World Chess Championship 1948

The world chess federation FIDE organized a title fight for the world chess championship for the first time in 1948.

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Dutch cinema news about the World Cup in The Hague, 23 March 1948

The 1948 World Chess Championship was a chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE to determine the successor to the late World Champion Alexander Alekhine . It took place from March 2, 1948 to May 16, 1948 in The Hague and Moscow . Participants were Michail Botwinnik , Wassili Smyslow and Paul Keres from the Soviet Union , the American Samuel Reshevsky and the Dutch and former world champion Max Euwe . This was the first title fight organized by FIDE, and for the first time a round-robin tournament to determine the world champion was scheduled. Botvinnik won with 14 points from 20 games and was the new world chess champion .

background

→ Main article: Interregnum (chess)

World champion Alexander Alekhine died on March 24, 1946 in Portuguese exile. Since then the world championship title has been vacant. The World Chess Federation decided at the FIDE Congress in The Hague in 1947 to organize a tournament with six participants to determine the new world chess champion.

Attendees

Start number	1	2	3	4th	5
Portraits (not true to time)	Mikhail Botvinnik	Max Euwe	Vasily Smyslow	Samuel Reshevsky	Paul Keres
nation	Soviet Union	Netherlands	Soviet Union	United States	Soviet Union
Age	36 years	46 years	26/27 years	36 years	32 years
Historic rating (March 1948)	2826	2730	2730	2700	2754

These five participants were selected at the 1947 FIDE Congress, and Reuben Fine was also invited.

Fine declined to participate. As a reason he gave the preparation of his doctoral thesis and professional obligations. Another source reports that the cash prizes are too low for Fine and that he himself cites an illness. About ten years later, Fine writes that he had started his profession as a psychoanalyst at that time. No substitute player was invited for Fine. That was what was decided at the FIDE Congress in 1947.

With the participation of Max Euwe, this was the third world chess championship in which a former world champion took part in a world chess championship. This had already happened before at the World Chess Championship in 1896 and the World Chess Championship in 1937 .

The starting numbers of the participants were drawn on March 1, 1948.

Tournament mode

A round-robin tournament with five rounds was played. Before the waiver fines, only four rounds were planned. 25 rounds were played, each participant had a day off in five rounds.

The first ten rounds were held in The Hague in the Great Hall of the zoo. The first round started on March 2, 1948, the tenth and final round in The Hague ended on March 26, 1948. The remaining rounds were played in Moscow in the pillared hall of the House of Trade Unions . The first round in Moscow, the eleventh in total, began on April 11, 1948, the last round of the tournament took place on May 16, 1948.

The thinking time in each game was 2½ hours for the first 40 moves and then one hour for each additional 16 moves. After five hours of play, a game could be canceled as a hanging game and ended on one of the following days.

The Slovenian Milan Vidmar acted as the main referee .

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  Euwe, Smyslow, Keres, Botvinnik and Reshevsky

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  Botvinnik

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  Keres vs. Euwe

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  Smyslow vs. Reshevsky

Tournament course

1st round

Stand after the 1st round

player	Points in the 1st round	Points in the tournament
Botvinnik	3½	3½
Reshevsky	2½	2½
Keres	2	2
Smyslow	2	2
Euwe	0	0

1st round - March 2nd
Euwe	Keres	0: 1	C75	Spanish
Smyslow	Reshevsky	½: ½	C99	Spanish
2nd round - March 4th
Botvinnik	Euwe	1-0	D46	Semi-Slavic
Keres	Smyslow	1-0	D94	Grünfeld Indian
3rd round - March 8th
Reshevsky	Keres	1-0	A15	English
Smyslow	Botvinnik	½: ½	D96	Grünfeld Indian
4th round - March 9th
Botvinnik	Reshevsky	1-0	E51	Nimzo Indian
Euwe	Smyslow	0: 1	C98	Spanish
5th round - March 11th
Keres	Botvinnik	0: 1	A13	Réti
Reshevsky	Euwe	1-0	D46	Semi-Slavic

1 round

The first round started with a brief ceremony. The chairman of the Dutch chess federation KNSB spoke briefly to the press and the audience. He asked the press for objective coverage. He urged the audience to minimize smoking, after all in Russia it is not allowed to smoke at chess tournaments. Then the Mayor of The Hague made the symbolic first move on both boards.

