From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A
World Chess Championship
was played between former champion
Mikhail Botvinnik
and champion
Mikhail Tal
in
Moscow
from March 15
[1]
to May 13, 1961. Tal had unseated Botvinnik in the
1960 match
; thus, Botvinnik was entitled to this rematch the next year. Tal was considered a strong favourite due to his heavy win the previous year, and being 25 years younger.
[
citation needed
]
Botvinnik won convincingly, by a 13?8 margin, regaining the world title.
[2]
Although Tal suffered kidney illness in
1962
, there was no hint of it at the time, and commentators put the victory down to Botvinnik playing a superior strategy, and being able to combat Tal's attacking style.
[3]
However, in 2002,
Yuri Averbakh
revealed that Tal was having health issues, and his doctors in
Riga
advised that he should postpone the match for health reasons. When Botvinnik would agree to a postponement only if Tal was certified unfit by Moscow doctors, Tal decided to play, thinking he would win anyway.
[4]
The win made Botvinnik the first (and only) person to have three separate reigns as World Champion. At 49 years of age, it also makes him (as of 2023) the oldest player to win a World Championship match since
1892
(when 55-year-old
Wilhelm Steinitz
prevailed over
Mikhail Chigorin
).
Results
[
edit
]
The match was played as best of 24 games. If it ended 12?12, Tal, the title holder, would retain the Championship.
World Chess Championship Match 1961
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
Points
|
Mikhail Botvinnik
(
Soviet Union
)
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
½
|
½
|
½
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
½
|
1
|
½
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
½
|
1
|
13
|
Mikhail Tal
(
Soviet Union
)
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
½
|
½
|
½
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
½
|
0
|
½
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
½
|
0
|
8
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Tal Will Defend Crown in Chess; Latvian to Meet Botvinnik in Moscow on March 15 for World Championship",
New York Times
, March 5, 1961
- ^
"Botvinnik Wins Chess Title",
New York Times
, May 13, 1961
- ^
"Russian First to Regain World Chess Title"
,
Montreal Gazette
, June 1, 1961, p. 27
- ^
Kingston, T. (2002).
"Yuri Averbakh: An Interview with History ? Part 2"
(PDF)
. The Chess Cafe. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2009-03-25.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
Pre-FIDE
|
- 1886
,
1889
,
1890?1891
,
1892
(
Steinitz
)
- 1894
,
1896?1897
,
1907
,
1908
,
1910 (Jan?Feb)
,
1910 (Nov?Dec)
(
Lasker
)
- 1921
(
Capablanca
)
- 1927
,
1929
,
1934
(
Alekhine
)
- 1935
(
Euwe
)
- 1937
(
Alekhine
)
|
---|
FIDE
| |
---|
Split title
| |
---|
FIDE
| |
---|
Other world championships
| |
---|
|