60 years ago: Botvinnik wins return match against Tal

by Johannes Fischer
5/12/2021 – 60 years ago today, on 12 May 1961, the return World Championship match between Mihail Tal and Mikhail Botvinnik, which had started in Moscow on 15 March, came to an end. Tal had won the first match in 1960 with 12.5-8.5, but in the return match Botvinnik regained the world championship title and defeated Tal 13-8 (+10, -5, =6). But despite the clear result Botvinnik's victory still failed to convince.

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

The World Championship Match Mikhail Botvinnik vs Mihail Tal, Moscow 1961

Some World Championship matches receive a lot of attention, others less. The 1960 World Championship match between Tal and Botvinnik received a lot of attention, their return match in 1961 created less interest and a lot of people thought that the "wrong" player won.

Tal won the 1960 match to become the then youngest world champion of all time. His bold dynamic play thrilled fans all over the world and his victory against Botvinnik seemed to be a victory of fearless imagination against cold and rational logic and promised to be the beginning of a new era. But only a year later, in the 1961 return match, disillusionment followed: Botvinnik won 13 to 8 (+10, -5, =6) and reclaimed the world title. But the second match was played under unequal conditions.

Fundamentally unfair was the world champion's privilege to demand a return match. This rule forced the challenger to win the Candidates Tournament and two World Championship matches against the reigning world champion to capture the title, while the titleholder only needed to win one of possibly two matches to retain or recapture his title.

As if that was not enough Tal was also seriously ill during the return match in 1961. André Schulz writes:

Before the start of the match, Botvinnik ... had got into a dispute with Nikolai Romanov, the chairman of the sports committee. Romanov had informed Botvinnik ... that Tal had said he was sick and had a kidney colic and that the match might have to be postponed. Botvinnik, however, insisted on a medical certificate issued by a Moscow doctor. Tal had only provided a certificate from a Latvian doctor. He would therefore have had to travel to Moscow for the examination. At first Romanov thought this was unnecessary. Eventually, however, he demanded it from Tal, who then preferred to agree starting the match on time because he considered this procedure of getting a medical certificate complicated and insulting.

[Alexander] Koblenz [Tal's coach] later also revealed that Tal had suffered a mild heart attack two weeks before the competition. (André Schulz, Das große Buch der Schachweltmeisterschaften, New in Chess 2015, p. 150)

So the match began as planned on 15 March 1961 under unequal conditions, because Tal was ill and far from his best form. As a result of this Botvinnik indeed dominated the match and played the better chess. Moreover, he also seemed to be much better prepared.

In 1960, Tal had won the match against Botvinnik, among other things, because he repeatedly succeeded in creating positions which suited him and which allowed him to show his strengths. Botvinnik wanted to prevent that in the rematch.

In the return match with Tal, although by then I was already fifty, I prepared very well and surprised everyone, including Tal.  [Note: Botvinnik, who was born 17 August 1911, was in fact 49 when the return match began.] … In our second match I showed how to play against him. When Tal's pieces were leaping about the board, he had no equals, but when there was a solid pawn structure in the centre, then positionally he was weak, and therefore he had to be restricted, restricted. (Mikhail Botvinnik, Botvinnik – Tal, Return Match for the World Chess Championship, Moscow 1961, Edition Olms 2004, p. 12.)

In the return match, Botvinnik strove above all not to let Tal develop his strengths. Considering Botvinnik's reputation as a strategic-positional player and Tal's reputation as a tactical player, one might think that Botvinnik would have tried to aim for quiet positions and avoid tactical complications.

Always well prepared: Mikhail Botvinnik

But things were not that simple: in quite a few of the games in the match Botvinnik didn't shy away from complications, but even brought them about. What was important to him, however, was that he himself had the initiative.

A typical example is the seventh game of the match:

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.d4 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 b6 6.f3 Ba6 7.e4 d5?! Botvinnik criticises this move and writes: "This move can be considered a positional mistake, since it allows White to immediately get rid of his weak c4 pawn. I have to admit that already then I knew that 7...Nc6 gives Black a good game, and after 8.Bd3 Na5 9.Qe2 d6! followed by ... Qd7-a4 (or c6) his position is perfectly sound. One gains the impression that, from the standpoint of opening preparation, my opponent had not made very fruitful use of the ten months separating our second match from the first." (Mikhail Botvinnik, Botvinnik's Best Games, Volume 3: 1957-1970, Moravian Chess 2001, p. 123) 8.cxd5 Bxf1 9.Kxf1 exd5 10.Bg5 h6 In his note to this move Botvinnik reveals part of this match strategy. He writes: "Tal tries to complicate matters with a pawn sacrifice (11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.exd5 0-0, with a comfortable game for Black). True to my match tactics, I declined the pawn sacrifice, so as not to concede the initiative to my opponent." 11.Qa4+ c6 12.Bh4 dxe4?! Tal just wanted to sacrifice a pawn, now he accepts a pawn sacrifice by Botvinnik. However, this opens the position and puts Black's king in danger. 13.Re1 g5 14.Bf2 Qe7 15.Ne2 b5 16.Qc2 Qxa3 17.h4 At the moment, White's pieces do not seem to be particularly dangerous - they are all still on the first or second rank and do not seem to be particularly active. But Botvinnik saw their potential. gxh4 18.Bxh4 Nbd7 19.Ng3 Suddenly Black's king is in danger. 0-0-0 20.Nxe4 Rhe8 21.Kf2! Another interesting moment. Botvinnik refrains from winning material with 21.Nxf6 to avoid giving Black counterplay after Rxe1+ 22.Kxe1 Qa1+ 23.Qd1 Qxc3+ 24.Kf1 Nc5 . 21...Nxe4+ 22.fxe4 f6 23.Ra1 Qe7 24.Rxa7 Black is a pawn up but White's attack on the queenside is very strong. Qxe4 25.Qxe4 Rxe4 26.Ra8+ Nb8 27.Bg3 Kb7 28.Rha1 Rc8 29.R8a7+ Kb6 30.Bxb8! White wins material. b4 30...Rxb8 31.R1a6# 31.Bd6 bxc3 32.Bc5+ Kb5 33.R1a4 An impressive win by Botvinnik. He proudly writes: "From the character of the play, one might imagine that it was Tal playing White, and Botvinnik playing Black." 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-1–01961E24World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=67

Our experts show, using the games of Botvinnik, how to employ specific openings successfully, which model strategies are present in specific structures, how to find tactical solutions and rules for how to bring endings to a successful conclusion

But Botvinnik had not only studied Tal's games thoroughly, he had also tried to find out what deficiencies in his own play had caused him to lose the 1960 match. As a consequence, he developed strategies against his lack of stamina in the fifth hour of play, which had repeatedly been his undoing in the first match. To prepare for the return match, Botvinnik had worked on his fitness and had played training games against Semyon Furman in which he particularly focused to overcome his weakness in the fifth hour of the game. And Botvinnik discovered a magic potion: coffee!

When I  was very young, I couldn't understand why my opponents drank coffee. I did not need coffee to sustain me during a game. At that time I used to drink leman water, and this somehow helped me. But nevertheless my results deteriorated. I have to express my gratitude to chess players of the German Democratic Republic, who taught me in Leipzig [at the Chess Olympiad 1960] to drink coffee during a game, since there each participant was provided with a small thermos of coffee, and each could drink it when he wanted. There I observed that when I drank coffee during a game, I could last the whole five hours. Therefore in this match I switched to coffee. (Mikhail Botvinnik, Botvinnik-Tal 1961, p. 119)

Tal, however, seems to have taken things too lightly. After his victory in the 1960 match he seemed to have been convinced that Botvinnik would waive his right to a rematch and in general he seems to have been too confident. Tibor Karolyi writes:

Tal's overconfidence was a key issue before the 1961 match, and it is worth considering the factors that contributed to it. To begin with, he had achieved more than any player before him at such a young age, and was idolized by fans, not only in his native Latvia, but around the world. (Tibor Karolyi, Mikhail Tal’s Best Games 2, 1960-1971, The World Champion, Quality Chess 2015, p. 67)

Mihail Tal

But Karolyi sees the main reason for Tal's defeat in the return match in Tal's lack of preparation:

Tal … did not prepare much at all. He was also somewhat out of practice against top-class opposition; even though he performed superbly in the second half of 1960, he did not face anyone at the level of Keres, Petrosian, Spassky, Smyslov or Korchnoi. … Tal also wrote a book about the 1960 match, performed several simultaneous exhibitions, and started smoking heavily, none of which were useful for his preparation. (Karolyi, p. 68)

One indication that Tal's preparation was indeed poor is his disastrous result with Black. With White Tal scored 5.5 out of 10, with Black he just scored 2.5 out of 11. And in contrast to the previous match, Tal in 1961 only rarely managed to put Botvinnik under serious pressure.

