The people behind the game
Mikhail Botvinnik
Won the 1948 match tournament held after Alekhine's death. The patriarch of the Soviet chess school and teacher of Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik.
- Born
- 1911
- Died
- 1995
- Country connections
- Soviet Union
At the board
The games. The ideas.
Explore classic encounters and championship battles. Play every move, or jump straight to the moments that tell the story.
1960 · World championship · Game 6
Tal’s knight sacrifice
Game 6 of the 1960 championship is one of Tal’s signature attacking games. The sacrifice leads to complications, not a simple forced mate.
Read the position
Every move sets the scene.
Use the controls to explore the full game, or select an annotated moment below. Each explanation describes the position immediately after its highlighted move.
Complete move list 47 moves
The archives agree through 46...Kd4. This replay follows the Lichess championship score, which also includes 47.Rd7+; PGN Mentor ends after Black’s 46th move. Compare the source ↗
The journey
A remarkable path.
Botvinnik also worked in electrical engineering and computer chess. His chess school helped develop Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik. After losing the crown to Smyslov and then Tal, he won it back in each immediate rematch before losing to Petrosian in 1963. [1]
Explore the championship record →The championship record
Time with the crown.
- 1948–1957, 1958–1960, 1961–1963Open world championship
Reigns are periods of title ownership, not a count of championship victories. Open-ended reigns reflect the record checked on 18 October 2026.
Sources & credits
Biographical details and title records checked . Country connections describe the player’s career and background, rather than a live federation listing.
Portrait: Harry Pot for Anefo ]] · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl. Displayed in monochrome and cropped.
![Harry Pot for Anefo ]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mikhail_Botvinnik_1962.jpg){kind=link}