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 →Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Matulovic, Milan
1-0Palma de Mallorca 1967 E90
Mecking, Henrique vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Hastings6667 1966 A88
Uhlmann, Wolfgang vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Hastings6667 1966 D46
Barendregt, Johan Teunis vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1-0IBM 1966 B12
Kuijpers, Franciscus Antonius vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1IBM 1966 B09
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Van Scheltinga, Theo D
1-0IBM 1966 A14
Flohr, Salo vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2IBM 1966 E11
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Hartston, William R
1/2-1/2Hastings6667 1966 E82
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Basman, Michael J
1/2-1/2Hastings6667 1966 A29
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Zuidema, Coenraad
1-0IBM 1966 D75
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Stein, Leonid
1/2-1/2URS-chT 1966 A36
Liberzon, Vladimir M vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2URS-chT 1966 C11
Keene, Raymond D vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1-0Hastings6667 1966 E62
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Robatsch, Karl
1-0IBM 1966 D36
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Szilagyi, Gyorgy
1-0IBM 1966 A07
Szabo, Laszlo vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1IBM 1966 B37
Penrose, Jonathan vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Hastings6667 1966 A42
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Balashov, Yuri S
1-0Hastings6667 1966 E48
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Pomar Salamanca, Arturo
1-0IBM 1966 D14
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Czerniak, Moshe
1-0Hastings6667 1966 A42
Birbrager, Isaak vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1URS-chT 1966 D13
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Kurajica, Bojan
1-0Hastings6667 1966 E49
Lutikov, Anatoly S vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1URS-chT 1966 B10
Flohr, Salo vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Noordwijk 1965 D13
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Szabo, Laszlo
0-1EU-chT 1965 E85
Tolush, Alexander V vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Moscow-Leningrad 1965 B06
Trifunovic, Petar vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Noordwijk 1965 B07
Ciocaltea, Victor vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1EU-chT 1965 B16
Schmid, Lothar vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2EU-chT 1965 B07
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Gligoric, Svetozar
1/2-1/2EU-chT 1965 D32
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Van den Berg, Carel Benjamin
1-0Noordwijk 1965 A04
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Tolush, Alexander V
1-0Moscow-Leningrad 1965 E42
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Kort, Jacob
1-0Noordwijk 1965 A26
Bobotsov, Milko G vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Noordwijk 1965 D42
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Donner, Jan Hein
1-0Noordwijk 1965 D32
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Langeweg, Kick
1-0EU-chT 1965 A29
Gligoric, Svetozar vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1-0EU-chT 1965 B12
Szabo, Laszlo vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2EU-chT 1965 D47
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Schmid, Lothar
0-1EU-chT 1965 E62
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Medina Garcia, Antonio Angel
1-0Tel Aviv olm prel 1964 E87
Eliskases, Erich Gottlieb vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Tel Aviv olm fin-A 1964 A36
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Bobotsov, Milko G
1/2-1/2Tel Aviv olm fin-A 1964 A37
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Blau, Max
1-0Tel Aviv olm prel 1964 D94
Sliwa, Bogdan vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
1/2-1/2Tel Aviv olm fin-A 1964 A37
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Szabo, Laszlo
1/2-1/2Tel Aviv olm fin-A 1964 A29
Aloni, Yoel vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Tel Aviv olm fin-A 1964 E71
Kirby, Kenneth vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Tel Aviv olm prel 1964 B08
Ciocaltea, Victor vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Tel Aviv olm fin-A 1964 B18
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Liberzon, Vladimir M
1-0URS Spartakiad 1964 E89
Letelier, Rene vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
0-1Tel Aviv olm prel 1964 D13