Ronen Greatest Hits : Mikhail Botvinnik (4 part series)

Mikhail Botvinnik

Opening: :

Player(s): Botvinnik

With this series GM Ronen takes us in the world of one of the greatest players ever: Mikhail Botvinnik. Botvinnik was bron in 1911, and started playing chess at the 'ripe' age of 12. _Nowadays, if you're not at least an IM at that age, chess is not your thing. Pretty much like Euwe, chess was not the only interest in Botvinnik's life: he earned a PhD in electricity and computers, and was a pioneer in computer chess. Botvinnik has been described by Kramnik - one of his pupils - with this line: 'Botvinnik's chess career was the one of a genius, although he was no genius.' When studying Botvinnik's games, one realizes that he was not 'pure genius', such as Tal, Kasparov or Fischer, but he was able to achieve the maximum result, using at best what he had. He was probably the very first professional chess player, especially as for his meticulous preparation for the matches. He was aware of the importance of being physically fit, and his analysis of opponents' games was very deep and complete. Botvinnik was Chess World Champion, with the short interruptions, from 1946 to 1963. Listing all his successes would take too much space, but he really dominated the chess world for decades. The great Soviet World Champion was also an important chess organizer, contributing significantly to the World Championship system after WWII, and becoming one of the most influential coaches in that system which allowed Russia to dominate the chess scene for so many years. Among his most famous pupils, World Champions Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik.