Soviet Cheating in FIDE Competition: Keres-Botvinnik, 1948, Pt 1

It has long been speculated that Soviet authorities coerced Paul Keres into throwing games to Mikhail Botvinnik in the 1948 World Championship Match-Tournament, held in the Netherlands and the Soviet Union.

The tournament to replace the late Alexander Alekhine was first envisioned in 1946, to bring together the six surviving players from the famous 1938 AVRO tournament: former world champion Max Euwe (Neth), Paul Keres (ex-Estonia/USSR), Reuben Fine (USA), Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR), Samuel Reshevsky (USA), and Salo Flohr (ex-Czechoslovakia/USSR).

Keres's country, Estonia, had been unlawfully and brutally annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, invaded by Germany in World War II, and retaken by the Soviets.  Keres fell under Nazi control during the war and was forced to participate in German chess activities, and was used for propaganda purposes.

After the war, the Soviets were executing those thought to have collaborated with the Germans.  Keres was at risk of his freedom, if not his life.

Salo Flohr was an ethnic Polish-Ukranian Jew who lived in Czechoslovakia until the German annexation of parts of the country in 1938.  He fled to the Netherlands, Sweden, and then in 1939 to the Soviet Union with the help of Mikhail Botvinnik.

The first of the Soviet machinations with respect to the proposed championship tournament was engineering the replacement of the aging Flohr with trusty young Russian Vassily Smyslov.  Flohr was heavily criticised by the Soviet chess hierarchy for failing to perform at the highest levels.  He had been last place at AVRO, and the age of 40 was not thought to any longer be a contender. 

In fact, at the 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal (to which he was relegated), he finished sixth, and at the Budapest Candidates Tournament he was last place.

With Smyslov in the tournament, that meant two Russian Soviets, Keres, Euwe, and the two Americans were to compete.

When the tournament was first proposed, in 1946, it was initially slated to be held in The Hague:

The tournament was delayed, partly because the USSR was not yet a FIDE member.^.  On 15 September 1946, the proposed contestants (except Fine) met in Moscow to iron out the details. This meeting occurred a day after the USSR-USA match ended, and did not involve FIDE. Botvinnik reportedly announced that he would not play in the Netherlands. He was angry about a Dutch news report that suggested his fellow Russians might collude to help him win the title. The five contestants then compromised with a plan to divide the event between the Netherlands and Moscow. The Soviet Sports Committee refused this idea outright because they wanted all the games to be played in Moscow.

Initially, when Fine declined to take part in the tournament ("I don't want to waste two months of my life watching Russians throw games to each other") it was proposed to replace him with the winner of the upcoming 1946 Groningen or 1946 Prague tournament.  Botvinnik won at Groningen, but was already in.  However, Miguel Najdorf, perhaps the strongest of the Western players at the time, won at Prague.

The Soviets insisted in the 1947 negotiations that no additional players be added to the field.  The first two legs of the tournament were to be held in the Netherlands.  The final three were in Moscow.  With the "table set", it was only a matter of arranging a few results to ensure the Botvinnik became champion.

There is no "smoking gun" that says Keres threw games, however there is condiderable circumstantial evidence.

We will discuss those in Part 2.

Part 2 - Organizing the 1948 Match-Tournament - http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/soviet-cheating-n-fide-competition-keres-botvinnik-1948-pt-2

Part 3 - The games played at The Hague - http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/soviet-cheating-in-fide-competition-keres-botvinnik-1948-pt-3

Euwe notebook on his opening secrets was taken from him in Moscow, Botvinnik never beat Euwe before 1948.

According to the Tournament book, written by Euwe (I have the 2013 English translation by Hanon Russell, with a Forward by Hans Ree), Ree related that Euwe's notes were seized by border guards while the players were taking the train from the Netherlands to Moscow.

"A curious incident, not mentioned on [Euwe's original tournament book], but later described by Euwe, happened at the Polish-Russian border, when the players and their entourage were in their way to Moscow for the second part of the tournament.  Soviet customs officials were intrigued by the strange, hieroglyphic-looking notes in Euwe's luggage that, in fact, constituted his opening repertoire.  What should they do?

Making a phone call to Moscow, obviously, where it was decided the notes should be confiscated, checked at leisure in Moscow, and eventually given back....

But Botvinnik intervened and phoned Moscow himself.  After many hours of waiting, it was decided that Euwe could keep his notes, provided he signed a declaration that nothing in it would be detrimental to the Soviet state."

Given that Euwe finished in last place, I'd say he kept is word ;^)

That's true.  From 1934 to 1946, Botvinnik's score versus Euwe was 0 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses.

Thank you Jaime, I look forward to 2nd. part. I beileve Keres would of beat Botvinnik, Keres was the only player to have a plus score against the great Capablanca. Botvinnik could only hav a tied score against age Cuban, a testimony to Capablanca greatness.

Rest in peace, Victor Korchnoi - a REAL world champion!

Have anyone read the book yet that Keres wrote about the 1948 tournament (world chess championship 1948). Have not found any review of it yet. Anything to recommend?

I'm not aware of any direct evidence of thrown games in the 1948 tournament, but in "Secret Notes", Bronstein relates the cheating the Soviet players were coerced into in order to ensure that Reshevsky didn't win Zurich 1953. It's not much of a stretch to infer that similar machinations may have occurred at The Hague.

Cheating is a very strong word and sometimes reflects the character of the people insinuating it more than the alleged individuals themselves.  Either come up with something concrete about cheating or forget it. "Keres was at risk of his life", give me a break, you are just imagining scenarios where the Soviets cheated without evidence.  

"Secret Notes" by Bronstein is a foountain of informations

What are these Secret Notes?

Secret Notes is the name of a book by Bronstein and Sergei Voronkov published by Edition Olms in 2007.

It's gonna take more than one batgirl to address the topic of Soviet cheating in FIDE competition, and I don't expect to live long enough to see the series conclusion. 

Thanks. I appreciate the info.

Don't forget Chigorin and Alekhine if it wasn't for them chess won't advance so much in Russia; Chigorin was the first one to develop hyper-modern concepts in the opening{ Old Indian defense 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6; Chigorin defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6; and his treatment on the French defense 1.e4 e6 2.Qe2! revolutionary idea, blocking his white bishop but completely sound and King's Indian Attack setup and many of his opening innovations; We come to Alekhine all universal style or dynamic style, always pushing forward and creating complication and he is the first to concentration on opening preparation, very diligent and always innovating new ideas in the opening. We are indebted to Chigorin and Alekhine without them there will be no Russian school; Fischer accomplish a lot in chess because of the Russian system, he might not been part of the school system but he benefit from Russian periodicals greatly. 

Bump for santero

Bump for congrandolor

True enough, but totally out of context. The 1948 Euwe was older, and  and not as strong as he had been in the 1930's. Botvinnik, on the other hand, had grown in strength and was 10 years younger

Botvinnik won in 1948 because he was the best player in the world at the time, not because his Soviet compatriots threw games to him. As for the evidence/indications of Keres losing on purpose, it has to be pointed out that he suffered such blow-ups throughout his career, and that in 1948 he was coming back from a period during which he'd been barred from international competitions. Also, if the Soviets really had wanted to load the dice, why not in favour of the ethnic Russian Smyslov? Stalin was a paranoid anti-semite, and Botvinnik was Jewish.