MIKHAIL BOTVINNIK (born Aug-17-1911, died May-05-1995, 83 years old) Russia PRONUNCIATION: [what is this?] Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik was born in Kuokkala, near Viipuri (Today, Vyborg) in what was then Finland. He was raised in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). He learned the game early and progressed rapidly, winning the 1st of his 6 USSR Championships in 1931; the other 5 victories were in 1933, 1939, 1944, 1945 and 1952. He also won the Leningrad tournament of 1934, the Absolute Soviet Championship in 1941, and the Sverdlovsk super tournament of 1943. Other significant achievements include equal first with Salomon Flohr in Moscow 1935, 2nd at Moscow 1936 behind Jose Raul Capablanca, equal first with Capablanca at Nottingham 1936, 3rd at AVRO 1938, and first at Groningen 1946 before playing for the World Championship in 1948. He also won the Tchigorin Memorial tournament of 1947 and came equal first with Vasily Smyslov in the Alekhine Memorial of 1956.(1) With the death of Alexander Alekhine in 1946, the FIDE saw its chance to take control of the World Championship and invited six players to take part in a tournament to determine the championship. With Reuben Fine declining the invitation to play, Botvinnik won it ahead of Vassily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Samuel Reshevsky, and Dr Max Euwe in the quintuple round robin FIDE World Championship Tournament (1948). He retained the crown in 1951 against David Bronstein when he tied the match, by winning and drawing his last two games. He again retained it in 1954 against Vasily Smyslov by again drawing the match, however Smyslov turned the tables in 1957 by wresting the crown from Botvinnik. At the time, a defeated champion was entitled to a return match the following year and so in 1958, Botvinnik defeated Smyslov in a return match. Likewise, after losing to Mikhail Tal in 1960, Botvinnik defeated him in a return match in 1961. He lost the title for the last time to Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian in 1963. FIDE had eliminated the return match and so Botvinnik chose to retire from world championship play. Generally regarded as the Patriarch of the Soviet Chess School, his style was based on rigorous opening preparation, deep calculation, and accurate endgame technique. Students of his school include Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and many more. Live footages of Botvinnik from 1933-1963 starting at the following link: Mikhail Botvinnik (kibitz #1197). Special edition of This Week in Chess devoted to Botvinnik and his career, assembled by Mark Crowther soon after Botvinnik's death in 1995: http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/... Wikipedia article: Mikhail Botvinnik (1) Crosstables of competitions mentioned in this paragraph are successively linked at [rusbase-1], [rusbase-2], [rusbase-3], [rusbase-4], [rusbase-5], [rusbase-6], [rusbase-7], [rusbase-8], http://www.worldchesslinks.net/ezig..., [rusbase-9], [rusbase-10], http://www.worldchesslinks.net/ezig..., http://www.worldchesslinks.net/ezig..., [rusbase-11], and [rusbase-12] Last updated: 2020-11-22 08:25:51

Try our new games table.

page 1 of 48; games 1-25 of 1,200  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Botvinnik vs I Kalinin 1-0 29 1924 Leningrad 2/3th cat C55 Two Knights Defense 2. Botvinnik vs N Begunov 1-0 32 1924 Leningrad 2/3th cat D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 3. Botvinnik vs N Timofeev 1-0 23 1924 Leningrad D26 Queen's Gambit Accepted 4. Botvinnik vs I Folga 1-0 37 1924 Leningrad A48 King's Indian 5. G Andreev vs Botvinnik 0-1 46 1924 Leningrad E60 King's Indian Defense 6. V Miliutin vs Botvinnik 0-1 23 1924 Ch Leningrad juniors D72 Neo-Grunfeld, 5.cd, Main line 7. S Kaminer vs Botvinnik 1-0 28 1924 Training Game D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 8. Botvinnik vs A Zilberman 1-0 48 1924 Leningrad jr D51 Queen's Gambit Declined 9. Botvinnik vs A Makhlin 1-0 28 1924 Leningrad 2/3th cat C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense 10. G Abramovic vs Botvinnik 0-1 32 1924 Leningrad jr E61 King's Indian 11. Botvinnik vs S Kaminer 0-1 41 1924 Training Game E90 King's Indian 12. G Abramovic vs Botvinnik 0-1 17 1924 URS A80 Dutch 13. V Zbandutto vs Botvinnik ½-½ 43 1924 Leningrad 2nd cat C98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 14. Botvinnik vs B Rivlin 1-0 21 1925 Botvinnik-Rivlin Match D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 15. Botvinnik vs B Rivlin 1-0 33 1925 Leningrad 1st cat D67 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line 16. G Yagdfeld vs Botvinnik 0-1 35 1925 Leningrad (1b and 2a