near Vyborg, in what is now the Repino district of St. Petersburg, Russia on August 17, 1911. He was taught chess by a friend when he was twelve years old. He became instantly enamored with the game and began playing whenever he could. In 1924 Botvinnik won his school championship. He then became a member of the Petrograd Chess Assembly where he began playing and was taken under the wing of Soviet Chess masters.
In 1925 then-World Champion Jose Capablanca was touring in Russia. The young Mikhail Botvinnik was among those who played the champion in a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad. Surprising Capablanca with his brilliant play, the fourteen year old Botvinnik scored his first of many wins against a world champion. The win encouraged the young Botvinnik who began playing in tournaments. In 1927 Botvinnik would win the title of national master. Botvinnik continued to progress under the training of Soviet master Abram Model. In 1931, at the age of twenty, Mikhail Botvinnik would win his first of many Soviet Championships. He would also win the Soviet Championship in 1933, 1939, 1941, 1945, and 1952.
By the mid-1930's Botvinnik had already proven himself among the best players in the world. He tied for 1st place in the Moscow 1935 Tournament, placing ahead of former world champions Emanuel Lasker and Jose Capablanca. He tied for first with Capablanca at Nottingham in 1936. In 1941 Botvinnik won the title of "Absolute Champion of the USSR" finishing ahead of Paul Keres and future world champ Vasiliy Smyslov. During this time, World War II intensified, putting a halt to major international chess tournaments for the next several years. After the war ended Botvinnik would win two major international tournaments and emerge as a legitimate world title contender. The current world champion, Alexander Alekhine died in 1946 while holding the title. This set up the 1948 World Chess Championship Tournament held in The Hague, Moscow. Five players were invited to compete for the title. Botvinnik would win the tournament convincingly, and in the process only lose two out of twenty games with a final score of 14 points. Mikhail Botvinnik became the sixth official World Chess Champion.
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Name |
Mikhail Botvinnik |
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Country |
Russia |
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Born |
August 17, 1911 |
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Death |
May 5th, 1985 |
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Title |
Grandmaster |
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Peak Rating |
2660 |
Botvinnik was a fighting world champion who defended the title frequently. He would hold the title from 1948 until 1963 with only two brief interruptions where he lost the title but would quickly regain it in a rematch. His first title defense came in 1951 match against David Bronstein. The two played to a 12 to 12 draw and Botvinnik retained his title. In 1954 he once again drew 12 to 12 to retain his title, this time against Vassily Smyslov . In 1957 Smyslov would take his revenge and defeat Botvinnik 12 ½ to 7 ½ becoming the seventh world chess champion. Botvinnik evoked his rematch clause and defeated Smyslov the following year. In 1960, Botvinnik would once again lose his title to the brilliant young talent, Mikhail Tal by a score of 12 ½ to 8 ½. Botvinnik once again took lessons from his defeat and would redeem himself and defeat an ailing Tal the following year in their rematch. Botvinnik would lose the title for good in 1963 vs. Tigran Petrosian. A change in FIDE rules no longer allowed a champion to automatically qualify for a rematch.
Botvinnik was not only a prolific world chess champion but is considered the father of Soviet Chess. He was arguably the games strongest player for a span of 30 years. His long tenure at the top and his mentoring of younger talent helped make the Soviet Union the dominant nation in chess throughout nearly all of the Cold War. With state sponsorship he founded the famous "Botvinnik School" that would find the brightest young talent in the USSR and groom and train them into future world champions. The Botvinik School indeed produced several world champions including: Anatoly Karpov, Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. Botvinnik was one of the first to realize the importance of preparation including physical fitness. He was also one of the first to experiment with computer chess. Botvinnik passed away on May 5th, 1985. His contributions to chess are countless. He was without a doubt one of the greatest world champions that ever lived.
Some Quotes on Botvinnik:
"Chess is the art of analysis."
"Chess is art that expresses the science of logic."