The position between Smyslow and Reshevsky was even after the opening. Two dubious moves by Reshevsky on moves 22 and 23 gave Smyslow an advantage. He forgave the advantage due to some inaccuracies, so that in the 30th move a balanced position was created again. On move 32 Reshevsky achieved a pawn win, but had to allow an endgame with unequal bishops, which offered no chance of winning. So this game ended in a draw after 41 moves .
In the other game, Euwe had a slight advantage after 20 moves. His mistake on move 28 gave Keres the opportunity to take advantage of a token sacrifice . Another mistake by Euwe gave Keres a decisive advantage on move 32. Keres overlooked several continuations of the win, so that the game was canceled with Euwe's 41st move. After the resumption, Keres took advantage and won after 56 moves.

2nd round

The game between Botwinnik and Euwe was even after 15 moves. Botvinnik used a serious mistake by Euwe on move 20 to his advantage. A few more inaccuracies from Euwe and a white passed pawn on move 28 ensured the quick decision after 32 moves.
The game between Keres and Smyslow was even after 19 moves. On moves 20 and 21 Keres aggravated the game with a double pawn sacrifice without significantly disturbing the balance of the position. Smyslov's 23rd move was a big mistake, which Keres exploited to a decisive advantage. The game ended after 27 moves.

3rd round

Reshevsky had a slight advantage against Keres in the opening. But he had more time problems than Keres and after 18 moves he had already thought for an hour and 51 minutes. that is, there were 39 minutes left for the next 22 moves. Keres had an hour to think about it. As a result, Reshevsky was able to retain his advantage. He had to make the last ten moves to the time control in three minutes. Keres was also short of time. and made a mistake on move 35 that led to a pawn loss. Another mistake in Black's 39th move resulted in a profitable attack by Reshevsky. The game ended after 41 moves.
In the game against Botvinnik, Smyslow had an advantage after 19 moves. An imprecise 20th move by Smyslov forgave part of the advantage. Smyslow recorded the slight advantage. On move 35 he won a pawn. In order to keep this extra pawn, Smyslow chose a dubious move on move 40, which gave Botvinnik a counterplay. After the time control after the 40th move, the game was canceled. Despite a white pawn, the position was even and the game ended in a draw after 44 moves.

4th round

Reshevsky scored a slight advantage against Botvinnik after 15 moves. On move 25, Botvinnik made a mistake that increased Reshevsky's advantage and resulted in a pawn loss on move 26. In a time constraint on both sides, Reshevsky made big mistakes on moves 28, 29 and 30, and Botvinnik got a decisive advantage. On move 30, Botvinnik had already won a jumper. One move later, Botvinnik overlooked a strong move, and Reshevsky could have minimized White's advantage with the right move. He made a mistake, however, so that Botvinnik would have won a minor piece with his next move . In this lost position, Reshevsky exceeded time on the 32nd train.
The game between Euwe and Smyslow was even after 20 moves. An inaccuracy by Smyslow led to a slight advantage for Euwe. Another mistake in Smyslow's 26th move increased White's advantage. Euwe gambled away the advantage with a bad 29th move. On move 33, Euwe started a faulty combination that led to a decisive advantage for Smyslow. The game was canceled after Euwe's 42nd move. He gave her up without resumption after seeing Smyslow's levy train.

5th round

In the game of Keres and Botvinnik, an even position was created after 20 moves. Keres' inaccuracies in moves 29 and 30 gave Black an advantage. Botvinnik used another mistake by Keres on move 32 to win a pawn. The game was canceled after move 40 with a decisive advantage for Botvinnik. Keres had made a dubious 41st move that cemented Black's advantage. Botvinnik then wound up in a pawn ending and won after 58 moves.
In the game between Reshevsky and Euwe, the latter made a serious mistake on move 12. Reshevsky preferred a passed pawn and gained a great advantage. After Reshevsky's mistakes on the 30th and 31st move, Euwe equalized. Inaccurate moves before the time control resulted in a better runner endgame for Reshevsky . After Reshevsky's 41st move, the game was abandoned. Euwe gave up without resuming.

