NOTES

*FIDE (Fédération internationale des échecs or World Chess Federation), founded in 1924, first administered a world chess championship in 1948. http://www.fide.com/

**The USSR joined FIDE at The Hague conference of 1947. They arrived late on 2 Aug, the last day of the congress. http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

<1> Erwin Voellmy, "Schweizerische Schachzeitung" (Nov 1946), pp.169-171. In Edward Winter, "Interregnum" (2003-2004) http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

<2> Minutes of the FIDE Secretariat of the Congress in Winterthur in July 1946. In Edward Winter, "Interregnum"

<3> "CHESS" (Dec 1946), p.63. In Edward Winter, "Interregnum"

<4> Mikhail Botvinnik "Achieving the Aim." Bernard Cafferty, transl. Pergamon 1981), p.105-106

<5> Botvinnik, Achieving the Aim, p.108

<6> Erwin Voellmy, "Schweizerische Schachzeitung" (Oct 1947), pp. 154-55. In Edward Winter, "Interregnum"

<7> "Chess Review" (Aug 1947), p.2

<8> "American Chess Bulletin" (Jan-Feb 1948), p.11. In Edward Winter, "Interregnum"

<9> "American Chess Bulletin" (March-April 1948), p.25. In Edward Winter, "Interregnum"

<10> Paul Keres, "Match Tournament for the World Chess Championship- The Hague and Moscow 1948" (Estonian State Publishing 1950), p.7

<11> Harry Golombek, "The World Chess Championship 1948" (Harding Simpole 1949), p.3

<12> Botvinnik, "Achieving the Aim" p.111

<13> Golombek, p.4

<14> D.A. Yanofsky and H.J. Slavekoorde, "Battle Royal... A Round by Round Account of the Thrilling Contest for the World's Chess Title." ""Chess Life and Review" (April 1948), p.7

<15> Botvinnik, "Achieving the Aim" pp.113-14

<16> Mikhail Botvinnik, "15 Games and their Stories" Jim Marfia, transl. (Chess Enterprise Inc. 1982), pp. 40-42

<17> Golombek, p.126

<18> Taylor Kingston, "The Keres-Botvinnik case revisited: A further survey of the evidence" ("Chess Cafe," 8 Oct 2001), p.2. http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skitt...

<19> "Tim Krabbé’s on-line Chess Diary Item #65" (11 June 2000) http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess2/...
In Taylor Kingston, pp.3-4

<20> "Max Pam interview with Mikhail Botvinnik" Genna Sosonko, transl. (Vrij Nederland 20 Aug 1991)

In "Tim Krabbé’s on-line Chess Diary Item #42
http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess2/...

In Taylor Kingston, pp.4-5

Very good Intro!

A few small points:

1) <*> and <**>

Why not regular footnotes, but a special kind? I don't see a need to introduce a second kind.

2) <According to a "Chess" (Dec 1946) article, Botvinnik announced to the others that he would not play in the Netherlands.>

The 'Chess' article is already mentioned in the footnote, so why the repetition in the text? To emphasize that this was not a direct quote from Botvinnik, but was reported in an article only? But as footnote <3> is cited before and afterwards, it could be left out here, e. g. <Botvinnik reportedly announced to the others that he would not play in the Netherlands.>

3) <The Russians were now members,**>

The Soviets...

4) <Scheviningen>

Scheveningen

5) <in front of 2000 spectators, with 3000 more>

2,000 and 3,000

6) <Some, including Larry Evans and Jan Timman,>

Player page links: Larry Melvyn Evans and Jan Timman and also Kenneth Whyld and Gennady Sosonko

7) <Botvinnik never relinquished his lead, clinching the title by round 22 to become the fifth world chess champion.>

1st Steinitz, 2nd Lasker, 3rd Capablanca, 4th Alekhine, 5th Euwe, 6th Botvinnik

I can't thank you enough for such excellent edits.

I plan to use all your suggestions.

As for <punkt 8>, my sense of the existing research I looked at is:

<they suspected to have planned for Botvinnik to become the new WC before?> Yes, if you mean the period "after Alekhine's death and <before> the match tournament."

