Farewell to a grandmaster

Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinik, the sixth world chess champion, died last Friday in Moscow at 83.

Born to a Russian couple holidaying in Finland in 1911, he learnt to play chess at 12. Four years later, he was already good enough to qualify for the final league of the Soviet Championships. This clearly marked him out as the potential World Champion that the Soviets were seeking.

In 1946, negotiations were underway with world champion Alexander Alekhine for a world title match but everything halted when Alekhine was found dead.

The World Chess Federation saw this as an opportunity to assume control of the world championship cycle and in 1948, a five-man tournament between Botvinik, Vassily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Samuel Reshevsky and Max Euwe was arranged.

Botvinik's superiority over the others were never in doubt and at 36, he was crowned the sixth world chess champion.

The following three years, Botwinnik did not play any chess. Instead, he pursued his studies as an electrical engineer and was awarded his doctorate in 1951.

He returned to active play the same year when he was required to defend his title against David Bronstein. Botvinik almost lost but somehow he managed to tie the match at 12-12 and retained the crown.

In 1954, he again retained his title after drawing 12-12 with Smyslov. Smyslov was again his challenger in 1957 and this time, Smyslov won with a convincing 12.5-9.5 margin.

But Smyslov's hold on the title was short, for Botvinik exercised his right to a return match and won back his title the following year with a 12.5-10.5 score.

As the 50s were ending, 24-year-old Mikhail Tal was setting the chess world ablaze with his swashbuckling fiery style of play. Tal qualified for the right to meet Botvinik in 1960 and proceeded to rip the older man apart in many complex games. Botvinik lost by 8.5-12.5.

By this time, retirement from world championship play was obvious for Botvinik but he confounded his critics by winning the return match in 1961 with a 13-8 result.

It has often been said that Botvinik had never won a world championship match as a defending champion. He drew in 1951 and 1954, and lost in 1957 and 1960. In 1963, Tigran Petrosjan was Botvinik's challenger; again, Botvinik lost his title by a 12.5-9.5 score.

This time, the loss of the title was permanent for FIDE had decided there would be no more return match for the defeated champion. This ended Botvinik's tenure as world champion.

Botvinik continued to play in tournaments and caused trouble to the younger generation. In 1970, at 59, he finally retired from active play.

In the 37-year period, Botvinik played many matches and 31 hard tournaments where he faced the cream of grandmasters: Emanuel Lasker, Jose Raoul Capablanca and Alekhine in his youth, and Tal, Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer in his later years.

Botvinik was credited for setting up his Botvinik School of Chess which teaches good basic chess to the very elite of Soviet juniors. The first Botvinik school was started in Leningrad at the end of the 1930s and his most talented pupil then was Mark Taimanov.

The school restarted in 1963 this time in Moscow. It lasted for one and a half years and among the pupils were Anatoly Karpov, Yuri Balashov and Yuri Razuvaev.

The final school was held from 1969 and continues until today, although now it is known as the Kasparov Chess School. Gary Kasparov himself joined in 1973 and players like Artur Yusupov, Lev Psakhis and Sergei Dolmatov were members.

In recent years a large number of the most talented newcomers like Vladimir Kramnik, Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexey Shirov attended the school although Shirov said he hated it and found it rather "useless".

NATIONAL AGE-GROUP CHAMPIONSHIP

The Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia, with cooperation from the Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam and the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Malaysia, will organise the national age-group chess championship.

This year's championship, again sponsored by the Asia Insurance Co Ltd and the Asia Life Assurance Society Ltd, will be played from May 26 to 28 at the Wisma MPSA in Shah Alam.

Like in previous years, there will be separate events for boys and girls in the under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 age groups. A new category is the under-10 age-group.

For the under-16 and under-18 categories, the male and female champions will each receive RM240 and a challenge trophy. There are four other cash prizes for the top boys and girls.

The winners of the under-14 category will each receive RM200 and a trophy while in the under-12 category, RM150 and a trophy awaits the best players. For the under-10 category, the best players will each get RM100 and a trophy. Cash prizes will also be awarded to the other top boys and girls in the three categories.

In the past, the various winners were later sent to several international junior chess events. For example, the winners of the 1992 championship went to Duisberg for the world age-group championship while in 1993, winners played in the Bratislava world age-group championship. Last year, players were sent to Szeged in Jungary.

To take part, call the MPSA and ask for Hassanuddin Ghazali, Sheikh Ahmad Hassan or Asmah Mohd Zin.