The next game is a clash between two of the greatest players of the 20th century – Mikhail Botvinnik and José Raul Capablanca. The game, played in a tournament in 1938, featured the strongest chess players of the time.

Capablanca was the third World Chess Champion from 1921 to 1927 and was considered one of the strongest players in the world at that time. He left us many famous chess games to enjoy and learn from.

Mikhail Botvinnik would later become a 3-time World Chess Champion (1948–57, 1958–60, 1961–63) and would be best known for leading the Soviet School of Chess for decades.

He was more than 20 years younger than Capablanca, and in these earlier stages of his career, he had a chance in the tournament to show that he can compete with players like Capablanca and Alekhine.

Playing through Botvinnik’s famous games move by move is a sheer joy because his scientific approach didn’t stop the beauty of his move choices from shining brightly.

Garry Kasparov writes about this game:

“The chess tournament organized by the Dutch radio company AVRO was the most representative gathering of all of the strongest chess players of the time.

Mikhail Botvinnik was only third (!) in this magnificent event, but his two superb victories over Alekhine and Capablanca gave a serious foundation to his claim to the world title – a dream he eventually fulfilled ten years later.

The game described below belongs to the golden treasury of chess. It proves that Botvinnik’s strategical vision was already superior to the greatest genius of the old guard.”