2nd round

Stand after the 2nd round

player	Points in the 2nd round	Points in the tournament
Botvinnik	2½	6th
Reshevsky	2	4½
Keres	2	4th
Smyslow	2	4th
Euwe	1½	1½

6th round - March 15th
Keres	Euwe	½: ½	C86	Spanish
Reshevsky	Smyslow	½: ½	D17	Slavic
7th round - March 16
Euwe	Botvinnik	½: ½	C08	French
Smyslow	Keres	0: 1	E02	Catalan
8th round - March 18th
Keres	Reshevsky	½: ½	C71	Spanish
Botvinnik	Smyslow	½: ½	D98	Grünfeld Indian
9th round - March 23rd
Reshevsky	Botvinnik	½: ½	A91	Dutch
Smyslow	Euwe	1-0	C90	Spanish
10th round - March 25th
Botvinnik	Keres	1-0	E28	Nimzo Indian
Euwe	Reshevsky	½: ½	C75	Spanish

6th round

The game between Keres and Euwe was even after the opening after 14 moves. An imprecise pawn move by Keres on move 15 led to a slight advantage for Black. A series of imprecise moves on moves 23 and 24 consolidated the advantage. Euwe won a pawn on move 27. A clear mistake on move 29 by Keres would have allowed Euwe to win at least one more pawn and would have brought a decisive advantage. Euwe overlooked this, but Keres also chose a weak move, so that Euwe was much better after 30 moves. Euwe gambled away his advantage by making dubious moves on moves 31 to 33. The game ended on move 34 Keres' draw.
A sharp struggle developed between Reshevsky and Smyslov. After ten moves Reshevsky had one more maneuver, but had to give up four pawns. After 15 moves, an even position had emerged. An inaccuracy by Reshevsky on move 16 gave Black a slight advantage. Smyslow decided to swap queens on the 17th move, but Reshevsky now had a slight advantage. Another mistake Smyslow made on move 24 enabled a combination with a pawn win. Reshevsky left them out and retained a slight advantage. Smyslow made a mistake on move 30, which increased his advantage by Reshevsky. On move 33, Reshevsky wrongly decided to offer the tower exchange. The resulting final was even. The game ended in a draw after 45 moves.

7th round

Euwe and Botwinnik reached an even position after 20 moves. Botvinnik got a little advantage after an inaccuracy by Euwe on move 22. Botvinnik played imprecisely on move 28, so that Euwe equalized. The game never left the draw width and the players agreed on a draw after move 40.
Smyslow achieved a slight advantage over Keres after 14 moves. With a dubious move by Smyslov, Keres equalized. Keres' imprecise 20th move gave White a slight advantage. On move 27 Smyslow doubtfully sacrificed a pawn. Keres then equalized. Smyslow played imprecisely on move 38 and 39, so that the game was canceled after move 40 with a slight advantage for Keres. Smyslow's tied move enabled Keres to sacrifice a runner and launch an attack on the king. After a mistake by Smyslow on move 47, Keres found the settlement in a won final. Smyslow admitted defeat after 57 moves.

8th round

Keres had a slight advantage against Reshevsky after 15 moves. Keres' 18th move was imprecise and resulted in an even position. The game ended in a draw on move 24.
In Botvinnik's game against Smyslow, the opening was favorable for White. After 20 moves, Botvinnik had a small advantage. An inaccuracy on Botvinnik's 26th move gave the advantage and the position was even. On move 32, Smyslov made a sacrifice for which he won a pawn. Five moves later, Botvinnik offered to swap queens. This led to another pawn win for Smyslow, but the position was balanced. Nothing changed until the game was canceled on move 45. After resuming, Smyslow made an inaccuracy on move 51 and Botvinnik had a slight advantage. On move 55, Botvinnik chose the wrong move to avoid repeating the move , and the position was balanced. Due to a flawed plan by Smyslov on the 57th and 58th moves, the white rooks were activated, and Botvinnik could hope for profit. On move 74, Botvinnik stopped winning, and the game ended in a draw five moves later.

9th round

Reshevsky had a slight advantage against Botvinnik after 15 moves. The exchange of jumpers on move 16 led to an equalization. On move 21, Botvinnik sacrificed a pawn, two moves later the quality. On move 25 he could have achieved a repetition and thus a draw. Botvinnik, however, made a mistake on moves 25 and 26 and Reshevsky had a decisive advantage. After the serious mistake on Reshevsky's 28th move, Botvinnik could have achieved a great advantage, he only found the way to equalize. After exchanging inaccuracies in Botvinnik's 30th move and Reshevsky's 31st move, the game ended in a draw with perpetual chess.

Smyslow and Euwe had an even position on the board after 15 moves. Euwe then allowed a pawn advance on move 22, which gave Smyslow a space advantage. After a mistake by Smyslow on move 31, Euwe equalized the game. Euwe's bad 33rd move again led to a slight advantage for White. In move 36, a minor piece ending was created with four minor pieces on each side. The game was canceled on move 41. On move 55, Euwe made a serious mistake, which four moves later resulted in a pawn loss. With the additional pawn, Smyslow had a decisive advantage. Euwe gave up on move 70.

