Author: Toth, Laszlo (1895-1964)
Year: 1949
Publisher: Magyar-Sakkvilag
Place: Kecskemét
Condition:
40 pages with diagrams and cross-tables. Duodecimo (6 1/4" 4 3/4") bound in original wrappers. (Bibliotheca van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 5654) First Hungarian edition.
The 13th Soviet Chess Championship was held in the capital of Moscow from May 21st to June 17th, 1944. Twelve of the Soviet Union's best chess masters qualified for the round robin event from three semi-final tournaments played earlier in the year. Andre Lilienthal, Vladimir Makogonov, Vladas Mikenas, and David Bronstein qualified from Baku. Alexander Kotov, Salomon Flohr, Gavriil Veresov, and Vladimir Alatortsev qualified from Moscow. And Alexey Sokolsky, Abram Khavin, Isaac Boleslavsky, and Alexander Tolush qualified from Omsk. The five remaining seats went as invitations to Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Viacheslav Ragozin, Georgy Lisitsin, and Grigory Ravinsky. It was the first USSR championship since the absolute championship in 1941. The second world war had effectively shut down professional chess competition, but with the end of the war looming on the horizon and Soviet belief in the triumph against the Axis betrayers, the return of professional chess in the Soviet Union was a move to rebuild the school and the mastery to a dominance greater than before the war. The interrim during the war had done nothing to dull the skills of Botvinnik who finished the event with eleven wins and twelve and a half points out of sixteen at the final. It was his second consecutive win, counting the absolute championship, and his fourth Soviet crown (out of a later six total). The war had interrupted Botvinnik's right to a world championship with Alekhine, so he was competing to regain his chance, and his performance in this and the following Soviet championship were attempts to prove himself the rightful challenger.
Condition:
Light edge wear. Jacket spine ends chipped, light edge wear. A very nice copy in a better than nice jacket.
SOLD 2020