Bronstein Meets Botvinnik On Board

David Bronstein was born February 19, 1924 in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine and died December 5, 2006 in Minsk, Belarus. He earned the Soviet Master title at age 16 for his second place result in the 1940 Ukrainian Championship. He believed he was the youngest master in the world. He won the Interzonal in 1948 and the Candidates Tournament of 1950 (after a playoff with Boleslavsky). He played Botvinnik for the world championship in 1951. With two games left to play, Bronstein led by one point. He lost game 23 and drew the next, resulting in a 12-12 score. This meant Botvinnik kept his title. Bronstein was known for opening ideas, brilliant combinations, and writing excellent chess books.

In this game, Bronstein faces Botvinnik. Mikhail Botvinnik was born August 17, 1911 and died May 5, 1995. He became a National Master in 1927. He won the Soviet Championship six times from 1931 to 1952. He won the World Championship Tournament in 1948. He held that title 1948-57, 1958-60, and 1961-63. Botvinnik won the event this game was part of with a score of 12.5 out of 16. Bronstein, a newcomer to the event, scored 6.5 and came in 15th out of 17 places. This game was lost by Botvinnik and is one of the games that I could not find in his books, which included almost all of the games from this event. I was able to consult Bronstein's writings and add my own thoughts.