Learn from the great Mikhail Botvinnik

by Sagar Shah
6/22/2018 – If Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik could learn from the great Patriarch of chess Mikhail Botvinnik, we are sure you can also learn a great deal from this great master. Hence, ChessBase has launched its tenth DVD in the Master Class series in which capable tutors like GMsYannick Pelletier, Mihail Marin, Karsten Mueller and IM Oliver Reeh dissect the play of the fifth World Champion. In this article IM SAGAR SHAH explains how studying the classics helped him to become a stronger chess player. He shows you one of his favourite games of Botvinnik and how he applied what he learnt in his own game at the under-19 nationals back in 2007!
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Patriarch of chess

The Master Class series by ChessBase has been one of the major contributions to chess literature from where you can learn about the old masters of the past. Each Master Class DVD dissects the play of one legend with regards to his opening play, strategy, endgame play and tactics. At the end of whatever run-time the Master Class has (usually between five to seven hours), you would have known the great player in great depth.

Botvinnik DVD coverMany people suggest that the best resource in the present day to know about the classics (the games of old great masters) is My Great Predecessors series of books by Garry Kasparov. I agree with it. However, the problem with My Great Predecessors is that it is too heavy. There are a lot of variations and in-depth analysis. Sometimes instead of trying to learn about the great players and their key points of play, you might drown in the unending variations and your morale is affected. Instead, my suggestion is to pick up a Master Class DVD first.

Imagine you buy the first in the series on Bobby Fischer. GM Dorian Rogozenco comes and tells you all about Fischer's favourite openings. How he loved to always play 1.e4, how he always played the Najdorf or the King's Indian with black. After Rogozenco comes GM Mihai Marin, who talks about Fischer's love for the bishops and the various strategic motifs he used to play strong chess. Next would be IM Oliver Reeh, who has carefully selected some of the best tactics from Fischer's games. And lastly the world famous expert on endgames GM Karsten Mueller would talk about Fischer's best endgames. The total run-time of this product is around five hours, which according to me can be completed within 5 days. Now that you have good knowledge on Fischer, I think you are ready to lay your hands on the My Great Predecessors - Vol.4 on Fischer which will be so much more interesting with all the information that you have received from the Master Class DVD.

Whenever someone talks about Botvinnik, the first game that comes to my mind is Botvinnik vs Capablanca, AVRO 1938! What a game that was! Check it out with the annotations of the great Garry Kasparov.