10th round

Botvinnik scored a big advantage against Keres in the opening. A mistake in Keres' 16th move gave Botvinnik a decisive advantage. A rook sacrifice on move 21 enabled a successful mating attack . Keres resigned on move 23.
Euwe and Reshevsky reached an even position after 15 moves. Reshevsky made a mistake on move 18 that Euwe did not take advantage of. The position remained balanced. After Reshevsky made a mistake on move 26, Euwe won a pawn on move 28 and gained an advantage. Another mistake Reshevsky made on move 35 led to a decisive advantage for Euwe. On move 38 he captured a knight against two pawns. The game was canceled after move 40. Even Euwe's tax move lost part of the advantage. Euwe's mistake on move 44 cost the multi-figure and the game was even. On move 57, the opponents agreed a draw.

3rd round

Stand after the 3rd round

player	Points in the 3rd round	Points in the tournament
Botvinnik	3	9
Keres	2½	6½
Reshevsky	1½	6th
Smyslow	1½	5½
Euwe	1½	3

11th round - April 11th
Euwe	Keres	0: 1	C74	Spanish
Smyslow	Reshevsky	1-0	C75	Spanish
12th round - April 13th
Botvinnik	Euwe	1-0	D49	Semi-Slavic
Keres	Smyslow	½: ½	D99	Grünfeld Indian
13th round - April 15th / 19th April
Reshevsky	Keres	0: 1	D45	Semi-Slavic
Smyslow	Botvinnik	0: 1	B62	Sicilian
14th round - April 18th
Botvinnik	Reshevsky	0: 1	E29	Nimzo Indian
Euwe	Smyslow	1-0	D99	Grünfeld Indian
15th round - April 20th
Keres	Botvinnik	0: 1	C08	French
Reshevsky	Euwe	½: ½	A13	Réti

11th round

Keres sacrificed a pawn against Euwe in the opening and equalized after 14 moves. A big mistake by Euwe on move 15 made a decisive attack possible for Keres. Euwe made another mistake on move 23 that accelerated his defeat. He gave up after the 25th move.
Smyslow scored a big advantage against Reshevsky after 20 moves. Reshevsky made a mistake on move 24, giving him a decisive advantage. Smyslow won a pawn on move 30. On move 37 there was a rook ending with a white extra pawn. The game was canceled after move 40. Smyslow won after 52 moves.

12th round

In the game between Botwinnik and Euwe, an even position emerged after 15 moves. Euwe's inaccurate 16th move and a mistake on move 17th were used by Botvinnik to gain great advantage. Euwe's faulty 21st move led to a decisive advantage. After 25 moves Botvinnik had conquered the opposing queen against rook and knight and won after 36 moves.
Smyslow sacrificed a pawn in the opening against Keres. After his recovery on move 14, Keres was a little better. After Keres' dubious move 15, Smyslow equalized the game. After a white pawn sacrifice on move 30, Keres won the pawn back with some advantage after an imprecise move by Smyslov. Keres' 35th move resulted in an even position. After exchanging queens on move 40, there was a runner endgame. The game was abandoned after move 42 and was drawn without resumption.

13th round

The game between Reshevsky and Keres was even after white castling on move 15. Keres' 15th move was a mistake that led to a pawn loss and White's advantage. Reshevsky missed another pawn win on move 32. After Keres' dubious 40th move, the game was abandoned with advantage for Reshevsky. With Reshevsky's mistaken 45th move, Keres equalized. Reshevsky made a serious mistake on move 56, and Keres conquered material. Keres won after 63 moves.
Smyslow and Botvinnik reached an even position after 15 moves. Smyslow's 16th and 17th moves were inaccurate. Botvinnik got a slight advantage. By making mistakes on the 25th and 30th move, he achieved Smyslov's decisive advantage. When the game was abandoned after 40 moves, Botvinnik had one quality and one pawn more. Smyslow renounced the resumption and gave up.

14th round

Between Botvinnik and Reshevsky an even position was established after 21 moves. After an inaccurate 26th move by Botvinnik, there was an exchange of queens two moves later. Reshevsky had a slight advantage, but his 29th move was imprecise and gave Botvinnik a chance to equalize with a pawn sacrifice. Botvinnik overlooked this and was clearly at a disadvantage with an imprecise 31st move. After mistakes on Reshevsky's 33rd move and Botvinnik's 34th move, Black gained a decisive advantage. A few moves later Reshevsky had one more runner and won after 41 moves.
Euwe scored a slight advantage in the game against Smyslow after 15 moves. Two mistakes by Smyslow on the 17th and 18th move gave Euwe a decisive advantage. Ten moves later, Euwe already had the material advantage of quality. The game was abandoned after 41 moves and given up by Smyslow without resuming.

