The writings of Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik (1911 - 1995) are legendary. The 'Patriarch' took professionalism in chess to a new level and set new standards for preparation.
In this book, Botvinnik writes the story of the three clashes with his compatriot Vasily Smyslov, matches full of tension between two virtually equal opponents. Botvinnik successfully defended his title by drawing the first match in 1954, but the younger Smyslov won in 1957. One year later Botvinnik bounced back with incredible resilience to win the third match, and regained 'his' world title.
Mikhail Botvinnik, one of the greatest chess players of all time, analyses almost all the games in this book, which also features annotations by Smyslov and other top grandmasters. The comments of the great Champion reveal his match strategy and his view on the strategic choices of his opponent. He spares neither himself nor Smyslov.
This book, edited and compiled by Mikhail Moiseevich's nephew Igor Botvinnik, also features Botvinnik's legendary secret Notebooks, wich contain, in great detail, his opening preparation for the matches.
Botvinnik - Smyslov is a fascinating account and an important historical document on the pinnacle of chess of the mid-20th century.
Foreword
My first chessboard encounter with Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik came at the final of the 12th USSR Championship in 1940. This was followed by various tournament games, the most important of which were at the match-tournaments of 1941 and 1 948. But of course, our rivalry reached its zenith in our series of matches in the years 1954-58. In those days, the chess world had a well-organised system, under which World Championship matches were played every three years. I should point out that, whilst we had differing views on certain aspects of chess, we both looked on the game not merely as a sporting competition, but also as an art, and tried at the board to create finished works of art.
This book, containing the annotated games of all three matches, breaks new historical ground: until now, no book on the 1957 match has ever been published, at least not in Russian. Now the reader has the games of all three matches between one set of covers, and can get a full impression of the nature of our rivalry.
Despite the nervous tension that accompanies any match for the World Championship, these matches gave the chess world many moments of great creative achievement. Of course, these were accompanied by some serious mistakes, but these only serve to underline the extreme pressure of such matches. I remain convinced that these three matches played a significant role in the history of chess.
I believe that this book will be of interest both to lovers of chess history, and to those who are seeking to improve their own play.
Vasily Smyslov,
ex World Champion
Moscow, January 2003
Content:
007 Foreword by Vasily Smyslov
008 Botvinnik-Smyslov - The Three Matches
010 A note on the English edition
011 MATCH BOTVINNIK - SMYSLOV 1954
013GAME 1 16 and 17 March
018GAME 2 18 March
021GAME 3 20 March
024GAME 4 23 and 24 March
028GAME 5 25 March
032GAME 6 27 March
034GAME 7 30 and 31 March
038GAME 8 1 and 2 April
041GAME 9 3 April
043GAME 10 6 April
046GAME 11 8 April
049GAME 12 10 April
052GAME 13 13 April
055GAME 14 15 April
057GAME 15 17 April
060GAME 16 20 and 21 April
064GAME 17 22 April
066GAME 18 24 and 25 April
071GAME 19 29 April
074GAME 20 4 and 5 May
079GAME 21 6 May
082GAME 22 8 and 9 May
085GAME 23 11 May
088GAME 24 12 May
091 MATCH BOTVINNIK-SMYSLOV 1957
092 Plan of preparation
093 Botvinnik's 1957 Notebook
116GAME 1 5 March
119GAME 2 7 and 8 March
123GAME 3 9 March
125GAME 4 12 March
128GAME 5 14 and 15 March
131GAME 6 16 March
132GAME 7 19 March
133GAME 8 23 March
135GAME 9 26 March
138GAME 10 28 and 29 March
141GAME 11 30 March
142GAME 12 2 April
145GAME 13 4 April
147GAME 14 6 and 7 April
150GAME 15 9 and 10 April
153GAME 16 11 and 12 April
156GAME 17 13 and 14 April
160GAME 18 18 and 19 April
165GAME 19 20 April
165GAME 20 23 April
167GAME 21 25 April
168GAME 22 27 April
169 RETURN MATCH SMYSLOV - BOTVINNIK 1958
170 Botvinnik's 1958 Notebook
190GAME 1 4 and 5 March
193GAME 2 6 and 7 March
197GAME 3 11 and 12 March
200GAME 4 13 and 14 March
206GAME 5 18 March
209GAME 6 20 and 21 March
213GAME 7 22 March
215GAME 8 25 March
218GAME 9 27 March
221GAME 10 29 and 30 March
224GAME 11 1 April
227GAME 12 3 and 4 April
233GAME 13 5 April
236GAME 14 8 and 9 April
240GAME 15 10 and 11 April
244GAME 16 15 April
247GAME 17 17 and 18 April
251GAME 18 19 and 20 April
257GAME 19 22 April
260GAME 20 29 and 30 April
265GAME 21 1 May
267GAME 22 3 May
270GAME 23 8 May
275 Conclusions from the return match | 
