The 1951 Botvinnik vs. Bronstein World Championship match was one of the most controversial and exciting matches in world championship history. Was Bronstein forced to throw the match, and if he was, did Botvinnik know about it? David Bronstein (1924-2006) was born in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine and showed early promise debuting in the 1939 Ukrainian Championship at age 15. A year later his strong 2nd behind Isaac Boleslavsky in the 1940 Ukrainian Championship earned him the Soviet Master title. Four years later he qualified for the USSR Championship (1944).
He continued to improve, but his performance was not strong enough to achieve the Soviet Grandmaster title. FIDE still invited him, along with six other Soviets, to the 1948 Saltsjöbaden Interzonal. Surprisingly, Bronstein won and was immediately awarded the Soviet Grandmaster title.
He continued this excellent form and went on to tie Boleslavsky for 1st in the 1950 Budapest Candidates and won the subsequent playoff match thereby earning the right to face Botvinnik.
Botanist had played no chess in public since he had won the World Championship tournament in1948, but fir the upcoming match he studied the games Bronstein had played since the Saltsjobaden Interzonal.
Bronstein was an energetic player in contrast to the scientific Botvinnik, the patriarch of Soviet chess. In the match Bronstein opened with the Dutch Defense. Botvinnik considered himself an expert on the Dutch and had not prepared for it. He suspected that Bronstein meant to "force me tofight against my own systems," a ploy Botvinnik dismissed as naive. After scoring +0 -1 =2 with the Dutch, Bronstein abandoned it.
By game 22, Bronstein led by a point and needed only to win once or draw twice in the last two games to become World Champion.
In game 23 Botvinnik played one of his best games of the match. It took Bronstein forty minutes to convince himself that it was time to resign. The final position caused some speculation. Bronstein was a P up, but Botvinnik had two Bs against two Ns and was the strongest endgame player in the world so there was little point in playing on. I confirmed this using Stockfish when white scored 5-0 in Shootouts.
Bronstein could still have become champion by winning the final game, but after pressing with the white pieces for 22 moves he was without winning chances and accepted Botvinnik's draw offer.
Years later, Botvinnik and Bronstein spoke in less than friendly terms about the match. Bronstein complained that after the last game many journalists came to the stage and asked Botvinnik to hold a press conference and they ignored Bronstein.
Botvinnik accused Bronstein of "outrageous" behavior. He would make a move and quickly go behind the stage, then... suddenly dart out and disappear again. There was also laughter among the spectators and this hindered Botvinnik's play.
Bronstein hinted that there was government pressure on him to lose the match. In a 1993 interview he explained that "There was no direct pressure... But... there was the psychological pressure of the environment..." in part caused by his father's "several years in prison" and what he labeled "the marked preference for the institutional Botvinnik."
Bronstein concluded that "it seemed to me that winning could seriously harm me, which does not mean that I deliberately lost."
Some say Soviet authorities pressured Bronstein to lose in order to keep Botvinnik, a favorite of the Communist Party leadership, on the throne.
Luis Rentero, organizer of the Linares tournaments, says Bronstein once told Bobby Fischer after Fischer lost to Spassky, "They forced me to lose an entire match to Botvinnik, and I didn't cry." Years later in an interview Bronstein denied having said it, but eventually conceded that he may have said something to that effect, but too much time had passed.
On the other hand, some historians claim that Bronstein simply "choked" and just couldn't score when he needed to.
The fact is that Bronstein was not as strong as Botvinnik. The only major tournament that Bronstein ever won was the 1950 Candidates tournament. It was the tournament of his life and he was never again a serious contender for the world championship.
In winning the following game (game 11) Bronstein evened the score by again adopting a system preferred by Botvinnik himslef and in doing so he achieved a sound position. Botvinnik had no real prospects so he decided to sacrifice two center Pawns. He got an attack, but it really didn’t amount to much and eventually Bronstein’s counterattack prevailed.
A game that I liked (Fritz 17)
[Event "World Championship, Game 11"]
[Site "Moscow URS"]
[Date "1951.04.08"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mikhail Botvinnik"]
[Black "David Bronstein"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E17"]
[Annotator "Komodo Dragon 3"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "1951.??.??"]
{E17: Queen's Indian Defense} 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 {This has
long been white's most popular line...white contests the long diagonal.} Bb7 {
The modern line is 4...Ba3 forcing white to decide how to defend the P.} 5. Bg2
Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. b3 {This is rarely played. 7 Nc3 is usual because it offers
the best chances to maintain a very slight initiative.} d5 8. cxd5 {One
annotator said the disadvantage of this move is that it releases the tension
in the center and locks in white’s dark squared B. That does not seem to be
the case as black cannot really avoid playing ...c5 at some point which will
allow whiter to play dxc5.} exd5 {According to Hams Kmoch capturing with the P
is sound because white lacks the ability to put pressure on the c-file and
the potential weaknesses on c6. Also, black's position has some potential
because he will control the e-file.} 9. Bb2 Nbd7 10. Nc3 Re8 11. Ne5 Bf8 12.
