You shouldn't feed 'em..

Sharp as always dude. Sharp as always.

EZoto

EZoto wrote in message ws.com...
Botvinnik was a strong player. I didn't say he wasn't. What I am
saying is that he used every advantage he could and had the
politicians in his pocket. Botvinnik was not a nice guy.

Really? Based on what?

Because I seem to recall lots of players talking about how generous
Botvinnik was with his time, how willing he was to share, and how much
energy he devoted to improving Soviet chess in general.

I can't recall reading anything about people being "scared" of him,
except insomuch as they didn't want to lose. I'd be scared playing a
world champion, too-- wouldn't you?

While it does seem that Botvinnik occasionally received political
favors (particularly in regards to the champion's right to a rematch)
if he was really putting so much pressure on his opponents away from
the board, how was it that he managed to lose his title to three other
Soviets? (And Tal was even a Latvian!).

NoMoreChess wrote:
In short, blaming Botvinnik for Bronstein's failure to play the endgame
quite as well as he, is akin to blaming the hammer for striking your own
thumb, instead of the nail.

Sure, blame the nail... Anything but your own incompetence. :-)


Dave.

--
David Richerby Impossible Smokes (TM): it's like a
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ pack of cigarettes but it can't exist!