- BornAugust 17, 1911, Kuokkala (today Repino, near St. Petersburg)
- DiedMay 5, 1995, Moscow
- CountrySoviet Union
- World champion1948–1957, 1958–1960, 1961–1963
Three reigns - In the line of championsNo. 6 of 18
- Highest rating2630 (July 1971)
He had retired from competitive play in 1970
FIDE's official lists (from July 1971)
The road to the title
Botvinnik was the strongest player in the Soviet Union as early as the 1930s, and at the AVRO tournament of 1938 he beat the former world champion Capablanca in a famous game. The war meant a long wait for a title match. When Alekhine died in 1946, FIDE organized a tournament for the title, and in 1948 Botvinnik won it clearly, three points ahead of Vasily Smyslov.
The title matches
| Year | Against | Result | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Tournament with Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky and Euwe | 14 of 20 Won the title · title tournament | The Hague and Moscow |
| 1951 | David Bronstein | 12–12 (+5 −5 =14) Kept the title | Moscow |
| 1954 | Vasily Smyslov | 12–12 (+7 −7 =10) Kept the title | Moscow |
| 1957 | Vasily Smyslov | 9½–12½ (+3 −6 =13) Lost the title | Moscow |
| 1958 | Vasily Smyslov | 12½–10½ (+7 −5 =11) Won the title | Moscow |
| 1960 | Mikhail Tal | 8½–12½ (+2 −6 =13) Lost the title | Moscow |
| 1961 | Mikhail Tal | 13–8 (+10 −5 =6) Won the title | Moscow |
| 1963 | Tigran Petrosian | 9½–12½ (+2 −5 =15) Lost the title | Moscow |
Matches and return matches
In Botvinnik's day a champion who lost the title got a return match the following year. Botvinnik lost twice, to Smyslov in 1957 and to Mikhail Tal in 1960, and both times he won the title back. His matches against David Bronstein in 1951 and Smyslov in 1954 ended 12–12, and a drawn match meant the champion kept the title.
In 1963 he lost for good, to Tigran Petrosian. By then the return match was gone.
How he played
Botvinnik prepared with great care. He analyzed his own games and his opponents', and worked out his openings in advance. That way of working became the foundation of the Soviet chess school, which shaped the game for decades.
The teacher
Botvinnik was an electrical engineer and spent many years trying to make computers play chess. He also ran a chess school, and three future world champions went through it: Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.
Afterward
Botvinnik retired from competitive play in 1970. On FIDE's rating list of July 1971 he stood at 2630, but that number rests on games he had played before then. He died in Moscow in 1995.
Botvinnik's games here
- Botvinnik vs. Capablanca, AVRO 1938 (1938, Botvinnik played White). Play like Botvinnik: guess the moves, one at a time.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Mikhail Botvinnik
- Store norske leksikon: Mikhail Botvinnik
- OlimpBase: the title matches 1951–1963 and FIDE's rating lists 1971–1973
- PGN Mentor: the 1948 championship tournament and the title matches' games
The facts on this page come from the sources above, checked against each other. Where the sources disagree, only what they agree on is given. The match results are also checked against the games themselves.
Updated November 8, 2026