category) D15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 17. B Yuriev vs Botvinnik 1-0 38 1925 Leningrad 1st cat D02 Queen's Pawn Game 18. Botvinnik vs M Shebarshin 1-0 32 1925 Leningrad 1st cat A50 Queen's Pawn Game 19. J Dobropistsev vs Botvinnik 0-1 35 1925 Leningrad 1st cat C98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 20. N Proskurin vs Botvinnik 0-1 36 1925 Leningrad 1st cat C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed 21. Botvinnik vs Y Zverev 1-0 38 1925 Leningrad 1st cat D92 Grunfeld, 5.Bf4 22. A Perfiliev vs Botvinnik 0-1 36 1925 Leningrad 1st cat C56 Two Knights 23. B Rivlin vs Botvinnik 0-1 32 1925 Leningrad 1st cat D51 Queen's Gambit Declined 24. Botvinnik vs S Kaminer 1-0 39 1925 Leningrad (1b and 2a category) D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 25. A Vaits vs Botvinnik 0-1 31 1925 Leningrad 1st cat D51 Queen's Gambit Declined  page 1 of 48; games 1-25 of 1,200

REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Botvinnik wins | Botvinnik loses

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 66 OF 66 ·  Later Kibitzing> Aug-17-21    offramp: <MissScarlett: Didn't he work for years on a chess computer that was a complete failure?> LOL. When Stalin had a look at the result, the blood must have drained from his Georgian face. When Stalin thought of playing this new computer gave Botvinnik only one resource: He would hide a small competent chess player inside a wooden cabinet. Botvinnik selected the young Tal. Great player BTW. Aug-17-21    0ZeR0: Happy birthday Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik. Though you did not teach me personally, I have learned much from your games and writings over the years. A better teacher could not exist. Aug-17-21    keypusher: Happy birthday to my favorite commie bastard! Oct-20-21    Caissanist: Nothing much ever came of Botvinnik's computer chess projects, but I doubt that had anything to do with the quality of hs work. He would not have had decent machines to run on, thanks to the failure of the Soviet computer hardware industry after 1968 and Cold War restrictions that prevented them from importing modern machines from the West. Jan-04-22    NatashaFatale: <keypusher> Sorry for the late response. The House of Government is purely wonderful. Jan-05-22    keypusher: < PAGE 65 OF 65 · Later> Premium Chessgames MemberJan-04-22 NatashaFatale: <keypusher> Sorry for the late response. The House of Government is purely wonderful> Yes, I read it. It’s amazing! Feb-02-22    Dionysius1: "Botvinnik once wrote 'Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic as music is the art which expresses the science of acoustics' " (Becoming a Grandmaster, by Raymond Keene. Batsford, 1977. p 35) Bravo! Dec-27-22    HeMateMe: Read <The Russians> by Hedrick Smith, a New York Times correspondent. Still relevant in understanding the Russian psyche, 40 years later. <https://www.bing.com/images/search?...> May-29-23    King.Arthur.Brazil: I would like to say a word about many critics to the big Botvinnik (about his defeat against Kotov, gid=1032133). Fistly, Smyslov placed in his best-games book, two of his victories against KOTOV who seemed to be an attack genius, like others: Ragozin, Keres and Geller. But, none of them succeeded to have a world crown. Moreover, in this theater from 70 over, several times you will see bad results from the people we repute as "best players". Smyslov was 15-16th in the 73 and 13-15th in 77 USSR also . In the Lvov Zonal of 78, Geller was the 15th (last one) and Smyslov only 7-9th. In the last, the leaders were Balashov, Vaganian and Kusmim. My point is that: aged happens to everyone, so you are not the same as you were at 40ties. Even so, Bovinnik resistered as few, his score is: Bronstein (8+ 6- 19=), Geller (1+ 4- 7=, his worst), Keres (8+ 3- 9=), Kotov (4+ 1- 4=), Korchnoi and Stein (1+ 1- 2=), Petrosian (4+ 7- 20=, similar to Geller), Polugaevsky (1+ 0- 1=), Smyslov (29+ 24- 52=), Spassky (1+ 0- 7=), Tal (12+ 12- 20=) and tied with Fischer 1 game. Man, he did great! Just to compare, Smyslov has the following score: Bronstein (7+ 6- 25=), Geller (8+ 11- 37=, his worst too), Keres (9+ 9- 22=), Kotov (6+ 3- 10=), Korchnoi (5+ 3- 14=), Petrosian (6+ 3- 27=), Polugaevsky (4+ 3- 19=), Spassky (3+ 5- 21=, bad too), Stein (1+ 1- 8=),Tal (4+ 3- 21=). But Smyslov were 10y newer than Botvinnik. Nov-25-23    Fusilli: And in the Useless Facts Department, Botvinnik and Juan Manuel Fangio share the same years of birth and death, 1911-1995. Two world champions with the same life bracket. I wonder if that's the only case of such a thing. The answer to that question would also belong in the Useless Facts Department, but I know you won't resist the temptation to look