Book Review: Botvinnik: Move by Move, by Cyrus Lakdawala

A Move by Move book that shows its age more than others (but it's still good)

Botvinnik: Move by Move is the first in the Everyman series to make me question its age. To be clear, the selection of games is great, but reading it almost 12 years after it was published, some of the analysis is long in the tooth. There are more than a few occasions where the engine evaluation has drastically changed. Houdini (Lakdawala’s engine of choice for this book) concluded draws all over the place, but in many places Stockfish, running on lichess in my browser, now spots an overwhelming win. That doesn’t stop this book from being well put-together, however.

Botvinnik still seems enigmatic to me, because of his reputation for being somehow boring. I’m not sure where this comes from, as seeing him pop up in games against Alekhine and Capablanca as I studied their careers, it’s very clear that Botvinnik was one of the greatest players alive, and probably the strongest player for at least a decade before Alekhine died and left the chess world in an interregnum. Lakdawala’s introduction to Botvinnik corrects the “Botvinnik is boring” narrative. He really was the world’s strongest, and his maximum FIDE rating comes well after his established strength had begun to diminish. This might be why people don’t talk about Botvinnik enough when it comes to the world’s best champions.

Lakdawala selects 60 games to make his point, and I don’t have any intention on arguing. Botvinnik is a clear genius, and you’re likely to learn a few things if you’ve never studied his games. The beginning of the Soviet era of Chess post WW2 starts bright with Botvinnik, whose innovations still form some of the theoretical backbone of chess today. I think people think of Botvinnik as a mere solid, steady, positional, endgame-heavy slow-mover, but this couldn’t be further from the truth, if you watch how Botvinnik crushes an aging Capablanca at the 1938 AVRO tournament.

The most frequent observation Lakdawala makes of Botvinnik’s games is his penchant to sacrifice material for long-term activity. Botvinnik uncorked attacks many a time at the cost of some pawns or a piece, but I found his endgame technique, wherein he would give back material to open lines for his pieces, rather insightful. Lakdawala also states that Botvinnik may have been the premier isolated queen’s pawn expert. He often used these positions (from both sides) to great effect. So there’s a lot to take away about how to play certain kinds of positions rather comfortably. Sometimes he makes it look very easy, as the game collection will attest.

Look at how Botvinnik dismantles Alekhine here at the same tournament as he did Capablanca (AVRO 1938):

Now remember that this was 8 years before Botvinnik would be crowned champion! Botvinnik chose openings differently from the Queen’s Gambit-heavy Alekhine and Capa. Instead, he often opted for the English opening, sometimes employed the Reti system. Additionally, Botvinnik seems to be the first truly modern player with respect to the Sicilian Defense, and his play here does a great job showing how to take risks with dynamic play. Lastly, Botvinnik’s crazy Semi-Slav variation shows up a few times in the book — these games are as mesmerizing as they are confusing.

As per the usual, if all you’re looking for is one book at a reasonable price that gives you a decent showing of a particular player’s games, and you don’t need a biography or the world’s most cutting-edge analysis, the Move by Move series is a good choice, and Botvinnik’s is no exception. I didn’t find this book to be extremely inspiring, but it was competently put together, and the game selection was pretty balanced and organized well. There’s nothing here that really stood out for me, but that’s not a bad thing, and it fit the bill exactly as I expected it to.

3.5/5