Flohr's Bishop Pair Masterpiece - Best Of The 30s - Botvinnik vs. Flohr, 1933

In 1933, Mikhail Botvinnik was the new Soviet chess champion and the leading edge of a generation that would eventually come to dominate, not just Soviet chess, but chess worldwide. Botvinnik was still in need of international training opportunities to reach his full potential so Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky and Nikola Krylenko organized a match against one of the strongest players in the world, Salomon Flohr.

Flohr won the first two decisive games in the match, both masterpieces illustrating the power of the bishop pair. Botvinnik himself would win an incredibly similar victory to Flohr's second point in his World Chess Championship match with David Bronstein 18 years later.

Botvinnik ultimately tied the match, undoubtedly learning a great deal and eventually becoming the strongest player in the world.

Top 10 Games of the 1930s

• #1: ????
  
• #2: ????
• #3: ????
  
• #4: ????
• #5: ????
• #6: ????
  
• #7: Botvinnik vs. Flohr, 1933
  
• #8: Alekhine vs. Lasker, 1934
  
• #9: Euwe vs. Lasker, 1934
  
• #10: Parr vs. Wheatcroft, 1938
  
• See also: Top 10 of the 1940s, Top 10 of the 1950s, Top 10 of the 1960s, Top 10 of the 1970s, Top 10 of the 1980s, Top 10 of the 1990s, Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s

This (the first in the match) game opened with a Caro-Kann and Botvinnik played what we now call the Panov-Botvinnik Attack. Botvinnik faltered on move 10 when he took the opportunity to damage Flohr's pawn structure. In the process, he gave up the bishop pair, a mistake he would regret for the entirety of the game as Flohr calmly built up his position, completely controlling the board and slowly expanding before finding a delightful winning combination in the endgame.

My annotations are below. I hope you enjoy the game

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