Alexander Kotov Memorial 2010

Alexander Kotov entered the ranks of the country's foremost players in bold fashion after having steadily mounted the classification ladder. He became a first-category player in 1934, and in 1938, at 25, he won the title of Master and qualified for a U.S.S.R. tournament.

The spring of 1939 is a memorable page in Kotov's chess biography. The 11th U.S.S.R. Championship had started in Leningrad, and Botvinnik, Levenfish and other experienced tournament combatants had calmly taken their places at the boards. The same could not be said of Alexander Kotov. One of the least known of the 18 competitors, he was nervous, not certain of his prowess. But it may well be that none of the others were so eager for battle as he.

Four victories in a row put him into the lead. A tense and unusually thrilling battle followed. Who would be the champion? Botvinnik or Kotov?

By the time the decisive encounters of the last round were reached, the young master had chalked up the same number of points as the world-famous Mikhail Botvinnik. The lots had brought the two leaders together in the last round. Interest in the Kotov v. Botvinnik game ran at fever pitch.

Recalling that important game, Botvinnik says: "Tickets were sold out a day before. When, despite this, the unlucky fans without tickets began gathering at the entrance, the organizers of the championship found an ingenious way out: they set up a demonstration board of the game between the leaders on the river Moika embankment, opposite the building where the tournament was taking place. After one bank of of the river quickly became crowded with spectators, the other began to fill up. Traffic came to a standstill. It was an unusually fine evening, and the fans spent several hours in the open air attentively following the decisive game."

This exciting encounter ended in a victory for Botvinnik. The hero of the 11th U.S.S.R. Championship, however, was undoubtedly Kotov. His brilliant performance was duly recognized: he became the third Soviet player to receive the title of Grandmaster (Botvinnik was the first, in 1935, and Levenfish the second, in 1937).

When Grandmaster Alexander Kotov suffered a severe setback in the 12th U.S.S.R. Championship in 1940 (he shared next to the last place with Grandmaster Levenfish) many commentators said his previous success had been an accident. They were mistaken, however. In his subsequent appearances Kotov proved that what had been an accident was his poor showing in 1940 and that his victories and progressing skill were a logical expression of the growth of his talent.

One of Kotov's traits is objectivity in appraising his own play and an attentive, critical attitude towards his shortcomings. He realized sooner than many critics that his weak point lay in a predominance of tactical skill over the strategic. Studying his mistakes, he turned time and again to the games of the great masters; he broadened his horizon and conquered his predilection for tactical lines.

Chigorin's diversified playing and outstanding analytical art have exerted a tremendous influence on Kotov. He has analyzed in detail many games played by the famous Russian champion, with a particularly close study of all the games in the match between Chigorin and Tarrasch in 1893.

Owing to the war Kotov had to postpone verification of the results of his painstaking study and stern criticism of himself. During the difficult war years he worked as an engineer at a factory in Moscow. In 1944 he was decorated with the Order of Lenin for his excellent work.

Alexander Kotov's critical attitude towards himself has helped him to avoid his early mistakes. In recent years he has developed his capabilities to the full. He placed fourth in the big international tournament in Stockholm, tied for first with Bronstein in the 16th U.S.S.R. Championship, and scored good results in other important competitions, among them the Moscow v. Budapest Match-Tournament in 1949 and team championships of the Central Council of Trade Unions.

Winning general recognition, GM Kotov has emerged as one of the leading players in the world. He registered big victories at the international tournaments in Venice in 1950 and in the Stockholm Interzonal Tournament of 1952, where he piled up 16.5 points out of a possible 20 and outstripped Petrosian and Taimanov, who tied for second place, by three points.

Soviet chess fans highly appreciate the bold and diversified playing of this talented Grandmaster. They know that Kotov, like Chigorin, has no use for draws without struggle, that he seeks and finds concealed possibilities in each position.