Match fot the World Chess Championship Three years after winning the world championship, Mikhail Botvinnik had to defend his title against the challenge of David Bronstein. Though out of practice and largely outplayed by his brilliant young opponent, Botvinnik nevertheless demonstrated his fighting qualities, levelling the scores in the penultimate game and thereby retaining his title. All 24 games of the match are deeply annotated.

The 1951 match for the World Chess Championship was exceptionally hard fought. Each player won 5 games and the remaining 14 games were drawn. The match ended in a 12-12 tie and, under the rules, the champion, Botvinnik, retained his title. A new appendix has been added to the end of this book with all the games converted to Algebraic notation and the concluded diagram for each game. Rumors that have persisted that Bronstein was forced to resign that match by some higher political authority resulted in a book and a movie that depicted the supposed event. The book and movie is "From Russia with Love" by Ian Fleming. It is part of the long running James Bond Agent 007 Series. Kronsteen, unlike the real life David Bronstein, is given the assignment of planning the murder of James Bond, who has been giving the Soviets trouble for a long time. This ultimately leads to the death of Kronsteen in the movie, unlike Bronstein who obeyed the order and thus was allowed to live to a ripe old age. According to the plan worked out by Kronsteen, a beautiful Russian girl would be sent as a lure to James Bond. While this plot line may seem ridiculous, it was not entirely untrue. The Soviets did in reality use beautiful women as bait to entrap Americans, as was the case of a real spy the Russians sent to us recently, Anna Chapman.

Perceptive coverage of all 210 games from the legendary tournament, which featured Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky, Petrosian, and 11 others, including the author. Suitable for players at all levels. Algebraic notation. 352 diagrams.

The World Championship Candidates' Tournament of 1950 marked a fresh phase in the history of the world title. Hitherto, the champion had chosen his challenger, of course bearing in mind such pressures as public opinion and prize purses on offer. Now, after the interregnum caused by the death of Alekhine as incumbent in 1946, FIDE, the World Chess Federation, instituted a regular series of qualifying events to determine the rightful challenger to the chess throne. Budapest 1950 was to be Bronstein's finest hour: coming from behind he caught his imperturbable compatriot Boleslavsky at the finishing post and then squeezed ahead of him in the play-off. The notes to this great event, which also featured such immortals as Smyslov, Keres, and Najdorf, are by the British publishing pioneer Cordingley, while the comments to the tie-breaking match are furnished by the world champion of chess journalists, Grandmaster emeritus Harry Golombek OBE, based on his insights for the British Chess Magazine. As we know, Bronstein advanced to challenge Botvinnik for the world title, but faltered at the final hurdle. That epic clash is covered in the companion Hardinge Simpole volume, World Chess Championship 1951, by William Winter and R.G. Wade, ISBN 1843820846 This mighty clash between the top two Soviet Grandmasters was Botvinnik's first title defence after becoming World Champion in 1948. Amazingly, the man who had dominated Soviet and World chess was only able to defend his title by the skin of his teeth after a most ferocious and determined onslaught from his youthful challenger David Bronstein. The controversial 23rd game where a demoralised Bronstein may have resigned prematurely was the key to Botvinnik's ultimate success. This book was written by two expert eye witnesses, former British Champion and International Master William Winter, and Bob Wade, International Master, vice-president of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and later to be awarded the OBE for services to chess and chess education. Together these two acknowledged experts of the game give a thrilling first hand account of the intense intellectual drama of one of the most evenly fought battles in chess history.