The World Chess Championship, 1951: Botvinnik v Bronstein by William Winter [1898-1988] and Robert Graham Wade [1921- ] - 1951

ix+133 pages with plates, tables and diagrams. Octavo (9" x 5 3/4") bound in original publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering to spine in original jacket. (Betts: 27-51) First edition.

The 24 games of the match, annotated with accounts of the players' careers and brief history of World Championship chess. (Draw 12-12) This mighty clash between the top two Soviet Grandmasters was Botvinnik's first title defense after becoming World Champion in 1948. Amazingly, the man who had dominated Soviet and World chess was only able to defend his title by the skin of his teeth after a most ferocious and determined onslaught from his youthful challenger David Bronstein. The controversial 23rd game where a demoralized Bronstein may have resigned prematurely was the key to Botvinnik's ultimate success. This book was written by two expert eye witnesses, former British Champion and International Master William Winter, and Bob Wade, International Master, vice-president of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and later to be awarded the OBE for services to chess and chess education. Together these two acknowledged experts of the game give a thrilling first hand account of the intense intellectual drama of one of the most evenly fought battles in chess history.

Condition:

Dust jacket corners and spine ends chipped; closed edge tearselse a very good copy in a very good jacket.