"There is no better place for learning to work independently and to extend your horizon than higher school."
On Botvinnik:
"All told, there is not a single weakness in his armor." – Rueben Fine
"My studies with Botvinnik brought me immense benefit, particularly homework assignments which forced me to refer to chess books and work independently." – Anatoly Karpov
On this DVD grandmasters and experts such as Yannick Pelletier, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller show, using the games of Mihail Botvinnik, how to employ specific openings successfully, which model strategies are present in specific structures, also how to find tactical solutions and solid rules for how to bring endings to a successful conclusion. Anyone who would like to win his or her games in a positional manner and where possible without tactical risks will find in the games of Mikhail Botvinnik valuable guidelines. Many of his games belonged in the days of the “Soviet School of Chess” to the basic education of young players in strategy and endgame play and even today are still of incalculable value as guides to the successful conduct of a game.
MASTER CLASS - Mikhail Botvinnik - VOL. 10
Presented by IM Bill Paschall
Those who play the Gruenfeld defense knew that it could turn into a nightmare in an instant. The Gruenfeld steals the diagonal play from white because black’s dark bishop has a target in the center. Botvinnik went on to master the Gruenfeld and even wrote a book about it. Here IM Paschall takes us through Botvinniks games in the Gruenfeld as both black and white.
Botvinnik and the Gruenfeld - Chess Lecture - Volume 167
46 Title Fights - From Steinitz to Carlsen
German chess journalist Andre Schulz tells the stories and the history of the World Chess Championship fights in fascinating detail: the historical and social backgrounds, the prize money and the rules, the seconds and other helpers, and the psychological wars on and off the board.
The Big Book of World Chess Championships
World Champions of Chess, Volume 2 - containing biographies and games of Botvinnik , Smyslov , Tal , Petrosian , Spassky and Fischere
Die Weltmeister Des Schachspiels 2 von Botwinnik bis Fischer - GERMAN EDITION
In this book, former American Open Champion Cyrus Lakdawala invites you to join him in a study of his favourite Botvinnik games. Lakdawala examines Botvinnik's renowned skills in the key areas of attack and defence, initiative, exploiting imbalances, accumulating advantages and endgame play. He demonstrates clearly how we can all improve by learning from Botvinnik's play.
Botvinnik - Move by Move
Botvinnik v. Bronstein
The 1951 match for the World Chess Championship was exceptionally hard fought. Each player won 5 games and the remaining 14 games were drawn. The match ended in a 12-12 tie and, under the rules, the champion, Botvinnik, retained his title. A new appendix has been added to the end of this book with all the games converted to Algebraic notation and the concluded diagram for each game.
The World Chess Championship - 1951
Botvinnik One Hundred Selected Games is a direct translation in Descriptive Notation of a book in Russian published in Leningrad in 1949. Unlike most other cases where the translator takes some liberties, we have not been able to find any differences in the text between this translation and the original in Russian. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was born on August 17, 1911. In 1931 at the age of 20 he won his first of six Soviet championships. He won the World Chess Championship in 1948 and held the title with two breaks until 1963. This book covers the most important period of his career from the time he played in his first serious chess event until just before his winning the World Chess Championship in 1948.
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik - One Hundred Selected Games
1926-1946
M. M. Botvinnik - Selected Games Due to the interest of a wide range of players to be creative strongest chess player of the USSR, and later the first Soviet world champion Mikhail Botvinnik periodically came out of his best books, and commented on them in detail parties. T
Botvinnik Selected Games - RUSSIAN EDITION
Wizards of the Chessboard
Botvinnik the Invincible was written in 1946, two years before Botvinnik won the World Chess Championship. The fact that it accurately predicts the ultimate victory by Botvinnink is itself significant.
Botvinnik the Invincible
GM Jesse Kraai currently resides in Berkeley, California. His most notable chess achievements are winning the Denker Tournament of High School Champions in 1989 and 1990, and competing in the U.S. Championship from 2002-2006.