15th round

Keres and Botwinnik achieved an even position after 15 moves. Keres' imprecise 16th move gave Botvinnik a slight advantage. After Botvinnik's dubious 19th move, Keres equalized. Both players ran out of time and only had 10 minutes to think about ten moves. Keres' imprecise 35th move gave Botvinnik a slight advantage. Because of a mistake on Keres' 39th move, Botvinnik won a pawn and increased his advantage. After exchanging queens, there was a double rook ending, and the game was abandoned after move 42. Due to a mistake by Keres on move 53, Botvinnik was able to strengthen his position and achieved a decisive advantage. The game was canceled again on move 63. Botvinnik won after 72 moves.
The game between Reshevsky and Euwe never left the draw width and ended in a draw after 26 moves.

4th round

Stand after the 4th round

player	Points in the 4th round	Points in the tournament
Botvinnik	3	12
Reshevsky	2½	8½
Smyslow	3	8½
Keres	1	7½
Euwe	½	3½

16th round - April 22nd
Keres	Euwe	1-0	C81	Spanish
Reshevsky	Smyslow	½: ½	D19	Slavic
17th round - April 25th
Euwe	Botvinnik	½: ½	C08	French
Smyslow	Keres	1-0	D36	Queen's Gambit
18th round - April 27th
Keres	Reshevsky	0: 1	C81	Spanish
Botvinnik	Smyslow	½: ½	D76	Grünfeld Indian
19th round - May 3rd
Reshevsky	Botvinnik	0: 1	C18	French
Smyslow	Euwe	1-0	C81	Spanish
20th round - May 4th
Botvinnik	Keres	1-0	D06	Queen's Gambit
Euwe	Reshevsky	0: 1	E33	Nimzo Indian

16th round

Keres was able to achieve a slight advantage against Euwe after 15 moves. He increased the advantage after a mistake by Euwe on move 25. Euwe set a quality on move 33 and gave up on the next move.
Reshevsky scored a slight advantage against Smyslow after 12 moves and shortly after won a pawn. Reshevsky's dubious 17th move led to an equalization. Successive mistakes by Smyslow on move 21 and Reshevsky on move 22 did nothing to change that. On the 23rd move, Smyslow captured the peasant back. The pawn ending on move 36 was even and ended in a draw five moves later.

17th round

Neither Euwe nor Botwinnik gained an advantage against each other in the game. The game ended in a draw after 29 moves by repeating moves.
Smyslow scored a slight advantage against Keres after 15 moves. After a dubious move by Keres, it consolidated on the 21st move. Smyslow lost part of the advantage with the imprecise 24th move. Keres' chose a dubious move on move 28 and lost a pawn on the following move. After Keres' mistake on move 33, White's advantage increased significantly. Smyslow won more pawns on moves 35 and 40. The game was canceled on move 41 and abandoned by Keres without resuming.

18th round

Keres captured a pawn against Reshevsky on move 16 and had an advantage. Doubtful moves by Keres on the 17th and 18th moves made up for the position. After Keres' mistake on move 31, Reshevsky won back the pawn on move 32 and already had a decisive advantage. On move 34 he won a quality for a pawn. The game ended after 41 moves with a win by Reshevsky.
Botvinnik had a clear advantage against Smyslow after 15 moves. He gambled it away with the weak 26th move. Smyslov sacrificed a pawn in reply, but failed on the next move, and Botvinnik got an advantage. On move 36, a rook ending was created with a white extra pawn. The game was then canceled. On move 43, White's advantage was reduced by Botvinnik's imprecise 43rd move. Botvinnik could not use it to win and the game ended in a draw after 81 moves.

19th round

Reshevsky achieved a small advantage against Botvinnik after 15 moves. Botvinnik's imprecise moves increased that on the 18th and 19th moves. After Reshevsky's mistake on move 29, Botvinnik equalized and was able to win a pawn on move 31. Another mistake in Reshevsky's 32nd move led to a clear advantage for Black. After Reshevsky's mistake on move 39, the advantage became decisive. Botvinnik sacrificed quality and gained king's attack. The game was canceled on move 41. Botvinnik won after 47 moves.
Smyslow gained a slight advantage over Euwe with a pawn sacrifice on move 12. Euwe's faulty 14th move resulted in a decisive advantage for Smyslow. On the 17th move Smyslow won back the pawn in a superior position. Six moves later Smyslow achieved a pawn win and won after 26 moves.