 
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The chess tournament organised by the Dutch radio company AVRO was the most representative gathering of all of the strongest chess players of the time. Mikhail Botvinnik was only third (!) in this magnificent event, but his two superb victories over Alekhine and Capablanca gave a serious foundation to his claim to the world title - a dream he eventually fulfilled ten years later. The game described below belongs to the golden treasury of chess. It proves that Botvinnik's strategical vision was already superior to the greatest genius of the old guard. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 Today we all know that due to Black's premature definition of the pawn structure in the centre White has the better opportunities to gain the initiative. But in those days both opponents were wandering in 'terra incognita' - the routes that were to develop in the Nimzo-Indian Defence were just being formed. 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Ne2 b6 10.0-0 Ba6
By all chess standards that dominated the minds of the chess players in the 20s and 30s Black has absolutely nothing to complain about. Good pawn structure, easy development, no weaknesses. White isn't even threatening any immediate action. However, Botvinnik felt correctly that a possibility of a central advance e3-e4-e5 (after the preparatory f3) could lead to a violent attack on the kingside. Hard to believe? Well, at least you are thinking along the same lines as the great Cuban champion. In the game Kasparov-Ivanovich, 1983, after hatte Weiß nach 10...Re8 11.f3 Ba6 12.Ng3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Nc6 14.Bb2 c4 15.Qd2 Qd7 16.Rae1 White has finished mobilizing quickly and effectively. That is how, step by step, through constant practical testing, we are improving old plans. But the most valuable contribution, of course, is to invent a sound long-term strategy! 11.Bxa6 Subsequent experience has shown that one should prefer 11.f3 immediately working on the critical break in the centre. The White queen has to go to d3 anyway, and the black knight doesn't get a new option. 11...Nxa6 12.Bb2? Pioneers are doomed to making mistakes. The wrong move order always damages a deep strategical plan. 12.Qd3 was necessary. 12...Qd7 13.a4 Forced. 13.Qd3 was not good because of Qa4! sealing White's queenside. 13...Rfe8? Capablanca misses the moment to seize the initiative 13...cxd4 14.cxd4 Rfc8 followed by 15.-- Rc4 16.-- Rac8 and White has to forget about active plans in the centre and switch to defensive lines instead. 14.Qd3 c4? This serious positional mistake has a clear historical background. The 50-year-old Capablanca in his long chess career never dealt with hidden dynamic factors. His unique intuition and rich experience didn't send any danger signals here. Instead he counted on using his opponent's light squares with the long manoeuvre Na6-b8-c6-a5-b3. Capablanca simply underestimated the explosive power of White's position. 15.Qc2 Nb8 16.Rae1 Nc6 17.Ng3 Na5 If 17...Ne4 then 18.Nh1! and White's plan works out anyway, e.g. f5 19.f3 Nd6 20.Ba3 g6 21.Ng3 and after the inevitable e3-e4 the weakened position of the Black king is a source of permanent trouble. 18.f3 Nb3 Both sides are quite persistent. The a4-pawn is lost, but the long-awaited central advance is also ready. 19.e4 Qxa4 This miserable pawn has played an important role as bait for the tiger! 20.e5 Nd7 21.Qf2 Otherwise the isolated knight is able to come back into the game extremely effectively after Nb3-c5! Now Black has to take his opponent's threats more seriously - the white knight is heading for f5 and d6, and the advancing f-pawn could be a battering ram that will crack open the black castled position. But Capablanca cannot be frightened by these shadows on the horizon. The stubborn proponent of economy was famous for an astonishing ability to defend his king with a minimum of resources while his main army was gaining an advantage elsewhere. g6 22.f4 f5 Forcing the opening of the e-file and an exchange of rooks. 23.exf6 Nxf6 24.f5 Getting closer to the black king. Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Re8 Using a tactical trick to protect the knight on f6: 26.fxg6... (variation). Capablanca was reducing White's attacking potential, however, from now on he had no choice but to join the club of chess masterpieces. Unfortunately he was sitting on the wrong side of the board! In the event of 25...Rf8 26.Qf4 White's attack is also unstoppable, e.g. Qa2 27.fxg6! Qxb2 27...hxg6 28.Qg5 28.g7! Kxg7 29.Nf5+ Kh8 30.Qd6 Rf7 30...Kg8 31.Qg3+ 31.Qxf6+ mating. 26.Re6! 26.fxg6 hxg6 27.Rxe8+ Nxe8 26...Rxe6 Now instead of being consumed in the flame of the attack the modest f-pawn is making a dream career. The appearance of this powerful ally for the white queen was impossible to avoid: 26...Kg7 27.Rxf6! Kxf6 28.fxg6+ Kxg6 28...Ke7 29.Qf7+ Kd8 30.g7 29.Qf5+ Kg7 30.Nh5+ Kh6 31.h4! Rg8 32.g4 Qc6 33.Ba3! with mate to follow. 27.fxe6 Kg7 28.Qf4 Qe8 The queen must return 28...Qa2? 29.Nf5+ with mate in five. gxf5 30.Qg5+ etc. 29.Qe5 Qe7
Attack and defence have reached a faltering parity, each side needs reserves to decide an epic battle in its favour. The question is whose minor piece from the forgotten flank is faster? Black's knight is going to use the same route Ncb3-a5-c6, but what about the sleeping white bishop? Ncb3-a5-c6. 30. Ba3 $3 {If the first move of the bishop, 12.Bb2?, was just a bad joke, then the second little step from b2 to a3 has created a drama! The kamikaze act forces the black queen to leave her king again, this time not voluntarily, and to unblock the ambitious pawn which is running for the biggest prize. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Botvinnik,M-Capablanca,J-1–01938E49AVRO11

Capablanca and BotvinnikBotvinnik was the first player who did a systematic study of how chess openings should be prepared, how professional chess players must function and in general brought a structured approach to the game of chess. You can know about his influence when you realize that some of the great names like Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik have been his students!

I do not want to spill all the beans here. I want you to watch the DVD which has more than 7 (!!) hours of instructional content. I want you to learn from Pelletier, Marin, Reeh and Mueller about what Botvinnik was all about. I am sure you will learn a lot from them.

Contents of Master Class Vol.10

  • Video running time: 7 hours 45 min. (English)
  • Interactive tactics test with video feedback 
  • All Botvinnik's games, tables, background knowledge, short biography
  • “Botvinnik Powerbook”: The opening repertoire of the 6th world champion as a variation tree
  • Tactics training with 103 Botvinnik Games: 410 training questions, max. 883 points
  • New ChessBase Reader 2017

On a personal note

I believe in the power of learning from the Classics. So much so that my first DVD for ChessBase was in fact called 'Learn from the Classics'. In it, I spoke about how I learnt from the classics of the great masters of the past and used whatever I learnt in my own games. For example, I learnt a lot from the game of Botvinnik versus Capablanca given above.

As a young boy, I loved how Botvinnik arranged his pieces behind his pawns, how he lifted his rook from a2 to e2 and how he executed the e4 break. When I saw that game, I knew I was not going to forget it forever. After that, I used Botvinnik's concept in so many games.

Below is one of my favourites from the year 2007 against Jayankur Chougule. I have not touched the annotations, just to give you a feel of what I thought back then when I was 17!

 
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73MB, Fritz10.ctg 1.d4 Nf6 my oponent,a good player from kolhapur usually plays the chigorin variation.so i had preapred the following line against it. 1...d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.e4 Bg4 6.Be3 e6 6...e5 7.d5 Bxf3 8.gxf3 Ne7 9.Bxc4± 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.Qc2 0-0 9.0-0-0!± but when he played the first move as Nf6 i was happy that he was now in uncharted territory. 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 d5?! though this is a well known theoritical move i feel it goes againdt the basic idea of nimzo indian i.e white no longer gets doubled c pawns and black loses the B without any compensation! 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 0-0 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 i had seen a game between Botvinnik and Capablanca and so the plans in this position were pretty clear to me that is play Bd3 Ne2-g3 put the rooks on f and e files and play f3 and e4.this happened beautifully in the game though black could have stopped it b6 9.Ne2 Ba6 10.Bxa6 Nxa6 11.Qd3 Nb8 12.0-0 Nc6 here i was at a crossroad whether to play c4 or continue with the afforementioned plan.i choose the latter 13.Ng3 Na5 14.Ra2! i particulary like this move because the rook comes into the game without the c1 B moving and right now c1 is the best place for the B c5 15.f3 Rc8 16.e4 and so white has achieved his thematic idea of building this ideal centre but black does have play on the light squares cxd4 17.cxd4 Nc4?! looks pretty natural but i feel its dubious mainly because it stops his counterplay on the c file 17...Qc7 in order to exchange the queens 18.Bg5 Nd7 19.Nf5 Kh8 20.Rc1 Nc4 21.Ne7+- also looks pretty unappetising for black 17...Rc4 18.Nf5 Qc7 19.Bg5 Kh8 20.Bxf6 gxf6+- so Bg5 gives black the trouble if the queen moves from d8 18.e5 Nd7 19.f4 b5 20.Qf3 i like this move because it transfers the queen to the kingside for an attack though here Nf5 is stronger 20.Nf5 Kh8 i dont know why but fritz doesnt seem to understand how to play this position for white 20...Qb6 21.Rd1 i refrained from taking the d pawn as i didnt want to poen up the position when my opponent would get counterplay 21.Qxd5 Rcd8 22.Qe4 Ndxe5 23.fxe5 Rxd4 24.Be3!+- 21...Rcd8?! though it may seem a bit forced i dont like this move as it is relinquishing the open c file 22.Rf2! the rook finally swings to the kingside showing that Ra2 was a good idea!! Nb8 23.f5! i give this move an exclamation mark because it was from here that i had seen some 7-8 moves ahead f6 24.Nh5! fxe5 25.f6 the computer gives a faster way to win 25.dxe5 Nxe5 26.Qg3 Qc7 27.Rc2! Qf7 28.Bh6+- 25...e4 26.Qg4 g6 27.f7+! Rxf7 28.Rxf7 Kxf7 29.Rf1+ Kg8 30.Nf6+ Kh8 31.Qh4! the final decisive blow!!mate is inevitable or can be saved only at the cost of material Rd7 32.Nxd7 Qxd4+ 33.Kh1 and he resigned.a beautiful game where white carried out his plans vigorously and finally crowned his attack with a beautiful combination! 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.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Sagar,S2169Chougule,J21931–02007E40u-19 nationals8

Study of classics is important and the Master Class series by ChessBase really helps you to learn these classics in a fun interactive way!

Check out all the Master Class products from Vol. 1 to 10

The ten great masters covered in the Master Class series so far are:

  1. Bobby Fischer
  2. Mikhail Tal
  3. Alexander Alekhine
  4. Jose Raul Capablanca
  5. Emanuel Lasker
  6. Anatoly Karpov
  7. Garry Kasparov
  8. Magnus Carlsen
  9. Paul Morphy
  10. Mikhail Botvinnik

Links

Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.

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