Najdorf vs Botvinnik, 1946

I'm not sure I buy that, since Botvinnik won Groningen 1946 anyway.

This is their head to head stats according to the database here:

You basically had 3 Soviets and Reshevsky playing in that tournament. Euwe doesn't count, he was the designated whipping boy.

Najdorf would mess up the odds of a Soviet emerging as champ.>

Your ignorance never ceases to astound.

why don't you figure out who was the only player in the championship with a plus score against Botvinnik going in? Hint: it wasn't Keres, Reshevsky or Smyslov.

Where did Euwe finish at Groningen 1946? Where did Najdorf finish? Where did Smyslov finish?

Who was the only ex-World Champion to participate in the championship?

Euwe was nobody's designated whipping boy going in. His horrible performance was a shock to the chess world, much more unexpected than Keres going 1-4 against Botvinnik, but no one has managed to devise a plausible conspiracy theory about Euwe.

<Red October> You're an ex-auditor now? Why? I hope it's because you are too rich to work.

It's not the ignorance that amazes me, it's the way someone can consistently make up a theory out of thin air and STILL not explain what he's trying to explain. You'd think that if you're just making it up as you go along, and can say anything, then you can explain anything. But no. This theory explains why the Soviets would like this format, but tells us nothing about why anyone in the West would go along with it or think it a good idea.

<Whereas the 1946 Congress of FIDE in Winterthure, Switzerland pretty much settled the Zonal-Interzonal-Candidates-WC Match structure of Chess World Championships, the question of seeding the first world champion after Alekhine stayed open. Soviets> <(not members of FIDE yet)> <carried out their separate negotiations with American players during the 1947 USSR-USA match in Moscow. Finally, the two related questions of Soviet Chess Federation membership in FIDE and the method of World Champion seeding fell upon the 1947 FIDE Congress in Hague.>

<On the table were the following five proposals:>

<(1)> <"Replay of AVRO" with six players (Botvinnik, Keres, Euwe, Reshevsky, Fine, Flohr/Smyslov) and six rounds, half in Hague, half in Moscow.>

<(2)>< A match between the winner of an Euwe-Reshevsky semifinal and a Soviet-nominated representative><(Botvinnik).>

<(3)> <Two semifinal matches Euwe-Reshevsky and Botvinnik-Keres and match of the winners.>

<(4)> <The winner of the first Candidates Tournament (planed for 1949) becomes the WC; must defend in 1950 against the tournament's runner up.>

<(5)> <Declare as WC one of the top GMs (most logically Euwe as him being the last and only surviving ex-title holder -- this was supported by many delegates, including understandably Holland, but especially Belgium).>

<Initially, FIDE strongly preferred either variant <(2)> or <(5)> or some hybrid of both. The Czechoslovak delegation ran a strong interference, but its motion in favor of the AVRO replay> <(1)> <was soundly defeated by the ratio of votes 3:2. Then the proposal> <(5)> <was selected in the ratio 9:4. The Balgian representative then proposed a vote on the chess champion title reverting back to Dr. Max Euwe (representative of Holland finally suggested a Euwe-Reshevsky match instead). Just at last moment, when president of FIDE Dr. Rueb already put the Euwe proposal to vote, the Czechoslovak delegation resumed its interference: the head of the delegation Josef Louma managed to filibuster away the rest of the day. The next day the Congress went to see the last round of the concurrent Hilversum tournament.>

<The two day delay in the vote gave the Soviet Chess Federation enough time to change its mind about FIDE and about the 1947 Congress in Hague.> <The Soviets arrived on Saturday Aug. 2, 1947 and this is the day they became a FIDE member.> <The rest of the negotiations is put by Julius Kozma as thus:> <Thanks to uncompromising position of the head of the> <[Soviet]> <delegation grandmaster Viacheslav Ragozin, the Congress unanimously accepted the only solution: to organize the tournament for the> <[variant (1)]> <World Championship.>

<The agreed upon format was that of a six-player tournament of six rounds. The nominated players were the surviving AVRO players, except that the Soviet delegation then replaced Salo Flohr by Smyslov. The tournament dates were set from Mar. 1 to May 31, 1948. The draw put the first half into Hague, second into Moscow. One of the Hague rounds was dropped after Fine opted out of the match-tourney. FIDE named grandmaster Dr. Martin Vidmar as the chief arbiter. (Ragozin became Botvinnik's second.)><?>

---

The Oxford Companion to Chess pg 135.