20th round

Botvinnik and Keres reached an even position after 15 moves. Keres' imprecise 18th move gave Botvinnik a slight advantage. After exchanging queens on move 29, Botvinnik received a slightly better knight endgame. Keres made a mistake on move 36, just before the game was abandoned. Keres' weak 47th move led to a pawn win and a decisive advantage for Botvinnik. Keres resigned on move 60.
Euwe and Reshevsky exchanged queens on move 15 and the position was equal. Reshevsky got a slight advantage after Euwe's mistake on move 16. That increased due to another mistake by Euwe on the 20th move. After Euwe's incorrect 34th move, Reshevsky achieved a decisive advantage. After Reshevsky won a pawn on move 42, the game was abandoned. Euwe gave up without resuming.

5th round

Stand after the 5th round - final result

player	Points in the 5th round	Points in the tournament
Botvinnik	2	14th
Smyslow	2½	11
Keres	3	10½
Reshevsky	2	10½
Euwe	½	4th

21st round - May 6th
Euwe	Keres	0: 1	E32	Nimzo Indian
Smyslow	Reshevsky	½: ½	C81	Spanish
22nd round - May 9th
Botvinnik	Euwe	½: ½	D35	Queen's Gambit
Keres	Smyslow	½: ½	A16	English
23rd round - May 11th
Reshevsky	Keres	½: ½	E32	Nimzo Indian
Smyslow	Botvinnik	½: ½	D22	Queen's Gambit accepted
24th round - May 13th
Botvinnik	Reshevsky	1-0	C49	Four knights game
Euwe	Smyslow	0: 1	D99	Grünfeld Indian
25th round - May 16th
Keres	Botvinnik	1-0	C15	French
Reshevsky	Euwe	1-0	D40	Queen's Gambit

21st round

A dubious pawn sacrifice by Keres on the eleventh move gave Euwe a slight advantage. He forgave that because of the mistake on move 14. Keres' dubious moves on moves 15, 21 and 22 gave Euwe a clear advantage. Instead of winning a pawn, Euwe made a mistake and only had a slight advantage. After Keres' mistake on the 24th and 26th move, Euwe gained a decisive advantage. Euwe's serious mistake on move 28 and his questionable move 29 made up for the position. Another mistake by Euwe on move 31 gave Keres a slight advantage. He was able to checkmate after Euwe's mistake on move 34. Before it came to that, Euwe gave up after the 35th move.
Reshevsky missed the opening and Smyslow had an advantage after 15 moves. Reshevsky made up for Smyslov's mistake on move 20 and swapping queens on move 22. After Smyslov's 34th move, Reshevsky had some advantage. The knight swap on move 39 led to a rook endgame suspected of being a draw with black pawns. The game was then canceled. As a result, neither side could gain an advantage. On move 73 the game was abandoned again and drawn without resumption.

• After this round, Euwe was bottom of the table.

22nd round

Keres gained an advantage over Smyslow after 15 moves. After Keres' dubious moves on moves 19 and 24, Smyslow equalized the game. The game was canceled and ended in a draw after 49 moves.
Botwinnik and Euwe drew a short draw after 14 moves.

• After this round, Botvinnik was the winner of the tournament and thus world champion.

23rd round

Reshevsky came at a slight disadvantage after 15 moves against Keres. Keres' imprecise 17th move enabled him to equalize. After 26 moves, the players agreed on a draw.
Smyslow achieved a slight advantage against Botvinnik after ten moves. After the tower swap on move 17, the game ended in a draw.

24th round

After ten moves Botvinnik had a slight advantage against Reshevsky. The advantage increased after Reshevsky's imprecise 13th move. Reshevsky's mistake gave White a decisive advantage on move 18. On move 38, Botvinnik won the quality and three moves later the game.
Euwe and Smyslow reached an even position after ten moves. Euwe had a slight advantage after Smyslov's inaccuracy on move 11. The position was balanced again after Euwe's imprecise 15th move. On move 20 Smyslow was able to capture a pawn. After Euwe's dubious 21st move, he had a little advantage. Euwe's mistake on move 27 led to Black's decisive advantage. Another mistake on move 38 ensured a quick victory for Smyslov after 38 moves.

• After this round, Smyslow was second in the table.

