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Tigran Petrosian vs Mikhail Botvinnik
Botvinnik - Petrosian World Championship Match (1963), Moscow URS, rd 21, May-18
English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense. King's Indian Formation (A15)  ·  1/2-1/2

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Mar-20-08  Knight13: 6. bxc3 is better. Gives White more central control and stuff. But Black could play stuff like ...c5 and ....Nc6 and attack it.

6. dxc3 is begging for a draw.

Jul-22-09  just a kid: <knight13>But White was up in the match.Don't you think he would want a draw?
Jan-07-12  RookFile: 6. dxc3 is a perfectly fine move. It gains a tempo and secures the d4 square. In the position with the pawns on e4 and e5, white might be able to get a knight to d5, but black is not getting his knight to d4.

No, it doesn't win the game or anything.

Jan-07-12  King Death: < Knight13: 6. bxc3 is better...6. dxc3 is begging for a draw.>

White often plays lines like this to avoid the Grunfeld which he'd probably get after 6.bc Bg7. The variation with 6.dc Qd1+ 7.Kd1 has some poison to it if Black isn't careful.

Under the circumstances both players were happy with this, to get another step closer to the end. All of the heavy lifting in this match was done and I'll bet there wasn't much of an audience for this game.

Jan-07-12  Edeltalent: <<RookFile>In the position with the pawns on e4 and e5, white might be able to get a knight to d5, but black is not getting his knight to d4.>

That doesn't make much sense. Black can just play c6 himself to prevent the knight on d5.

Nov-26-14  RookFile: Hence the use of the word "might". I've played these types of positions many times. Black doesn't get a free lunch. Play ...c6 you say? Remember that white moves first. You'll be amazed how often in the positions to come something like Nd6 or Na5 is annoying to black. Of course white is not winning but it's not as easy as you might think.
Nov-26-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Aside from the sporting circumstances of the match, as <RookFile> states, 6.dxc3 is perfectly playable, far from drawish and these types of position were often played in the 1970s, with depressing results for Black.
Aug-08-15  thegoodanarchist: Wow, I have never seen a shorter draw in the history of the FIDE World Championship when it was undisputed.
Aug-08-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  FSR: This is indeed the shortest world championship game ever. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_... But Botvinnik vs Petrosian, 1963 is only one ply longer.
May-23-21  Messiah: Chess is so beautiful that even a short draw like this can be nice, if two geniuses like Tigran Vartanovich and Mikhail Moiseevich play. I cannot even imagine how deeply they contemplated on their opening forests even during this short and eventless game.
Oct-12-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  kingscrusher: Wow, shortest ever WC game

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