Botvinnik, Mikhail
World ChampionMikhail Botvinnik, the "Patriarch of Soviet Chess," held the World Championship across three reigns (1948-1957, 1958-1960, 1961-1963), twice reclaiming the title in rematches after losing it. His iron-logical, deeply analytical style and scientific approach to preparation established the template for modern competitive chess training. As a legendary coach, he mentored three future World Champions -- Karpov, Kasparov, and Kramnik -- leaving an unparalleled legacy in chess education.
Total Games
891
Wins
406
Draws
375
Losses
110
45.6% wins42.1% draws12.3% losses
Most Played Openings
D94 - Grünfeld Defense: Flohr Defense13A36 - English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System13D13 - Slav Defense: Exchange Variation12B12 - Caro-Kann Defense12C19 - French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation12E35 - Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation11D35 - Queen's Gambit Declined: Normal Defense10C15 - French Defense: Winawer Variation10C08 - French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System10A30 - English Opening: Wing Gambit10
Featured Games
1-0
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Smyslov, Vassily
World Championship 22th
1958
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Tal, Mihail vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
World Championship 23th
1960
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Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Smyslov, Vassily
World Championship 21th
1957
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Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Smyslov, Vassily
World Championship 20th
1954
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Smyslov, Vassily vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
World Championship 21th
1957
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Smyslov, Vassily vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
World Championship 22th
1958
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Tal, Mihail vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
World Championship 24th
1961
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Smyslov, Vassily vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
World Championship 20th
1954
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Tal, Mihail vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
World Championship 24th
1961
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Bronstein, David I vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
World Championship 19th
1951
View PrintGames (891)
Search & Filter All Games →Bukic, Enver vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Belgrade 1969 A90
Medina Garcia, Antonio Angel vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Hoogovens 1969 B25
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Van Scheltinga, Theo D
1-0Hoogovens 1969 E51
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Ree, Hans
1-0Hoogovens 1969 A29
Gligoric, Svetozar vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Belgrade 1969 D90
Donner, Jan Hein vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Hoogovens 1969 D79
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Ivkov, Borislav
1/2-1/2Belgrade 1969 E66
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Lombardy, William James
1-0Hoogovens 1969 B38
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Hecht, Hans Joachim
1/2-1/2Belgrade 1969 E51
Tringov, Georgi P vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Belgrade 1969 B06
Sahovic, Dragutin vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Belgrade 1969 B15
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Kavalek, Lubomir
1/2-1/2Hoogovens 1969 E90
Matanovic, Aleksandar vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Belgrade 1969 B06
Matulovic, Milan vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Belgrade 1969 B08
Langeweg, Kick vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Hoogovens 1969 A20
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Ostojic, Predrag
1-0Belgrade 1969 A42
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Kurajica, Bojan
1-0Belgrade 1969 D31
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Olafsson, Fridrik
1/2-1/2Hoogovens 1969 E03
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Suttles, Duncan
1-0Belgrade 1969 A42
Lengyel, Levente vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1-0Belgrade 1969 E91
Janosevic, Dragoljub vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1-0Belgrade 1969 E92
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Hort, Vlastimil
1/2-1/2Monte Carlo 1968 E69
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Gheorghiu, Florin
1/2-1/2Monte Carlo 1968 A26
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Letzelter, Jean Claude
1-0Monte Carlo 1968 A08
Forintos, Gyozo V vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Monte Carlo 1968 A91
Damjanovic, Mato vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Monte Carlo 1968 B72
Benko, Pal C vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Monte Carlo 1968 A26
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Padevsky, Nikola
1-0Monte Carlo 1968 E17
Uhlmann, Wolfgang vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Monte Carlo 1968 A84
Byrne, Robert E vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Monte Carlo 1968 C18
Zinser, Sylvain vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Monte Carlo 1968 E91
Medina Garcia, Antonio Angel vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Palma de Mallorca 1967 B08
O'Kelly de Galway, Alberic vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Palma de Mallorca 1967 A88
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Khanov, K.
1-0URS-chT 1967 D36
Ivkov, Borislav vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Palma de Mallorca 1967 D75
Levit, Roman vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1URS-chT 1967 A48
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Matulovic, Milan
1-0Palma de Mallorca 1967 E90
Gligoric, Svetozar vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Palma de Mallorca 1967 E43
Damjanovic, Mato vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1-0Palma de Mallorca 1967 E81
Donner, Jan Hein vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Palma de Mallorca 1967 D79
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Toran Albero, Roman
1-0Palma de Mallorca 1967 B36
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Diez del Corral, Jesus
1-0Palma de Mallorca 1967 E87
Jimenez Zerquera, Eleazar vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Palma de Mallorca 1967 B07
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Boleslavsky, Isaak
1/2-1/2URS-chT 1967 A22
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Calvo Minguez, Ricardo
1/2-1/2Palma de Mallorca 1967 A44
Tatai, Stefano vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Palma de Mallorca 1967 B15
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Dzindzichashvili, Roman
0-1URS-chT 1967 A14
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Lehmann, Heinz Dr
1/2-1/2Palma de Mallorca 1967 A26
Taimanov, Mark E vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1URS-chT 1967 D70
Muhutdinov, Marat vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1URS-chT 1967 B08