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After Alekhine's death as incumbent world chess champion in 1946, the chess world entered a period of interregnum where no grandmaster could legitimately claim the title as his own. The first great post-war tournament was that at Groningen in Holland. This witnessed a mighty race between the former champion Dr Max Euwe and the chief Soviet protagonist Mikhail Botvinnik. Had Euwe won he would doubtless have been proclaimed world champion anew - so for Botvinnik it was vital to win in order to keep his prospects of a challenge alive. This book, reproduced from the original contemporary notes, recounts in detail that thrilling struggle. It contains a multitude of masterpieces by a generation of grandmasters and masters finally eager and able to take up the chess pieces once again after the World War had frustrated their energies and blighted their opportunities to compete on the international stage.
Groningen 1946 was the first major chess tournament after the conclusion of World War II. It was a 20 player round robin. Most of the strongest players of the world were present. Many of the games were exciting and are well annotated by Euwe. They demonstrate that even the strongest grandmasters can make obvious blunders. All of the traditional world champions had died during or in the immediate after math of the war. Emanuel Lasker died January 11, 1941 at age 72. Capablanca died 8 March 1942 at age 53 in the same hospital room as Lasker had died. Alekhine died March 24, 1946 at age 53. This meant FIDE could take control of the World Championship as there was nobody left alive who could claim the world championship as a personal possession. Groningen 1946 was much stronger than London A and B mainly because the top players were allowed out of the Soviet Union for the first time. Botvinnik, Smyslov, Flohr, Boleslavsky and Kotov represented the Soviet Union and Najdorf came from Argentina, his new country, to play. It had been hoped that Fine and Reshevsky would come from the USA to play but they did not arrive. An indication of the relative strenghts was Martin Christoffel, champion of Switzerland, who finished Second in London B, but finished last in Groningen. Another indicator was Botvinnik and Euwe had been in a race for first place. However, when Kotov defeated Botvinnik that seemed to end his chances for first place until Euwe blundered and lost to Najdorf. That ended for the time being the allegation that the Soviet players would throw games to each other to secure first place. This was the last tournament in which Euwe got a good result. In the World Championship Tournament held in 1948, Euwe scored one win, six draws and 13 losses for 4-16. This poor result showed that Euwe could no longer compete credibly for the World Championship.
The Life & Games of the Seventh World Chess Champion Vasily Smyslov, the seventh world champion, had a long and illustrious chess career. He played close to 3,000 tournament games over seven decades, from the time of Lasker and Capablanca to the days of Anand and Carlsen. From 1948 to 1958, Smyslov participated in four world championships, becoming world champion in 1957. Smyslov continued playing at the highest level for many years and made a stunning comeback in the early 1980s, making it to the finals of the candidates’ cycle. Only the indomitable energy of 20-year-old Garry Kasparov stopped Smyslov from qualifying for another world championship match at the ripe old age of 63! In this first volume of a multi-volume set, Russian FIDE master Andrey Terekhov traces the development of young Vasily from his formative years and becoming the youngest grandmaster in the Soviet Union to finishing second in the world championship match tournament. With access to rare Soviet-era archival material and invaluable family archives, the author complements his account of Smyslov’s growth into an elite player with dozens of fascinating photographs, many never seen before, as well as 49 deeply annotated games. German grandmaster Karsten Müller’s special look at Smyslov’s endgames rounds out this fascinating first volume. [This book] is an extremely well-researched look at his life and games, a very welcome addition to the body of work about Smyslov... – from the Foreword by Peter Svidler
Focusing on the recovery of chess in Spain and Europe after World War II, this book traces the development of the International Chess Tournaments in Gijon from 1944 to 1965. The authors cover the decline of world champion Alekhine and the rise of the child prodigy Arturo Pomar, along with the great chess of Euwe, Rossolimo, Prins, Medina, Larsen and others. Drawing on primary sources and testimonies of former players and organizers, chapters feature the tournament tables, winner's biographies, historical commentaries and 213 games. Appendices with biographical notes and tables of participants for each year are included.
World champion who dominated chess in the 1940s and '50s selects and annotates his own best games to 1946. 221 diagrams.