Mikhail Botvinnik (1911–1995): playing style, games and openings

6th World Champion, 1948–1957, 1958–1960, 1961–1963. The scientist of the Soviet school: rigorous preparation, strategic clarity and deep opening systems he knew inside out.

1911–1995 · Known for: Scientific preparation · 891 games in the collection

Explore Mikhail Botvinnik's games in the analyzer Compare with your own games

Playing style: Solid / prophylactic

Keeps the king safe, avoids early adventures and is hard to beat, at the cost of more draws.

Aggression 34 / 100

Risk-taking 16 / 100

Endgame bias 59 / 100

Solidity 69 / 100

Simplification 27 / 100

These scores come from the 891 games used for the style profile (classical-length games), measured the same way the analyzer measures your own games.

Results

Mikhail Botvinnik scored 406 wins, 375 draws and 110 losses (67% score) in 891 games.

With White: 229 wins, 186 draws and 39 losses (71% score) in 454 games.
With Black: 177 wins, 189 draws and 71 losses (62% score) in 437 games.

Favourite openings

As White

English Opening: 80 games, 72% score
Nimzo-Indian Defense: 68 games, 71% score
Queen's Gambit Declined: 62 games, 72% score
King's Indian Defense: 58 games, 66% score
Grünfeld Defense: 29 games, 62% score
Queen's Gambit Accepted: 21 games, 57% score

As Black

French Defense: 72 games, 64% score
Sicilian Defense: 46 games, 66% score
Caro-Kann Defense: 38 games, 51% score
Nimzo-Indian Defense: 35 games, 60% score
Grünfeld Defense: 33 games, 52% score
Ruy Lopez: 28 games, 54% score

A famous game

AVRO 1938 masterpiece (Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Capablanca, Jose Raul, 1-0, 1938) — replay it move by move and see Stockfish's verdict.