25th round

The position between Keres and Botvinnik was even before Botvinnik took advantage of Keres' inaccuracy on move 13. On move 16, Keres made a pawn sacrifice. After Botvinnik's mistake on move 18, he was able to recapture the pawn and level the position. Botvinnik's mistake on move 26 gave White an advantage. On move 27, Botvinnik gave up a quality, and Keres had a decisive advantage. Botvinnik gave up on move 39.
Reshevsky and Euwe reached an even position after 17 moves. After Euwe's mistakes on moves 19 and 21, Reshevsky's advantage was decisive. After 27 moves Reshevsky had two extra pawns and won after 36 moves.

Final score

Stand after the 5th round - final result

space	player	1					2					3					4th					5					Points
1	Mikhail Botvinnik						½	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	0	1	½	0	1	1	1	½	1	½	½	14th
2	Vasily Smyslow	½	½	0	½	½						0	0	½	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	0	1	1	11
3-4	Paul Keres	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	½	0	½						0	½	1	0	½	1	½	1	1	1	10½
3-4	Samuel Reshevsky	0	½	1	0	0	½	½	0	½	½	1	½	0	1	½						1	½	½	1	1	10½
5	Max Euwe	0	½	0	½	½	0	0	1	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	0						4th

Keres and Reschevsky shared third and fourth place, as no fine scoring was used in the event of a tie.

Post-history

At its congress in 1947, FIDE decided that the world champion had to defend his title every three years. Modus was a duel for a maximum of 24 games; in the event of a tie, the world champion kept his title. A multi-level qualification system was introduced to determine a challenger, consisting of zone tournaments , interzonal tournaments and a candidate tournament .

The new world champion Mikhail Botvinnik defended his title at the 1951 World Chess Championship against David Bronstein and at the 1954 World Chess Championship against Vasily Smyslow , in both cases with a 12-12 draw.

Three years later Botvinnik lost the duel for the 1957 World Chess Championship against Smyslow with 9½: 12½ points. In 1956, the defending champion had the right to take revenge in the following year in the event of a defeat. So the two opponents faced each other again at the 1958 World Chess Championship . Botvinnik won the duel with 12½: 10½ points and became world chess champion again after a year.

At the chess world championship in 1960 Botvinnik lost again, this time with 8½: 12½ points against Michail Tal . The fight for revenge for the world chess championship in 1961 could Botvinnik win with 13: 8 points and again secured the world championship title.

After this world championship, the defending champion's right of revenge was abolished. Botvinnik lost the title at the 1963 World Chess Championship with 9½: 12½ points to Tigran Petrosyan .

World championships held as round-robin tournaments only existed at the FIDE World Championship 2005 and the Chess World Championship 2007 .

literature

• Werner Laaser u. a .: The 1948 World Championships The Hague - Moscow . Otto Meisner Verlag, Bleckede ad Elbe 1948.
• Hans Müller: The fight for the world championship in chess in 1948 . Sailer, Vienna 1949.
• Max Euwe: Gravenhage-Moscow 1948 . Swiss Chess Library, Triengen 1952.
• Harry Golombek: The World Chess Championship 1948 . Hardinge Simpole, London 2002, ISBN 1-84382-005-6 .
• Jack Soudakoff: The World Chess Championship, 1948 . Chess Press, New York 1949.
• Max Euwe et al. a .: Wereld-Kampioenschap Schaken 1948 's-Gravenhage-Moskou . De Tijdstroom, Lochem 1948.

