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World Chess Championship 1961

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Field	Value
comp1	Mikhail Tal
comp2	Mikhail Botvinnik
image1	[[File:Mikhail Tal 1962.jpg	center	Mikhail Tal	140px]]
image2	[[File:De GAK-zeskamp te Amsterdam Botwinnik, Bestanddeelnr 915-8347.jpg	center	Mikhail Botvinnik	140px]]
title1	Defending champion
title2
Challenger
flag1	URS
flag2	URS
dob1	9 November 1936
age1	24 years old
dob2	17 August 1911
age2	49 years old
qual1	Winner of the 1960 World Chess Championship
qual2	Former world champion
prev	1960
prev_link	World Chess Championship 1960
next	1963
next_link	World Chess Championship 1963
score1	8
score2	13

Challenger

A World Chess Championship was played between former champion Mikhail Botvinnik and champion Mikhail Tal in Moscow from March 15 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.

Botvinnik won convincingly, by a 13–8 margin, regaining the world title. 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. 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.{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325092556/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles183.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=2009-03-25

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 2025) the oldest player to win a World Championship match since 1892 (when 55-year-old Wilhelm Steinitz prevailed over Mikhail Chigorin).

Results

The match was played as best of 24 games. If it ended 12–12, Tal, the title holder, would retain the Championship.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Points
Mikhail Botvinnik	1	0	1	½	½	½	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	½	1	½	0	1	0	½	1
Mikhail Tal	0	1	0	½	½	½	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	½	0	½	1	0	1	½	0

References

"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
[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k44tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HZ0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5806,148917&dq=botvinnik&hl=en "Russian First to Regain World Chess Title"], ''Montreal Gazette'', June 1, 1961, p. 27

Info: Wikipedia Source

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world-chess-championships 1961-in-russia 1961-in-soviet-sport chess-in-the-soviet-union 1961-in-moscow

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