Botvinnik's Secret Games

Mikhail Botvinnik was the ultimate boy scout of chess- always prepared! Indeed, his advance preparation forhis key matches was feared by the greatest. It eveninvolved the radio blaring while he was playing traininggames as well as having nicotine-puffing opponents blowsmoke in his eyes during practice games, in order toacclimatise himself for the real thing. Of course, thiswas before the days of modern political correctnesswhen smoking in public is regarded by the powersthat-be as a heinous crime and is, unlike licking thehighway clean with your tongue, now generally banned bylaw on health and safety grounds.Botvinnik's training games were a well guarded secretonly shared by a few trusty colleagues, such as theGrandmasters Ragozin, Averbakh and Furman. The Sovietstate was a monument to paranoia at the best of times,but suspicion multiplied when world titles hinged onsecrecy, and these games have lain hidden for decadesafter they were played.Botvinnik was World Champion three times, from 1948-1957, 1958 -1960 and 1961 -1963. His final championshipvictory against Tal in the 1961 revenge match counts asone of the highest scoring rating performances in thehistory of chess. It was of course based on the mostmeticulous preparation, not least in the psychologicalsphere of seeking to find and play positions which werenot to Tal's taste.Grandmaster Jan Timman is one of the most popular andcolourful players on the modern scene. A finalist inthe FIDE-World Chess Federation-World Chess Championshipin 1993, Timman has been the second dominating forcein Dutch chess after world champion Dr Max Euwe. HereTimman presents every Botvinnik training game whichcould be found and subjects the most important totypically close analytical and explanatory scrutiny.