50 Years of Tal-Botvinnik - 4 DVD's - Chess Lecture - Volume 24
This is the Second in a series of four books by World Chess Champion Mikhail Botvinnik. The first three books cover his chess career. This, the last volume covers his essays on a variety of topics of interest to him. The four volumes are: Mikhail Botvinnik Analytical and Critical Work 1923-1941 Mikhail Botvinnik Analytical and Critical Work 1942-1956 Mikhail Botvinnik Analytical and Critical Work 1957-1970 Mikhail Botvinnik Analytical and Critical Work Articles, Memoirs 1928-1986
Mikhail Botvinnik Analytical and Critical Work Articles - 1942 - 1956 - RUSSIAN EDITION
This is the first in a series of four books by World Chess Champion Mikhail Botvinnik. The first three books cover his chess career. This, the last volume covers his essays on a variety of topics of interest to him. The four volumes are: Mikhail Botvinnik Analytical and Critical Work 1923-1941 Mikhail Botvinnik Analytical and Critical Work 1942-1956 Mikhail Botvinnik Analytical and Critical Work 1957-1970 Mikhail Botvinnik Analytical and Critical Work Articles, Memoirs 1928-1986
Mikhail Botvinnik Analytical and Critical Work Articles - 1923-1941 - RUSSIAN EDITION
Volume 1
The publication covers the most games played by World Chess Champion Botvinnik Chess in 40 years of activity, its commentaries, theoretical, analytical and historical works. This the first volume contains 283 annotated games for the years 1924-1940, in chronological order, articles on events of this period, the article ''On the definition of a combination.'' Also published is an introductory article by Mikhail Botvinnik (p. 5-113), that provides a list of the results of Botvinnik in tournaments, matches and team competitions.
Chess Creativity of Botvinnik - RUSSIAN EDITION
Volume 2
This (second) volume is dedicated to the chess creativity MM Botvinnik, and includes materials (parts, articles, analyzes, studies) relating to the years 1941-1956.
Chess Creativity of Botvinnik Volume 2 - RUSSIAN EDITION
Volume 3
Botvinnik's Chess Creativity, Volume 3 This third and final volume contains material relating to the years 1957-1967. Included are articles by Botvinnik in which he analyzes the results of matches for the world title (1958, 1961 and 1963.) The book contains three of his works: An essay ''Albion chess and other'' (1967), the article ''The Art of a chess'' and the work ''Fundamentals of Chess Algorithms.'' Also published is a review by article originator ''Endgame Botvinnik in batches.'' Most of the games are commented on by Botvinnik, a number of games includes comments by known Soviet and foreign players, the rest of the notes are by the originator. The publication covers the most games played by Botvinnik Chess in 40 years of activity, its commentaries, theoretical, analytical and historical works.
Chess Creativity of Botvinnik Volume 3- RUSSIAN EDITION
This book covers the entire period when Botvinnik was World Chess Champion.
Botvinnik's Best Games 1947-1970
A Century of Chess Evolution
This book is one of the great classics of chess literature. The author, Imre Konig, was an International Master of Chess and a great analyst as well as an entertaining writer. He describes the development of chess opening theory and discusses lines of play no longer in vogue but which remain powerful weapons for the practical tournament player.This book was originally published in 1950 as ''Chess from Morphy to Botwinnik''.
Chess from Morphy to Botvinnik
Learn chess from a World Champion! These 100 games were selected and annotated by Botvinnik himself as the best games he played before becoming World Champion in 1948. Includes contests against Alekhine, Capablanca, Euwe, Keres, Reshevsky, Smyslov and others. Author explains his theories, the development of Russian chess and six end game studies.
Botvinnik - 100 Selected Games
One of the greatest books ever written about a world championship match. Take a trip with the Magician from Riga as he invites you to share his thoughts and feelings as he does battle for the world title.
Tal Botvinnik 1960
