World Chess Championship 1960

Opponents of the 1960 World Chess Championship

Portraits
	Mikhail Botvinnik	Mikhail Tal
nation
status	Defending champion	challenger
Age	48 years	23 years

At the chess world championship in 1960 , Michail Tal replaced him as world chess champion by winning a competition against Mikhail Botvinnik .

Tal had qualified by winning the 1959 Candidates Tournament held in the Yugoslav cities of Bled , Zagreb and Belgrade to challenge the world champion in a match. The competition for the world championship was scheduled for 24 games. If there was a tie after 24 games, Botvinnik would have kept his world title. The match took place in Moscow from March 15th to May 7th. Tal won the first game and expanded his lead to three points by the seventh game. Botvinnik was able to reduce the deficit to one point with wins in the eighth and ninth games, but had to suffer three more defeats in the further course and finally lost with 12.5 to 8.5 points. At that time , the time made out similarities in character and appearance between Tal and Lasker ; as in Lasker's struggles against Tarrasch and Steinitz , the "player" had once again overcome the "thinker" with Tal.

World Chess Championship 1960

	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	Victories	Points
Mikhail Tal (USSR)	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	0	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	6th	12½
Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR)	0	½	½	½	½	0	0	1	1	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	0	½	½	2	8½

Web links

• Chess World Championship 1960 at Chessgames
• Mikhail Tal World Chess Champion 1960

Individual evidence

1. ^ Die Zeit, May 13, 1960 edition.

literature

• Mikhail Tal: Tal-Botwinnik 1960 , Russel Enterprises, Milford 2000 (5th edition of the English translation). ISBN 1-888690-08-9 .