(Wlodzimierz Holsztynski) wrote in message . com...
...
The following incident is described by Tal in his
autobiographic text and superb collection of his games.

Before their last game with Tal, Botvinnik
had a plus 1 life score against the grandmaster
from Riga. It was clear that he had an inferior
position, clear enough for the captain of
the Botvinnik's team to start a motion toward
arranging a draw. Botvinnik only waved his
captain away and resigned the game a few moves later.

This clearly and nicely shows what kind of a man
Botvinnik was. Thus while I believe that Keres
and Bronstein were at certain critical moments
under a subtle or crude pressure from KGB, I don't
believe for a moment that it had anything to do
with Botvinnik. On the contrary, based on what I have
read about Botvinnik and by Botvinnik, I believe
that Botvinnik wanted his victories to be fair
and purely within the sport, on the chess board
only. That he would never value them otherwise.
He wanted the real thing, authentic, not anything
superficial, fake.

Dear Wlod,

I agree with your assessment of Mikhail Botvinnik's sporting character on the
chessboard. I believe that Botvinnik was a very proud sportsman with complete
confidence in his own abilities, who never could have taken any pride in his
victories if they had been knowingly dishonestly gained. In the absence of
sufficient evidence to the contrary, I do not accept the contention that
Botvinnik sanctioned any external coercion on his opponents to constrain them
to play at any less than their best against him.

'Sportsmen played to win, but not to win at any cost. Sport was seen as part
of a way of life that was governed in its entirety by spiritual values and by
moral purpose. To win by cheating, for instance, was not just unspeakable.
It was pointless.'
--Norman Davies (The Isles: a History, p. 986)

--Nick