Playing chess puts your mind in order. It is difficult to argue with this statement. Mikhail Botvinnik became world champion after long and systematic training. At the same time, he was engaged in scientific activities in the field of electrical engineering.
Starting conditions
To achieve meaningful results in any kind of activity, a person needs certain qualities of character and intelligence capable of perceiving information. Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik knew how to strictly regulate his actions and efforts, doing scientific experiments, and harmoniously combine them with chess. When drawing up a work plan for the day, he took into account that by a certain hour the body needs rest and food intake. Difficult tasks requiring mental exertion, he put off until late in the evening.
The future grandmaster and world chess champion was born on August 17, 1911 in a family of dental technicians. At that time, the parents lived in the Finnish town of Kuokkala. Father and mother actively participated in the struggle to free the working class from bourgeois oppression. They spent several years in Siberian exile. After the October Revolution of 1917, the family moved to Petrograd. Mikhail studied well at school. His favorite subjects were literature and mathematics. By modern standards, Botvinnik learned to play chess late - at the age of 12.
Tournaments and Championships
The grandmaster himself later noted that he was in a favorable environment. Almost all residents of the city on the Neva played chess. The prestigious chess club, under the leadership of the master of sports of international class Peter Romanovsky, operated at the Leningrad Palace of Culture. Botvinnik was fascinated by the game, and he began to study chess seriously. When he was 14 years old, the young chess player became the champion of the city among adults. After leaving school, Mikhail was not admitted to the institute, because he was only 16 years old. But he brilliantly performed at the USSR chess championship and fulfilled the norm of a master of sports.
Botvinnik entered the Polytechnic Institute, studying chess in parallel with his studies. In 1931, the student becomes the winner of the 7th national championship. After that, for a short time, he is distracted from the tournament struggle, doing science. In 1938 he took third place in the international tournament in the Netherlands. The war has shifted all the schedules and plans for the competition. It was only in 1948 that Botvinnik won a difficult qualifying tournament and won the title of World Champion. Mikhail Moiseevich became the sixth world champion and the first Soviet chess player to win this title.
Recognition and privacy
The legendary chess player has achieved great success in his scientific activities. Botvinnik defended his doctoral dissertation, dealing with the problem of artificial intelligence. The homeland appreciated the works and results of the scientist and chess player. Mikhail Moiseevich was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the "October Revolution", the "Red Banner of Labor".
The personal life of the world champion has developed well. He only got married once. The ballerina Gayane Davidovna Ananova became his wife. The husband and wife raised and raised their daughter. Mikhail Botvinnik died in May 1995.
