Wereldkampioenschap Schaken 1948

252 pages with diagrams and tables. Royal octavo (9 3/4" x 6 1/2") issued in beige cloth with brown lettering to spine and front cover. Forewords by J J Gielen and W A J Visser. A History of the tournament by Dr J Hannak. (Bibliotheca van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 5732). First edition.

The 1948 World Chess Championship was a tournament played to determine a new World Chess Champion following the death of the previous champion Alexander Alekhine in 1946. The tournament marked the passing of control of the championship title to FIDE, the International Chess Federation. Mikhail Botvinnik won the five-player championship tournament, beginning the era of Soviet domination of international chess that would last over twenty years without interruption. Before the tournament, Botvinnik was considered the favorite because of his victory at Groningen 1946 and his pre-war results. Keres and Reshevsky were veterans of international competition. Although Euwe was the former world champion, he had played poorly since Groningen. Smyslov was not well-known in the West, as he had only appeared in two international competitions: a third place finish at Groningen and shared second at Warsaw 1947.The Soviets brought a large contingent of about twenty-one including the players Botvinnik, Keres, and Smyslov; their seconds Viacheslav Ragozin, Alexander Tolush, and Vladimir Alatortsev respectively; correspondents Igor Bondarevsky, Salo Flohr, and Andor Lilienthal; member of the adjudication committee Alexander Kotov; leader of the group Postnikov; a private doctor from Moscow; and Botvinnik's wife and young daughter. The U.S. delegation numbered one personâ€"Reshevsky traveled alone and Lodewijk Prins was procured at the last moment to be his second. Theo van Scheltinga served as Euwe's second. The tournament was played partly in The Hague, and partly in Moscow.

Botvinnik became the sixth World Chess Champion by winning the tournament convincingly with 14 points out of 20. He also had a plus score against all the other players. Smyslov came second with 11 points, just ahead of Keres and Reshevsky on 10½. Former champion Euwe was in bad form, and finished last with 4 out of 20.

Condition:

Slightly soiled spine ends rubbed with some fraying, corners bumped and rubbed else a good to very good copy issued without jacket.