Mikhail Botvinnik
 
101½½½1011101½1½010½1 13.0 / 21  
Mihail Tal
 
010½½½0100010½0½101½0 8.0 / 21  

All games of the match

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.d4 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.a3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 Bd6 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.Nb5 e5 10.Nxd6 Qxd6 11.dxe5 Qxd1+ 12.Kxd1 Ng4 13.Ke2 Ncxe5 14.Bd5 c6 15.Be4 Be6 16.Nd2 Rad8 17.h3 Nf6 18.Bc2 Rd7 19.b3 Rfd8 20.Rd1 Nd3 21.Bxd3 Rxd3 22.Bb2 R3d7 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.b4 Bf5 25.Nb3 Bd3+ 26.Ke1 b6 27.Rac1 Be4 28.f3 Rxd1+ 29.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 30.Kxd1 Bd5 31.Nd4 c5 32.bxc5 bxc5 33.Nb5 a6 34.Nc7 Bc4 35.Ne8 f5 36.h4 Kf8 37.Nd6 Bf1 38.g3 Ke7 39.Nxf5+ Ke6 40.e4 Ke5 41.Kd2 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-1–01961E51World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=61
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-1–01961B18World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=62
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-1–01961E51World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=63
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-½–½1961B12World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=64
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-½–½1961E51World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=65
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-½–½1961B12World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=66
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-1–01961E24World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=67
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-1–01961B12World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=68
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-1–01961A23World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=69
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-0–11961B12World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=610
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-1–01961D14World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=611
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-1–01961C18World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=612
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-1–01961E85World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=613
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-½–½1961B12World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=614
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-1–01961E81World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=615
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-½–½1961B12World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=616
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-0–11961E81World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=617
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-0–11961B12World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=618
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-0–11961E81World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=619
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-½–½1961B12World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=620
Botvinnik,M-Tal,M-1–01961E87World-ch23 Botvinnik-Tal +10-5=621

Of course it is idle to speculate how the match would have turned out if Tal had been sufficiently prepared and healthy, but presumably Botvinnik would then have had a lot more problems regaining the world title.

But in fact Tal lost the title he had won a year earlier. He continued to be one of the best players in the world until his death on 28 June 1992, but he never had another chance to play a match for the world championship.

However, after the 1961 match, FIDE abolished the right of the reigning world champion to demand a return match after losing the title. Still, thanks to this rule Botvinnik had managed to achieve the remarkable feat of being World Champion for a total of 13 years, although he could only win two of his seven World Championship matches: the 1958 return match against Vassily Smyslov and the 1961 return match against Tal.

Botvinnik became World Champion in 1948 after winning the World Championship tournament in The Hague and Moscow. Three years later, in 1951, he played his first World Championship match against David Bronstein, where he managed with some difficulty to reach a 12-12 draw. But that was enough, because Botvinnik, as the defending champion, was allowed to retain his title in the event of a draw.

The same scenario was played out in the 1954 World Championship match against Smyslov. This match also ended 12-12 and with this draw Botvinnik secured himself another three years on the world champion throne. But in 1957, at the second attempt, Smyslov was able to win against Botvinnik and became the new world champion. However, in their rematch in 1958 Botvinnik defeated Smyslov and regained the title.

In 1960 Botvinnik then lost the title to Tal, and again regained it one year later. But in 1963, he finally had to take his leave of the world championship throne after losing against Petrosian.

Seven years later, in 1970, Botvinnik ended his career. In the last tournament of his career, in Leiden 1970, he finished in joint third place with Bent Larsen behind the then World Champion Boris Spassky and Jan Hein Donner. But the last official event Botvinnik played in was the Match USSR vs Rest of the World in Belgrade 1970, where he defeated Matulovic 2.5-1-5 with one win and three draws.

Tal and Botvinnik met twice more after the 1961 competition, in the 1964 and 1965 Soviet Team Championships. The first of these two games ended in a draw, while Tal won the second.

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Qb3 Bg7 7.cxd5 0-0 8.Nge2 Na6 9.g3 Qb6 10.Qxb6 axb6 11.Bg2 Nb4 12.0-0 Rd8 13.d6 In this game, Tal came prepared. At that time this move was a novelty. exd6 14.Bg5 Re8 15.a3 Nc6 16.Rfe1 Bg4?! Safer was 16...Bd7 with a slight advantage for White. 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Nd5 Bd8 19.Nec3 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 Ra5? This should lose. Better was 20...Nxd4 21.Re8+ Kg7 22.Nxb6 Rb8 23.Nc4 Bd7 24.Re1 and White only has a slight advantage at best. 21.Ne3?! Even stronger was 21.Re8+ Kg7 22.Ne3 and White is winning: the bishop on g4 is hanging, and White threatens 23.Bxc6, winning the bishop on d8. 21...Bd7 22.Nc4 Ra8 23.d5 Nd4 24.Nxd6 White is a pawn up and almost winning. Tal completely outplayed Botvinnik. Rb8 25.Nce4 f6 26.Nc4 Kf8 27.h3 Nb3 28.Bf1 b5 29.Ncd6 f5 30.Re3 fxe4 31.Rxb3 Ke7 32.Nxe4 White is two pawns up and winning. Rc8 33.g4 Rc1 34.Kg2 Re1 35.f3 Rd1 36.d6+ Kf7 37.Bxb5 Be6 38.Rc3 Rd4 39.Rd3 Rxd3 40.Bxd3 Bd5 41.Nc5 b6 42.Be4 Be6 43.Nd3 Bb3 44.f4 Ke6 45.f5+ In this game Tal showed the energy and vigour which he did not show in the 1961 match. 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Tal,M-Botvinnik,M-1–01966B14URS Club Team-ch9.1

This was the last game Tal and Botvinnik ever played against each other.

On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.

Links


Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.