| Jul-20-04 | | Gypsy: Bohatirchuk over Botvinnik in strategy as well as in tactics. I do not like 13...Nxb3 much. Even more, I dislike 22...exd4. But Botvinnik commenced the liquidation of e4 by his exd4--Black moves 22-26 are all part of the same theme. White countered with a sublime rearrangement of his own: 24.Be1! 25.Bc3, 26.Qd3, and 27.Rf1!. It looks all too slow, it looks that White just drops a pawn--27...fxe4 28.Rxe4 Rxe4 29.fxe4 Qxe4. What now, can White compensate elsewhere? Indeed, White has prepared a subtle intermezo sequence: First 30.Nd5! where several black piecess are suddenly exposed to Nf6. Second, after 30...Qxd3, which only looks like it keeps things under control, 31.Nf6+!. Although White attack appears to proceed in an awkward, deflected manner, after 31...Kf7 32.cxd3 Black must part with a piece nonetheless. Bovinnik tries for a swindle, but after 32...Rd8!? 33.Nd5+! Nf5 34.g4 White collects the black knight. Perhaps Botvinink was hoping for the thematic 33.Nh5+? where 33...Nf5 34.g4 Kg6 or 34.Ng3 Kg6 leaves Black with extra pawn and devastating d6-d5 ready to play. A spectacular crunch by Bohatirchuk! |
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| Jan-17-05 | | sergeidave: Holy Cow! This guy never gave Botvinnik a break!! |
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| Jan-17-05 | | euripides: If 33..Kg8 (or g6) then presumably 34 Nd7+ Kh8 (or h7) 35 Re7 Rg8 37 Nxc8. |
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Mar-15-09
 | | Richard Taylor: <Gipsy> Great summary of the game! <Benzol> tells me you saw or met this chap? |
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| Mar-15-09 | | Benzol: <Richard> Your getting slightly confused. <Gypsy> nearly got arrested for trying to get a Ludek Pachman booklet containing some of his games from a library archives. It was IM Lawrence Day who knew him personally. |
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| Feb-24-10 | | wanabe2000: In Daniel Johnson's book "White King and Red Queen" he talks about this game and how his victory over Botvinnik lead to his arrest in 1937. He was accused of embezzling money intended to cover expenses for Capablanca and Lasker on their visit to Kiev. He denied the charges convincingly but was grilled on his "poor political record.". The interrogator wanted to know why he had won the game knowing "the huge significance for the prestige of the USSR that Botvinnik's receipt of sole first prize would have." He was releaed but the experience was enough to disillusion Bohatyrchuk and he left Kiev in 1943 with the retreating Germans. According to Johnson many chess players from this era disappeared. |
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| Dec-27-10 | | laskereshevsky: ......<"You'll never beat Botvinnik again!">..... |
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| May-30-11 | | SvetlanaBabe: Without the state behind him, I always wondered how strong Botvinnik actually was. From the amount of games he lost to 'western' players it seems he wasn't nearly as strong as is commonly accepted.
A lot of Bottvinnik's "victories" over players from the Soviet Union are accepted in Russia today as being a little 'stage managed'. |
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Jun-13-11
 | | Chessical: <SvetlanaBabe>:
<"From the amount of games he lost to 'western' players it seems he wasn't nearly as strong as is commonly accepted"> I don't see the evidence for this, for example:
Mikhail Botvinnik:
beat Samuel Reshevsky 5 to 2, with 7 draws
beat Miguel Najdorf 2 to 1, with 1 draw
beat Wolfgang Uhlmann 2 to 1, with 3 draws
beat Laszlo Szabo 4 to 1, with 6 draws
beat Alexander Alekhine 1 to 0, with 2 draws
beat Jose Raul Capablanca 2 to 1, with 5 draws
beat Paul Keres 9 to 3, with 9 draws
and
tied Svetozar Gligoric 2 to 2, with 6 draws |
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| Jan-02-12 | | King Death: < SvetlanaBabe: Without the state behind him, I always wondered how strong Botvinnik actually was...> Maybe you'd have been able to take him on WFM title and all. <...From the amount of games he lost to 'western' players it seems he wasn't nearly as strong as is commonly accepted...> I'd say <Chessical>'s table should put this to rest but conspiracy theorists see KGB behind every bush. <...A lot of Bottvinnik's "victories" over players from the Soviet Union are accepted in Russia today as being a little 'stage managed'.> Some sources to back up this claim wouldn't be bad to have. |
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| Feb-10-12 | | drukenknight: is 26....g4 any better? |
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Aug-09-14
 | | perfidious: <SvetlanaBabe: Without the state behind him, I always wondered how strong Botvinnik actually was. From the amount of games he lost to 'western' players it seems he wasn't nearly as strong as is commonly accepted.> Well, yeah, fish like Reshevsky and Najdorf knew <nothing> about chess--small wonder he had winning scores against them!! <....A lot of Bottvinnik's "victories" over players from the Soviet Union are accepted in Russia today as being a little 'stage managed'.> Bust-a-gut stuff; comedy really should be your calling, if it is not already. |
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| Aug-10-14 | | Retireborn: <perfidious> LOL. I'm reminded of that story, when Tolush was due to play Botvinnik, and (jokingly) asked Korchnoi "Should I frighten him?" "Better not" advised Viktor "he might do that to you." Bohatirchuk was around 20 years older than Botvinnik, so his wins against him are not really that surprising. |
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| May-05-15 | | procykmarijan: Interresting that this two players played 4 games.
Botvinik lost 3 games and drew 1 against Bohatirchuk. |
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| May-31-16 | | cunctatorg: This is a really impressive and even great game!
Now I can better understand Viktor (Victor, that is!) Korchnoi's calling to not let ourselves wipe out Boharitchuk's chess!... |
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| May-31-16 | | RookFile: I was really surprised when Botvinnik surrendered the center (...exd4). |
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| May-21-17 | | morfishine: Botvinnik looks almost drunk here casually tossing a Knight away You can't do that against players of this strength ***** |
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Nov-17-23
 | | plang: 9..a6 is a rarely used alternative to the main line 9..Nd8. 10 Bc4 was new; 10 Ba4 and 10 Bxc6 had been played previously. 21..Rd7 is questionable; 21..Nh5 followed by ..Rde8 was suggested. 22..Re7 23 c5!..exd 24 cxd would have been bad for Black but 22..Rfd8 would have been playable. 27 Rf1! was a strong pawn sacrifice that Black had no effective way of declining. Black would also have lost a piece after 32..Re2 33 Nh5+..Nf5 34 Ng3..Rc2 35 Nxf5..Bxf5 36 Rxf5+..Ke6 37 Rf6+..Kr7 38 Ba1..Rc1+ 39 Rf1. |
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| Apr-29-25 | | mginsburg: In Kavalek's autobiography, he mentions Krylenko (a senior party official who was executed in 1938 in one of Stalin's purges) was a big supporter of Botvinnik and spoke threateningly to Bohatirchuk after the game. Kavalek then remarks that Bohatirchuk "retired to his field of radiology." I don't know how this ties into another comment in this thread that talks about an interrogation Bohatirchuk went through in 1937. |
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Apr-29-25
| | perfidious: <wanabe2000....He was releaed but the experience was enough to disillusion Bohatyrchuk and he left Kiev in 1943 with the retreating Germans.> Bohatirchuk would have had some explaining to do had the Soviets nabbed him as a collaborator; it is small wonder that he took an alias after the war when he wound up in Bavaria. A long prison sentence would have been the least of his worries. |
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Kibitzing
