Mikhail Botvinnik

Mikhail Moiséyevich Botvínnik (Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) (August 17, 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Soviet chess player, sixth world champion, title which he won several times between 1948 and 1963.

Biography

He was born in Kuókkala (present-day Répino), near Saint Petersburg into a Jewish family.

In 1923, at the age of twelve, Mikhail Botvinnik learned to play chess from a school friend of his older brother, using a home-made board and pieces, and instantly fell in love with the game. He finished mid-table in the school championship, sought advice from another of his brother's friends, and concluded that it was better for him to think "concrete concepts"; and then derive general principles from these. In 1924, Botvinnik won the school championship from him, and exaggerated his age by three years to become a member of the Petrograd Chess Assembly. Botvínnik won his first two tournaments organized by the Assembly. Soon after, Nikolai Krylenko, a devoted chess player and leading member of the Soviet legal system, began building a huge national chess organization, and the Assembly was replaced by a club in the city's Palace of Labor.

Botvínnik became known by defeating the world champion, José Raúl Capablanca, in an exhibition of simultaneous games held during a rest day of the 1925 Moscow International Tournament. Shortly after he reached the final of the Leningrad Championship and, in 1927, he made his brilliant debut at the 5th USSR Championship sharing fifth place. He then focused on his engineering studies and did not play tournaments assiduously although he progressed rapidly winning a masters tournament in 1930 and the Leningrad Championship.

Soviet Champion

Mikhail Botvínnik in 1927.

At the age of 24, Botvínnik was among the world chess elite, winning the most important tournaments of the time. He was the winner (along with Salo Flohr) in Moscow 1935, ahead of Emanuel Lasker and Capablanca. He also won (along with Capablanca) Nottingham 1936 and tied for third place (behind Reuben Fine and Paul Keres) in the prestigious 1938 AVRO tournament, where the eight strongest players of the day competed.

After World War II ended, he held secret talks with Alexander Alekhine for the world title dispute, but his premature death prevented their confrontation.

Botvínnik continued his successes and, in 1948, won the world title (which had been vacated after the death of Alexander Alekhine) at the Hague/Moscow tournament. He successfully defended his title in 1951 and 1954 against David Bronstein and Vasili Smyslov after drawing both matches 12-12. He lost to Smyslov in 1957 12.5-10.5, but in the rematch match in 1958 he prevailed 12.5-11.5. Before Mikhail Tal he repeated the story: he fell in 1960 (12.5-8.5), only to recover in 1961 (13-8). He lost again in 1963, this time against Tigrán Petrosian, but this was the end of his reign, since FIDE had abolished the right to a rematch match and Botvínnik gave up fighting for the title in the candidates' tournament..

He was a six-time USSR champion and was a member of the Soviet team that won every chess Olympiad between 1954 and 1964, as well as the 1961 and 1965 European Chess Championships.

His style was eminently positional and to this he added a surprising dedication and study. All this contributed to his long stay at the top level. Mikhail Botvínnik was a great player and achieved extraordinary successes against top-class opponents such as Paul Keres, Bronstein, Smyslov, Tal and Petrosian.

Since 1970, Mikhail Botvinnik gradually retired from competitive play, dedicating himself to the development of chess programs for computers and to assist in the development of young players. World champions Anatoli Karpov and Garri Kasparov were two of the many students at his school.