‘Pawns and Power’ Source Information and Notes
Achieving the Aim, Mikhail Botvinnik
Soviet Chess 1917-1991, Andrew Soltis
Storming Fortresses: A Political History Of Chess In The Soviet Union (1917-1948), Michael Hudson
Soviet Chess Culture Review 1932
“The Russians Fixed World Chess”, Bobby Fischer
Reshevsky-Botvinnik (1st round, Match USSR v. USA, Moscow 1955) – with annotations by the players.
Soviet Chess Chronicles, 1943-1944
Soviet Chess Chronicle: USA vs USSR Radio Match
Molotov to Botvinnik, Moscow, January 1939, in Botvinnik, K dostizheniiu tseli, 85.
Chess Periodicals: An Annotated International Bibliography, 1836 - 2008
*A follow up on the status of the World Chess Championship in 1941:
The status of Alekhine and the World Chess Championship in 1941 is a very complicated matter. One thing that is important in my work in chess history is making it easily digestible to both an academic and non-academic audience, as well as for those who play chess and don’t play chess. Therefore, I keep to focusing on the historical events that are significant to my argument in connecting Russian chess culture to soft power diplomacy. While there was no formal scheduled match between Alekhine and Botvinnik, in 1941 there was still conversations about who in the USSR would face Alekhine in the World chess championship.
Significant events contributing towards this idea were the 12th USSR Championship in 1940, whose results brought about the 1941 USSR Absolute Championship. In Achieving the Aim Botvinnik wrote about the 12th USSR Championship in 1940, “Obviously the main interest was the participation of Keres. Who in the changed circumstances should represent the USSR in the fight for the world championship against Alekhine? The tournament did not bring an answer” (pg 78). He then goes on to recount how Snegiryov somehow convinced the [Russian chess] authorities to have an ‘Absolute’ championship, where the winner would be who played against Alekhine. Botvinnik won this ‘Absolute’ championship, only for Fascist Germany to attack 2 months later.
In early 1939, Botvinnik received a telegram under the guise of it being from Molotov, but, according to Botvinnik, he assumed it was most likely from Stalin himself. It stated: “If you decide to challenge Alekhine to a match, we wish you every success. It is easy to ensure the rest.” After Botvinnik’s win of the 1941 USSR Absolute Championship, from my research, for those 2 months he was under the assumption that there would finally be a world championship versus him and Alekhine to follow fairly quickly. While this is only one side to the story, showcases that the USSR was adamantly thinking about the world chess championship in 1941 and were making decisions about who was going to play against Alekhine despite the ongoing war in Europe. It only cease to be a matter of importance after Germany’s attack on Russia in June of 1941.