Web links

• Tournament report and games at chessgames.com. Retrieved February 10, 2011 . 
• Tournament website from Mark Weeks with PGN download and highlights. Retrieved February 10, 2011 . 
• Chessmetrics tournament page with statistics for historical Elo number. Retrieved February 10, 2011 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Smyslow completed his 27th year of life on March 24, 1948.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chessmetrics March 1948 rating list. Retrieved October 23, 2009 . 
3. ↑ Leeuwarder Courant. August 4, 1947, p. 3 ( online view , Dutch).
4. ↑ Chess Review. November 1948, p. 2.
5. ↑ Chess Review. February 1948, p. 4.
6. ↑ Russia checkmates the world . In: Der Spiegel . No. 11 , 1948, pp. 18 ( Online - Mar. 13, 1948 ).
7. ^ Reuben Fine: Lessons from My Games . McKay, New York 1958, pp. 151f. (Reprinted from Constable, New York 1983, ISBN 0-486-24429-6 )
8. ↑ Edward Winter : Interregnum. Retrieved October 23, 2009 .  “ The event [World Chess Championship 1948] would go ahead even if any player withdrew […]. ”
9. ↑ Arbeiter-Zeitung. March 3, 1948, p. 3 ( online view )
10. ↑ American Chess Bulletin. March / April 1948 edition, p. 25.
11. ↑ ^{a b} De Gelderlander. 7 February 1948, p. 1 (Dutch).
12. ↑ Time Magazine. May 3, 1948, article "Sport: Winning Ways" ( online view ( memento from February 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), English). “ […] Mikhail Botvinnik […] all but clinched the world's chess championship […] in Moscow's Hall of Columns. ”
13. ↑ De Gelderlander. April 5, 1948, p. 3 (Dutch).
14. ↑ Laarder Courant de Bel. Issue 21 of March 13, 1948, p. 1 ( online version , Dutch).
15. ↑ The date is the start date of the games. Suspended games are not taken into account. The data comes from the Fritz 11 database.
16. ↑ ^{a b} Leeuwarder Courant. March 3, 1948, p. 2 ( online view (Dutch)).
17. ↑ ^{a b c d} Leeuwarder Courant. March 9, 1948, p. 3 ( online view (Dutch)).
18. ↑ ^{a b c} De Gelderlander. March 10, 1948, p. 3 (Dutch).
19. ↑ ^{a b} Leeuwarder Courant. March 10, 1948, p. 2 ( online view (Dutch)).
20. ↑ De Gelderlander. March 11, 1948, p. 3 (Dutch).
21. ↑ Leeuwarder Courant. March 11, 1948, p. 3 ( online view (Dutch)).
22. ↑ ^{a b} De Gelderlander. March 12, 1948, p. 3 (Dutch).
23. ↑ Leeuwarder Courant. March 12, 1948, p. 2 ( online view (Dutch)).
24. ↑ De Gelderlander. March 15, 1948, p. 3 (Dutch).
25. ↑ Leeuwarder Courant. March 17, 1948, p. 3 ( online view (Dutch)).
26. ↑ De Gelderlander. March 17, 1948, p. 3 (Dutch).
27. ↑ Leeuwarder Courant. March 19, 1948, p. 3 ( online view (Dutch)).
28. ↑ De Gelderlander. March 19, 1948, p. 3 (Dutch).
29. ↑ De Gelderlander. March 24, 1948, p. 1 (Dutch).
30. ↑ Leeuwarder Courant. March 27, 1948, p. 2 ( online view (Dutch)).
31. ↑ The game Reshevsky against Keres was rescheduled due to Reshevsky's illness, see Dagblad voor Amersfoort. April 16, 1948, p. 4 ( online view ( memento of July 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch)).
32. ^ Dagblad voor Amersfoort. April 12, 1948, p. 1 online view ( Memento of July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch).
33. ^ Dagblad voor Amersfoort. April 15, 1948, p. 1 online view ( Memento of July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch).
34. ^ New York Times. April 20, 1948, p. 39.
35. ^ Dagblad voor Amersfoort. April 17, 1948, p. 1 online view ( Memento of July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch).
36. ↑ De Gelderlander. April 17, 1948, p. 3 (Dutch).
37. ^ Dagblad voor Amersfoort. April 19, 1948, pp. 2f. Online view ( memento of July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch).
38. ↑ Leeuwarder Courant. April 21, 1948, p. 3 ( online view (Dutch)).
39. ^ Dagblad voor Amersfoort. April 21, 1948, p. 1 online view ( memento of July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch), almost word for word in De Gelderlander. April 21, 1948, p. 1 (Dutch).
40. ^ Dagblad voor Amersfoort. April 22, 1948, p. 1 online view ( memento from July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch), almost word for word in De Gelderlander. April 22, 1948, p. 5 (Dutch).
41. ^ Dagblad voor Amersfoort. April 27, 1948, p. 1 online view ( Memento of July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch).
42. ^ Dagblad voor Amersfoort. April 29, 1948, p. 1 online view ( memento of July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch), shorter in De Gelderlander. April 29, 1948, p. 1 (Dutch).
43. ^ New York Times. May 4, 1948, p. 33.
44. ↑ De Gelderlander. May 5, 1948, p. 3 (Dutch)
45. ^ Dagblad voor Amersfoort. May 7, 1948, p. 1 online view ( Memento of July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch).
46. ↑ De Gelderlander. May 7, 1948, p. 3 (Dutch).
47. ^ Dagblad voor Amersfoort. May 10, 1948, p. 1 online view ( Memento of July 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch).
48. ↑ Leeuwarder Courant. May 11, 1948, p. 2. ( online view (Dutch)).
49. ^ Graeme Cree: 1948 World Chess Championship Tournament. Archived from the original on September 10, 2007 ; accessed on October 23, 2009 .