Mikhail Botvinnik

Mikhail Botvinnik
Botvinnik in 1962
Full nameMikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik
CountrySoviet Union
Born(1911-08-17)August 17, 1911
Kuokkala, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
DiedMay 5, 1995(1995-05-05) (aged 83)
Moscow, Russia
TitleGrandmaster (1950)
World Champion1948–1957
1958–1960
1961–1963
Peak rating2630 (July 1971)[1]
Peak rankingNo. 7 (July 1971)

Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (Russian: Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник, romanized: Mikhaíl Moiseyevich Botvínnik)[a] (August 17 [O.S. August 4] 1911 – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. He also had a mathematics degree (honorary).

Botvinnik was the first world-class player to develop within the Soviet Union. He also 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 and becoming 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 is often described as the patriarch of the Soviet chess school and is revered for his analytical approach to chess.


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