CHESS

Logical

Raymond Keene

If Star Trek's Mr Spock had devoted himself to three-dimensional chess (rather than concentrating on a career in Star Fleet) he would have played like Botvin- nik, the high priest of iron logic in chess, who once said that chess was the art which complemented the science of logic, just as music complements acoustics, painting op- tics and so on.

Botvinnik won two tournaments which undoubtedly rank amongst the world's top, Moscow/Leningrad 1941 (category 15) and the 1948 Hague/Moscow world cham- pionship tournament. The latter was a category 16 contest which elevated Botvin- nik to the purple, Alekhine (the reigning champion) having died a pauper in Portug- al two years previously.

Moscow/Leningrad 1941 (`the absolute USSR championship') should not strictly fall within my survey of the world's greatest tournaments since the world champion was not competing. Although there had been some talk of inviting the Russian émigré, Alekhine, back to the USSR in the late 1930s, he was resident in Nazi Germany in 1941. The drawbacks to his participation in a Soviet tournament would, therefore, have been evident. In view, however, of the special historical conditions of that time and the inordinate strength of the tournament I have, ulti- mately, decided on its inclusion. Of course, Moscow/Leningrad constituted vital train- ing for Botvinnik's eventual assault on the title.

Two outstanding books cover Botvin- nik's accession to the purple in particular and his career in general. These are 1948 World Championship written by Harry Golombek and published by the British Chess Magazine, and Botvinnik's own Half a Century of Chess (Pergamon). From the latter I quote Botvinnik's own assessment of the 1941 event as preparation for 1948:

Thus the goal set by Krylenko [Chess Com- missar under Stalin] back in the 1920s, a quarter of a century before, had now been achieved: a Soviet player had won the title of world champion. Of course, it was regrett- able that the world championship had not been won in a match with Alekhine, who had passed away two years before this event. But the match-tournament, the first in the history of chess to be held under the auspices of Fide, assembled all the worthy candidates, and the results of the event were not ques- tioned by anybody. Evidently for the added reason that the champion had won all the matches against his rivals. In connection with this, it can be pointed out that the match- tournament in 1941 was not a bad rehearsal for the contest for the title of world cham- pion.

This victory for Soviet chess opened a new era, an era of supremacy in the world of the Soviet chess school, which was to continue for almost a quarter of a century.

Here are two quick wins by Botvinnik against Keres.

Keres-Botvinnik: Nimzo-Indian Defence; Moscow/Leningrad 1941.

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 d5 5 cxd5 exd5 6 Bg5 h6 7 Bh4 c5 8 0-0-0 Bxc3 9 Qxc3 g5 10 Bg3 cxd4 11 Qxd4 Nc6 12 Qa4 Bf5 13 e3 Rc8 14 Bd3 Qd7 15 Kb1 Bxd3+ 16 Rxd3 Qf5 17 e4 Nxe4 18 Kal 0-0 19 Rdl b5 20 QxbS Nd4 21 Qd3 Nc2+ 22 Kbl NM White resigns.

Botvinnik-Keres: Nimzo-Indian; World Cham- pionship 1948. 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 0-0 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 Re8 7 Net e5 8 Ng3 d6 9 Be2 Nbd7 10 0-0 c5 11 f3 cxd4 12 cxd4 Nb6 13 Bb2 exd4 14 e4 Be6 15 Rcl Re7 16 Qxd4 Qc7 17 c5 dxc5 18 RxcS Qf4 19 13c1 Qb8 20 Rg5 Nbd7 21 Rxg7+ Kxg7 22 NhS+ Kg6 23 Qe3 Black resigns.

Moscow/Leningrad Tournament 1941

1 2 3 4 5 6 Total 1 Botvinnik xxxx 11/21/21/2 11/211/2 11/211/2 11/201 011/21 131/2 2 Keres 01/21/21/2 xxxx 1101/2 1/201/21/2 011/21 11/211/2 11 3 Smyslov 01/2091 0011/2 xxxx 1/211/21 1/21%1/2

1/21/21/21/2

10 4 Boleslaysky 01/201/2 1/211/21/2 1/201/20 xxxx 111/21 1/2001/2 9 5 Lilienthal 01/210 101/20

1/201/21/2 001/20

xxxx 11/211 81/2 6 Bondarevsky 101/20 01/201/2 1/21/21/21/2 1/2111/2 01/200 xiooc 8

The Hague/ Moscow Tournament 1948 1 2 3 4 5

Total 1 Botvinnik xxxxx 1/21/211/21/2 11110 11/2011

11/211/21/2

14 2 Smyslov 1/21/201/21/2 roux 001/211/2 1/21/211/21/2 11011 11 3 Keres 00001 111/201/2 moot 01/2101/2 11/2111 101/2 4 Reshevsky 01/2100 1/21/201/21/2 11/2011/2 xxxxx 11/21/211 101/2 5 Euwe 01/201/21/2 00100 01/2000

01/21/100

xxxxx 4