I can put a bit more information on that point, but I'll have to do some cutting. It's at 675 right now.

Thanks again!

To elaborate a bit more on point 8. What I mean is the following: There is a whole paragraph devoted to collusion charges against Botvinnik and the Soviets.

Now the reader may ask himself the following:

1) Is it suspected that the Soviet Union only wanted <a Soviet> to become WC, and taking the lead early on, Botvinnik seemed to be the best bet - i. e. had Smyslov or Keres led the tournament the way Botvinnik did, is the USSR suspected to have the others collude to make Smyslov/Keres WC?

or

2) Is the Soviet Union suspected to have chosen Botvinnik as the new WC prior to the tournament, and Smyslov/Keres should help him from the commencement of the tournament onwards? And then, because he was regarded to be the strongest chessplayer in the Soviet Union or for other, less chess-related reasons?

arghh that's not so clear cut as I said a minute ago-

<Botvinnik> had supporters who wanted him to win but <Keres> also had a "white knight" or two. Both had some "friends in high places."

This was also the case in <Botvinnik-Bronstein 1951>- each master had support from powerful political friends.

Yes all of your additional questions deserve treatment. The quick answer is that there is no quick answer.

One of the problems is that in "Achieving the Aim" you only get <Botvinnik's> account, and typically for <Keres>, the book he wrote about the tournament is concerned only with chess.

As I'm sure you already know, <Keres> didn't like speaking or writing publicly about personal or political affairs.

I'll try to find a way to make it as clear as I can for the reader.

"the day's top contenders" is a bit colloquial, but I don't have a good alternative. Thinking about it.

<including Max Euwe, Samuel Reshevsky, Reuben Fine, Mikhail Botvinnik, Paul Keres, Vasily Smyslov,>

<2 Aug 1944> and such.

No period either.

<crawfb5> suggests this model as well.

I'll take a long look at adding a bit to explain why those players were chosen- the short answer is the Americans and Soviets had the strongest results at this time, so the top Yanks vs. the top Commies, with Euwe the last champion standing thrown in as a kind of honorarium.

Good heavens that's colloquial and long of course.

I almost cut off my fingers getting this draft down to 675 words.

less colloquial and more informative.

Something roughly like-

"proposed a round robin tournament with the the top US and Soviet players and Max Euwe, the last master to hold the title..."

But some construction that also explains that the top 5 in the world happened to be roughly the 2 yanks and 3 Soviets- it wasn't picking the two countries out, it was just a fact that they had the strongest chess players at that time. Based on results.

The Americans had won the last 4 Olympiads and <Fine> and <Reshevsky> were much the strongest of that team.

Similarly, on results domestic and international, <Botvinnik> and <Keres> were a cut above.

Interestingly, it was <Smyslov> who some thought of as the "weakest link" in that group- most expected <Euwe> to give a good account of himself.

I like this a fair bit- I'll use this unless you come up with something even better. Maybe a sentence to follow about their credentials and why they were chosen.

<all parties agreed to the same player lineup and conditions proposed at Winterhur 1946, except now the tournament would be split between The Hague and Moscow and begin in spring 1948.<6> In addition, no extra player would be added. In 1946 Botvinnik had won at Groningen and Miguel Najdorf at Prague, but because of the new agreement, Najdorf was not invited to join the championship.>

all parties agreed to most of the conditions proposed at Winterhur 1946, except now the tournament would be split between The Hague and Moscow and begin in spring 1948.<6> In addition, no extra player would be added. Although Miguel Najdorf won at Prague, because of the new agreement, he wasn't invited to join the championship.

<The players were quartered at the Kurhaus in Scheviningen, except for Botvinnik>

I tried this here instead of DRAWN AND QUARTERED-

<All players except Botvinnik lodged at the Kurhaus in Scheveningen.>

Or should it be

All your suggestions are now enacted-

Still wouldn't mind a dele of "to the others".

<Although Miguel Najdorf won at Prague, because of the new agreement, he wasn't invited to join the championship.>