Mikhail Botvinnik

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Lore & Background

Botvinnik was born on August 17, 1911, in Kuokkala, then part of the Grand Duchy of Finland, to Russian Jewish parents. His father, Moisei Botvinnik, was a dental technician; his mother, Shifra (Serafima) Rabinovich, was a dentist, which allowed the family to live outside the Pale of Settlement. He grew up in Saint Petersburg's Nevsky Prospect. His father forbade speaking Yiddish at home, and Mikhail attended Soviet schools. Botvinnik later said, 'I am a Jew by blood, a Russian by culture, Soviet by upbringing.' He called himself an atheist. In 1920, his mother became ill and his father left the family, but maintained contact. At about the same time, Botvinnik started reading newspapers and became a committed communist. In autumn 1923, at age twelve, he was taught chess by a school friend of his older brother using a home-made set, and instantly fell in love with the game. He won his school championship in winter 1924, then exaggerated his age by three years to join the Petrograd Chess Assembly. In 1925, on a rest day during the Moscow 1925 chess tournament, world champion José Raúl Capablanca gave a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad; Botvinnik was selected as an opponent and won. In 1927, he qualified for his first USSR Championship final stage as the youngest player ever at that time, tied for fifth and sixth places, and gained the title of master. He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in late summer 1931 from the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute. In 1935, he married Gayane Davidovna Ananova, of Armenian descent, a student at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and later a ballerina in the Bolshoi Theatre. They had one daughter, Olga, born in 1942.

Reader's Guide

Botvinnik was the first world-class player to develop within the Soviet Union and played a major role in the organization of chess, making a significant contribution to the design of the World Chess Championship system after World War II. He became a leading member of the coaching system that enabled the Soviet Union to dominate top-class chess during that time. His pupils include World Champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, and Vladimir Kramnik. He also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess, for which he was awarded an honorary mathematics degree. His early progress was fairly rapid, mostly under the training of Soviet Master and coach Abram Model in Leningrad; Model taught him the Winawer Variation of the French Defence, which Botvinnik analyzed more deeply and played with great success. Botvinnik won his first Soviet Championship in 1931 at age 20, scoring 13½ out of 17. He repeated the win in 1933 in Leningrad with 14/19. In 1934–35, he drew a match with Czech grandmaster Salo Flohr, then regarded as a credible contender for the world title. In Moscow's second International Tournament in 1935, Botvinnik placed first equal with Flohr, ½ point ahead of Emanuel Lasker and one point ahead of José Raúl Capablanca. In 1936, he finished second in a double round-robin tournament in Moscow, one point behind Capablanca and 2½ ahead of Flohr.

Did You Know?

• Botvinnik exaggerated his age by three years to join the Petrograd Chess Assembly in 1924, and its president turned a blind eye.
• He won his game against world champion José Raúl Capablanca during a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad in 1925.
• In 1931, at age 20, he won his first Soviet Championship with a score of 13½ out of 17.
• Botvinnik's father forbade speaking Yiddish at home, and Mikhail later described himself as 'a Jew by blood, a Russian by culture, Soviet by upbringing.'
• He was awarded an honorary mathematics degree for his pioneering work in computer chess.