I grabbed a lot of pertinent pages last night but haven't had time to go through them properly yet. But I did see that Fine's dropout was reported in the March 1948 Chess Review, just before the tournament began. One of Fine's own columns in November 1947 stated his hope that the 6 man tournament (including himself) would come off.

The question of why he wasn't replaced isn't addressed, but owing to the late hour, we might infer that there was no time. (Maybe Fine is the villain here. If he'd given sufficient notice, maybe things would have been different).

I saw a lot of other things skimming through. The most amusing thing was a letter to the editor fearing that if Reshevsky won, the Soviets would try to claim him as a citizen, since he'd been born in Poland.

<The first General Assembly of F.I.D.E. since the war was held last July at Winterthur, Switzerland. Relatively few nations were represented, due to travel restrictions and unsettled conditions in Europe. According to the minutes of this meeting, which finally have reached us, Germany was excluded from membership. Spain likewise was ejected, apparently in the hope that this actuion would pave the way for the entry of Russia. However, the USSR has not yet accepted the invitation to join.

For better world representation, five new F.I.D.E. "zones" were established: North America (U.S.A. and Canada), Central America, South America, Orient (including Australia), and the Scandanavian zone. Each of these zones will select a delegate as member of F.I.D.E.'s Central Committee.

Of most timely interest was the Winterthur Assembly's action with regard to the world championship question. Even before the death of Dr. Alekhine last March, there had been growing sentiment here and abroad favoring more frequent competition for the world title by means of tournament play in place of the long-established match sytem. With Alekhine's passing, this issue was suddenly brought to a head and prompt F.I.D.E. action was necessary.

In accordance with the plan drafted by a special committee, the Winterthur Assembly voted to hold a world championship tournament of six participants - three Russians, two Americans and Dr. Euwe, former world champion - this tournament to take place at Noordwyck, Holland, in 1947. Also adopted was a program of future world title play, based on a three-year cycle of competition: determination of zone champions, inter-zone tournament of zone champions and other recognized masters, tournament of candidates for the title and, finally, match play between the champion and the winner of the candidates' tournament.

This solution has by no means found universal approval. Sharp protest has come from various quarters demanding that other high-ranking masters be admitted to the first title tourney in addition to the six players tentatively designated at Winterthur. Botwinnik, Keres, Smyslov, Reshevsky, Fine and Euwe. The Russian players, on the other hand, refuse to play in a tournament of more than six participants and also insist that one-half the tournament rounds be played in Russia.

As a result of these and other disagreements, F.I.D.E. President Dr. Rueb has suspended arrangements for a 1947 world championship tournament, leaving it up to the next General Assembly to take further action in the matter. There may be no perfect solution to the problem. However, it is to be hoped that the obstacles will be cleared away and that the world chess throne will soon again be filled, by the fairest and most equitable means possible.>

Very interesting. I already knew that Botvinnik had dropped out of the Soviet Championship in 1947 to protest his government screwing up the negotiations and getting the 1947 Championship tournament cancelled.

But the timing of this is odd. I had heard that Euwe had been declared interim world champion, when the Soviets arrived and new arrangements were made. Maybe that's true, but according to this, the Soviet Union had still not joined FIDE even after Winterthur, despite being involved in the title negotiations. How would that have worked if the champion's country wasn't a FIDE member?

Interesting that Spain was EJECTED from FIDE, to try to get the Soviets in. When was Spain re-admitted, I wonder? Franco was still alive into the 1970's, but I'm pretty sure they were back before then.

But I'm still fuzzy on the details. According to this, they DID vote at Winterthur for a 6-man tournament, because the Russians wouldn't play a larger one. I don't get that. If they weren't even FIDE members, what leverage did they have? We all know they wouldn't have kept their players out of the final product. And if they weren't members, they didn't have a vote, right? But according to this, despite the fact that the 6-man format was accepted and voted on, some people didn't like it, wanting more players, and so Rueb apparently threw up his hands (nullifying the vote?), and said we'll look at it again next year.

Not a word here about why Flohr, FIDE's pre-war "Official Challenger", wasn't included in the mix, or why Smyslov was in. I believe that Smyslov was in because of his finish in the 1941 Soviet Absolute Championship, but it doesn't say that here. Flohr was a Soviet player after the war, but had been a Czech beforehand, and he didn't play in the Absolute Championship. Why is he the only one from AVRO that isn't even mentioned?

It may be that the magazine editors were just confused. It is a bit strange for the Soviets to join FIDE in the middle of the congress.

Also, it's a natural reading of Gypsy's post that the six-man tournament was chosen at Winterthur at the behest of the newly-admitted Soviets, but it's also possible that the final resolution took place at a later conference.

<I already knew that Botvinnik had dropped out of the Soviet Championship in 1947 to protest his government screwing up the negotiations and getting the 1947 Championship tournament cancelled.>

Unpossible! Everyone knows that the Soviet chess federation was merely an instrument of Botvinnik's will. Next you'll be telling me the disgraced collaborator Keres won the Soviet championship that year.

<There really needs to be a book about this tournament.>

Yeah, I get that there were two Congresses. That's why Botvinnik was mad. But I had heard that Euwe was interim champion in 1946. Maybe that's the part that I've got wrong.

Here's a quick blurb about next year's meeting:

Chess Life, May 1947, page 1

<PAUL GIERS WILL FLY TO HAGUE USCF ANNOUNCES

USCF Executive Vice-President Paul Giers has his American Airlines reservation for the trip to the Hague, Holland, where he will represent the USCF in the FIDE meeting, July 30 - August 3. Mr. Giers bears with him the USCF recommendation regarding the handling of the World Championship and is prepared to protect the interests of the logical U.S. contenders for the title.>

Chess Life, August 1947, page 2:

<HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE HAGUE
A Regular Message by
By [sic] Paul J. Giers
Executive Vice-President, United States Chess Federation

World chess has a brighter future as a result of the F.I.D.E. General Assembly concluded at The Hague on August 2. For the first time in history, all chess players on our globe are united in one world organization - Federation Internationaile des Echecs - and it may well be said that the Assembly's decisions will lead to more harmonious and effective collaboration among the chess playing nations.

It was my privilege and pleasure to represent the USCF at The Hague and herewith are some highlights of the meeting as I observed them.

Twenty countries were represented by sixteen delegates: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Brtain [sic], Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Palestine, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S.A., U.S.S.R., and Yugoslavia. Presiding over the meeting was Dr. A. Rueb, of The Hague, perennial president since FIDE's organization in 1924.

Or greatest interest perhaps is the settlement of the world championship problem. Since the tournament of six masters, approved at the Winterthur Assembly of last year, had not materialized for various reasons, the Netherlands Chess Federation proposed that Dr. Max Euwe as the only living ex-champion be proclaimed world champion; that Dr. Euwe play a match for the title with Samuel Reshevsky and the winner finally engage Botvinnik. This proposal was later amended so that the title would not be awarded until after the Euwe-Reshevsky match.

The USCF proposal called for an enlarged tournament to include three American masters: Fine, Kashdan and Reshevsky. Neither proposal was adopted.>