THE WAY IT WAS


This, from a Soviet defector, supports the notion that
Botvinnik was, at least to some extent, controlling chess
information in Russia. -- Taylor Kingston

There was also force or its threat -- in one
form or another -- employed by both Botvinnik and
Karpov during their reigns. Those who refused to
contribute to the "collective" could be punished.

One handy weapon, which could lead to outright
starvation of one's family, was loss of ration cards.
Dogs and cats disappeared from the streets of Moscow
in the late 1940s. You did as Botvinnik wished or
your children might die from malnutrition. Times were
not quite so dire during Karpov's time, but Soviet
citizens did not eat well back then, either.

Concerning Bogatyrchuk, there was a nasty attack
on him by "Ludek Pachman" in the British Chess
Magazine when Pachman was still a dedicated
Stalinist. Interestingly, the English in the attack
was excellent; and from Pachman's anguished written
appeals after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia,
we know that he wrote pidgin English. His book
CHECKMATE IN PRAGUE: THE MEMOIRS OF A
GRANDMASTER (1975) written after he was thrown
in prison for breaking with the party line still makes
for interesting reading. Pachman also was the target
of a Soviet boycott and spent his last days in Berlin.

So, then, Bogatyrchuk was a defector who
prompted the Soviet propaganda machine into action
in an attempt to discredit him. In fact, it was an
example of the kind of stuff offered here recently by
Juergen, our jerkin' gherkin, when attacking Korchnoi.
The very fact of the bogus attacks on Bogatyrchuk
lend his testimony considerable plausibility.

Yours, Larry Parr


wrote:
On May 7, 6:48?am, David Richerby
wrote:
wrote:
A particularly relevant quote from the Winter article is this,
written by Bohatirchuk in 1949:

"[Botvinnik's] trainer (now perhaps a whole retinue of trainers)
works out theoretical novelties for him and tests them in play with
other masters; publication of these trial games is forbidden until
Botvinnik uses that particular variation."

This, from a Soviet defector, supports the notion that Botvinnik
was, at least to some extent, controlling chess information in Russia.

Sure but that's standard stuff, surely? ?Doesn't every top-ten player
do that, except that these days, the trial games are probably against
the computer?

Well, it was not standard for most masters in Botvinnik's day,
whether Soviet or Western, to have "a retinue of trainers." So in that
sense he enjoyed a special privilege. As far as secret trial games are
concerned, yes, that was and is quite common. I cited the passage only
because, in saying "publication of these trial games is forbidden," it
provided some support, however minor, to the notion that Botvinnik was
controlling the flow of chess information.