World Chess Championship 1951
| Portraits |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Mikhail Botvinnik | David Bronstein | |
| nation |
.svg){kind=small}
|
|
| status | Defending champion | challenger |
| Age | 39 years | 27 years |
In the 1951 World Chess Championship , Michail Botvinnik successfully defended his world title against David Bronstein .
Botvinnik had been world chess champion since 1948; Bronstein had qualified for the competition for the world championship through his victories at the Saltsjöbaden interzonal tournament in 1948 and the Candidates' tournament in Budapest in 1950 .
The competition for the world championship was scheduled for 24 games. The rules stipulated that in the event of a tie after 24 games, the world champion would keep his title. The match took place in Moscow from March 15, 1951 to May 11, 1951.
The match was extremely dramatic. First Bronstein took the lead in the fifth game. Botvinnik was able to win the sixth and seventh game and take the lead in turn. Up to the twentieth game, the challenger managed to equalize twice, after which the world champion took the lead again. But after victories in the 21st and 22nd game, Bronstein looked like the new world champion. Botvinnik had to win the 23rd game in which he had white. He succeeded in this in a final with two bishops against two knights, which became well known in the chess world. The 24th and last game ended in a draw after Bronstein could not achieve an opening distribution despite the white stones.
Botvinnik had thus defended his title and remained chess world champion until 1957, while Bronstein could no longer qualify for any competition for the world chess championship.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | 16 | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23 | 24 | Victories | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 5 | 12 |
| David Bronstein (USSR) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 5 | 12 |
literature
- Michail Botvinnik: Competition for the World Chess Championship Michail Botvinnik - David Bronstein Moscow 1951 . Edition Olms, Hombrechtikon / Zurich 2005. ISBN 3-283-00460-9 .
- Hans Müller : Botwinnik - Bronstein. The fight for the World Chess Championship Moscow 1951 . Publishing house Alois Reichmann, Vienna 1951.