Masterpieces and Drama:Part II
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Masterpieces and Drama:Soviet Championships 1920-1937
by Sergey Voronkov
Hardcover Edition: 464 Pages
Language:Russian
Ripol.2007
http://www.chess.com/article/view/masterpieces-and-drama
Every revolution is a victim of its own folly. As a scion of the old nobility, Alekhine was always under the suspicion of authorities. So he chose to leave the land and settle in France. Chess in Russia would have benefited immensely with his presence and participation in these championships.
The case of fellow- Russian, Efim Bogoljubow is rather different.He had fallen in love with a young woman in Germany and settled there for good. However, as a leading international player and contender for world championship he was seen as an asset by the powers that be. So he was allowed to play the 3rd and 4th Soviet Championships that he duly won. His stock with the authorities also rose with his victory in Moscow International Tournament, 1925 ahead of Lasker and Capablanca. Thereafter he fell foul of authorities and denounced as a renegade. He was never to return.
The year 1924 winessed the death of Lenin and also the rise of Stalin to power.In the chess organization Ilyin-Genevsky was gradually eclipsed and Nikolai Krylenko took over.There could not be a greater contrast between the two men.
Ilyin-Genevsky was a man of sweetness and charm.He was a liberal by temperament and believed in persuasion and consensus.
Krylenko was a hardliner who loved acting tough. After Lenin’s death he had shifted his allegiance to Stalin and became a public prosecutor. His name prominently figures in Stalin’s show trials during the Great Terror. Krylenko had a passion for chess, although he had none of Ilyin-Genevsky’s talent for the game. He was an impatient man who demanded results. He didn’t care for the old guard represented by Romanovsky, Levenfish and others. In his eyes they were incapable of securing the world title. While they were still indispensable for international tournaments held in the Soviet Union they were not wanted for playing abroad.He was looking for new talent and found it in the younger generation: Riumin, Botvinnik and others.It was Riumin who was a great favourite with Krylenko. When the 7th Soviet Championship began he was added to the list of finalists at the last minute, much to the consternation of other players.
Romanovsky refused to play as a mark of protest.He was punished for his defiance and banned from the championship for a whole year.
Riumin, however, justified Krylenko’s faith in him by winning game after game and was leading the pack by the end of the 14th round.
Botvinnik, his main rival had the misfortune of losing two games, but recovered well enough to follow him close on his heels.On the eve of 15th round Riumin had 11½ points to Botvinnik's 11, with three rounds to go.The race for first prize between the new stars evoked extraordinary fan interest.Already the tournament had been a a superhit. A daily bulletin with a circulation of 10,000 sold like hot cakes and copies in kiosks would disappear in no time.The showdown between the young talents was waited with bated breath.The tension of the clash was heightened by the fact that Riumin was a Muscovite and Botvinnik, a Leningrader.The two great cities, Moscow and Leningrad (The city has now regained its name,St.Petersburg) have always been rivals and vied for honours in chess.Rumin was playing on home turf, and had many fans in Moscow rooting for him.The charismatic player was loved and admired for his scintillating play.
Botvinnik was not without supporters. But the quiet, reserved young man felt lonely and uneasy.
On the evening of 9th November, 1931 the tournament hall was packed to capacity and the doors were closed to prevent eager gatecrashers from entering. There were hundreds gathered in the foyer and many more had collected outside the building. Thousands of chess fans who could not make it to Moscow waited impatiently for the news on radio broadcast. Krylenko watched from the front row, and he had no doubt that his protégé, Riumin would beat the lad from Leningrad.
On the eve of the round,Riumin's friends did urge him to play quietly.“You know you are playing Black,” Zubarev told him, “And the tournament situation is such that Botvinnik must strive for complications.” But as Udovich put it, “That wasn’t in his character.Kolya didn’t like to wait and maneuver.”
And the battle began in earnest....
A tense battle.In the last two rounds Botvinnik scored a point and a half while a reeling Riumin managed only half a point. Botvinnik was the new Champion.
Notes:
1)Nikolai Krylenko( 1885-1938), like several other men of Stalin, did not enjoy the favor of his master till the end. In his book Soviet Chess, Andrew Soltis describes his days before the downfall.
A party worker recalled how in November, 1937, Krylenko drank heavily, with "eyes empty and glassy” would sit in his office with "bottles everywhere, playing chess."
He was first removed from the post of state prosecutor. Then he was denounced and arrested. One of the milder charges against him was that he spent too much time on chess and, not on his work as commissar of justice. The more serious charge was that he was a “counter-revolutionary”. A confession was duly obtained from him under torture, and after a summary trial he was shot.
2)Nikolai Riumin (1908-1942) died of tuberculosis during the Second World War.
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