Rc1 {This position has been reached a few times in recent years and white has
played 12.f4 which is neither better nor worse than the text. Botvinnik's P
sacrifice really does not offer him much. Instead of playing it safe Botvinnik
sacrifices a P in order to open up black's K-side.} Nxe5 13. dxe5 Rxe5 14. Nb5
Re7 15. Bxf6 gxf6 {Even though white has an extra P and the Ps in front of
black's K have been shattered the position could not be more equal owing to
black still having his dark squared B and the better center. That said,
Botvinnik manages to use his pieces effectively to work up a bit of an attack.}
16. e4 {Offering a second P, but he still does not really get much, but it's
the only way to justify the first sacrifice.} dxe4 17. Qg4+ Bg7 {[%mdl 32]} 18.
Rfd1 {White appears to have obtained a very dangerous attack, but if he is
carsul black has adequate defensive resources.} Qf8 {This is best.} (18... Qc8
19. Qf4 {with an attack on the c-Pawn. In pre-engine days it was believed that
white stands better here, but the position is really no more than equal. Black
has two ways to equalize.} Qf8 (19... c5 {is met by} 20. Nd6 Qc7 21. Nf5 Qxf4
22. Nxe7+ Kf8 23. gxf4 Kxe7 24. Bxe4 Bxe4 25. Re1 f5 26. f3 Rg8 27. Kh1 Bd4 28.
fxe4 {with equality.}) 20. Rxc7 f5 21. Qxf5 Rd8 22. Rxd8 Qxd8 23. Rxe7 {equals.
} Qxe7) 19. Nd4 {White has made a little progress. He threatens Nf5.} (19. Rxc7
{is not especially good.} Rxc7 20. Nxc7 Rd8 21. Rxd8 Qxd8 {and at least black
has an extra P while white is left with nothing to show for his P minus.})
19... Bc8 20. Qh4 f5 21. Nc6 {InterA plausible idea was the immediate 21.Bh3}
Re8 22. Bh3 {An interesting position. It may appear even though white is two
Ps down with the exception of the B on g7 all of black's pieces are huddles on
the back rank while white's pieces look pretty aggressively positioned. Komodo
Dragon 3 prefers black by a P. The conclusion is that white does have some
compensation for his Ps, but just watch hoe Bronstein's pieces spring to life!}
Bh6 23. Rc2 e3 {A good move that increases the avtivity of his pieces.} 24.
fxe3 Bxe3+ 25. Kh1 Be6 {Things look different now. Black has open lines, the
two Bs and he threatens to trade Qs with ...Qh6} 26. Bg2 {Preventing 26...Qh6}
a5 (26... Qh6 27. Qxh6 Bxh6 28. Ne7+ Rxe7 29. Bxa8) 27. Bf3 Kh8 28. Nd4 Rad8 {
Aiming for ...Qb4 attacking the N.} 29. Rxc7 {This is a tactical slip.} (29.
Qf6+ Kg8 30. Nxe6 Rxd1+ 31. Bxd1 fxe6 32. Qxf8+ Rxf8 33. Rxc7 {White is a P
down, but Bs of opposite color make a draw likely.}) 29... Bd5 {[%mdl 2048]
Avoiding the trap of playing his intended ...Qb4} (29... Qb4 30. Qf6+ Kg8 31.
Nxe6 Rxd1+ 32. Kg2 Rd2+ 33. Kh3 {and black can delay, but not avoid mate}) 30.
Re1 {This is a real surprise...Botvinnik makes a catastrophic blunder.} (30.
Rf1 {offers his best defense.} Qd6 31. Rc2 f4 32. Bxd5 Qxd5+ 33. Nf3 Rd6 {
But even here white is under tremendous pressure and is more than lie=kjely
going to lose...a sample line...}) 30... Qd6 {...Re4 is the threat. Black is
winning.} 31. Rc2 Re4 {[%mdl 512]} 32. Bxe4 Bxe4+ {It's time to resign.} 33.
Qxe4 fxe4 34. Nf5 Qb4 35. Rxe3 Rd1+ 36. Kg2 Rd2+ 37. Rxd2 Qxd2+ 38. Kh3 Qf2 39.
Kg4 f6 {White resigned.} 0-1
