Seldom there has been a man who has tried building up adversities around his own self to exercise patient and concentration. Mikhail Botvinnik was such a man who besides being a legendary chess player was also a philosopher. Botvinnik believed that everything could be done if one has self-confidence. A trainer, social worker and composer, Mikhail Botvinnik was never found giving up to any problem. “Chess is the art of analysis”…and he did that till the last move that he played. Botvinnik believed in following the best and thus always advised his students to follow master games that have been played in the history of chess.

Born near St Petersburg, Russia in the year 1911, Botvinnik started playing chess early. He learned to play chess when he was just 12 and moved on rapidly to win local tournaments. Chess was Botvinnik’s passion. He didn’t believe in playing chess for fun and was way too into it. He was noticed for the first time when he was 14 years old. It was when he defeated World Champion Jose Raul Capablanca in a match. People say that Botvinnik practiced playing with heavy smoke around him though he was not a smoker. This was just to make sure; he doesn’t lose his concentration in adverse conditions. Botvinnik was an electrical engineer by profession. It was during the Second World War that he was awarded the ‘Order of the Badge of Honour’ for his work on Power Stations located in Ural. He joined the ‘Research Institute for Electrical Energy’ in the year 1956 as a senior research scientist.

Botvinnik’s style was immensely strong in terms of pre-match and post-match analysis. His technique over tactics and endgame mastery over opening traps were class apart from his contemporary players. His strong points were his development of solid opening lines in the Nimzo-Indian Defense, Slav Defense and Winawer French Defense.

After retiring from Competitive chess, he trained young players in Russia who called him “Patriarch of the Soviet Chess School”. He had also authored few books among which the famous one is his autobiography ‘K Dostizheniyu Tseli’ or ‘Achieving the Aim’, published in the year 1978. He was also involved in politics and was a strong communist. Botvinnik died in the year 1995 of pancreatic cancer.

Botvinnik spent a lot time in his later life researching on computer chess programs. Botvinnik programmed an algorithm to find the right moves for a complicated position. The University of Ferrara in Italy honored Botvinnik with a degree in mathematics for his exceptional work on computer chess.

Early Career:

Botvinnik started his career under the training of Soviet Master and coach, Abram Model. It was under his guidance that Botvinnik started showing rapid progress in learning the skills of chess. It was in the year 1927 that he qualified for the final stage of USSR Championship and tied the match for the 5th place. He was one of youngest player in the tournament and won the title of National Master. It was in the year 1930 that he won the Leningrad Masters' tournament with a score of 6½/8. He played numerous international tournaments throughout his career. In the year 1935 he tied a match with Salo Flohr at Moscow and with Capablanca at Nottingham in the year1936. In the year 1941, he won the “Absolute Champion of the U.S.S.R” title by defeating Paul Keres and Vassily Smyslov.

World Chess Championship:

It was in the year 1948 that Botvinnik contested in the World Chess Championship held at The Hague and Moscow. He was one of the 5 players who participated in the tournament and won it with a score of 14/20 becoming the 6th WCC.

Botvinnik kept the title to himself for the next 15 years playing 7 WCC matches in that period. In the year 1951, he tied the match against David Bronstein after 24 games, in 1954, he tied the match with Vasily Smyslov after 24 games, in 1958 he won the rematch against Smyslov and he won the rematch in 1961 against Mikhail Tal held in Moscow. He lost the WCC title in the year to Tigran Petrosian for the final time in Moscow.