for it! Nov-25-23    perfidious: As Botvinnik was the greatest chess player of the 1940s, Fangio dominated the 1950s in his discipline. Guess Fangio made the right choice when he opted for F1 over football! Nov-26-23    Fusilli: <perf> Yup, and Argentina was not much of a football power back then. Didn't play in the 1950 and 1954 world cups, and it was sent home with a humiliating 1-6 defeat to Czechoslovakia in 1958. I started a documentary on Fangio the other day, on Netflix. Pretty interesting. Fangio was revered by my parents' generation, but my generation only knew the old man who looked like a kind grandpa rather than a fierce sportsman. Turns out back then race drivers needed to know a lot about mechanics, while comfort in the car (and maybe safety) was quite secondary. Nov-27-23    offramp: I garbled the link to that incredible lookalike. Here's another try. https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/... Feb-16-24    keypusher: Any Russian speaker want to translate what Botvinnik is saying about his late wife here? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrA... Feb-16-24    beatgiant: <keypusher> Rough translation: "She was a performer in the Leningrad Ballet, completed choreography training, and studied under Agri Vaganova. She made a big impression on me, as she did on everyone. She had her own kind of beauty. Then we got to know each other more closely. She was an unusual person. We got married in a year. We had our joys and sorrows, but were together for over half a century." Before the interview, the narrator says she was in the Kirov Theatre (now back to the pre-revolutionary name of Mariinsky Theater). Feb-16-24    beatgiant: The narrator also reveals that Botvinnik knew then-current dance steps (foxtrot and charleston) and his wife's name was Gaiana Ananova. Feb-16-24    stone free or die: You mean <faxtt> don't you <beat>? Ha. It's far from perfect, but one can turn on closed captions with the <CC> button on youtube, and then use the <Settings> button to select the <CC subtitles> to turn on the <auto-translate>. You can then select <English> (or whatever) from the drop-down list. <beat> translates it far better, but you can try the above option if he isn't available (note however that the subtitle trick it isn't always available either). Feb-16-24    beatgiant: Her teacher Agri Vaganova was a famous ballet pedagogue in St. Petersburg/Leningrad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrip... Feb-16-24    beatgiant: <stone free or die> I just tried your subtitle/auto-translate method. Overall I think the result is a bit more detailed than my translation, but the biggest difference is the auto-translate said they got married within an hour of meeting! Botvinnik very clearly said "year," so it's nice to know humans can still outdo computers once in a while. (laughs) Feb-16-24    keypusher: <beatgiant> <SFOD> Thank you both (especially you, beatgiant)! I thought I could retune the subtitles, but I didn't figure out how. I read somewhere that late in her life he had to reinforce the windows in their apartment so that she wouldn't jump out. Feb-16-24    beatgiant: On reviewing the subtitles, I see the most important detail I missed is, it was in the final year of her studies that she learned under Vaganova. Feb-16-24    stone free or die: <beat> I caught that bit about marrying her an hour later - talk about love at first sight! I'm amazed that google translate can do as good a job as it does - but a good translation is a work of art. (My favorite example is the modern translation of <The Little Prince> vs. Katherine Woods' classic version) Oct-25-24    stone free or die: I'm been searching Youtube for examples of Botvinnik speaking. So far I only have this humble example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wz... (talking about "Match of the Century" - 1972) Can someone point me to a better example? . Nov-09-24    mifralu: <Botvinnik interview: "Information Bulletin, Embassy of USSR, 14 August 1943, p. 11"> https://books.google.de/books?id=Nj... Nov-28-24    James Keziah Delaney: Premium Chessgames MemberNov-26-23 Fusilli: <perf> Yup, and Argentina was not much of a football power back then. Didn't play in the 1950 and 1954 world cups, and it was sent home with a humiliating 1-6 defeat to Czechoslovakia in 1958 They were very powerful back then, they didn't play World cups because of politics, they had Di Stefano, Sivori, Moreno, Padernera, Angelillo back then... Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 66) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 66 OF 66 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific player only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC