Soviet Chess School

Soviet chess school designated one hand, all of the spawned by the Soviet Union, chess master and the knowledge of them worked out, on the other hand practiced in the Soviet Union system of talent in chess. The term is open ideologically and is no longer used today like the part, but it is called, for example, prefer the Russian or Ukrainian chess school chess or linked schools with their leaders, such as the Botvinnik chess school in Moscow. Between the individual schools and trainers, there was this strong rivalry. Therefore, today emphasize many of the players, in which the various Soviet chess schools they were trained.

Popular Sports

In the 1920s, chess was the active promotion of the ruling Communist Party national sport. As an example of this was the case, Mikhail Chigorin. Based on a quote Lenin: Chess is gymnastics of the mind saw it as a means to raise the intellectual level of the population. Important roles in the establishment of chess in society and politics played chess champion Alexander Ilyin - Schenewski and the high-ranking official Nikolai Krylenko. The already existing in Tsarist -Russian Chess Federation in 1924 converted into a tightly run and government-controlled organization that is based on five-year plans promoted the development since the late 1920s. Strong players were paid by the state, enjoyed high reputation and were able to fully devote to chess. Some, such as Anatoly Karpov, also clad political office. As flagship of the Soviet Chess School was from the mid-1930s, Mikhail Botvinnik. Should be " dialectical " - analogous to Marxist principles - An attempt to define a specifically Soviet style of play was.

Developmental milestones were the focus of major international tournaments (Moscow 1925 and 1936) and winning the World Championship title by Botvinnik in 1948. To be able to influence the organization of world championship fights, the Soviet Union had joined after the 2nd World War, the FIDE, the they had previously rejected as bourgeois organization. In the following period ( to 1972 and from 1975 until the end of the USSR ) of this title was firmly in Soviet hands and was during the Cold War to an object of prestige. Also all challengers at this time were representatives of the Soviet chess school, and the Chess Olympiads were dominated for decades by the Soviet team. Back in 1945, there was a startling radio competition on 10 boards against the team of the U.S., the Soviet Union won evident, as in the following year a rematch in Moscow. These successes have been exploited for propaganda and even cited as evidence of a cultural superiority of the Soviet Union.

Only the best players who simultaneously had a minimum of political reliability were allowed to play in the West. Due to the large number of good players but also the national tournaments were very well staffed. The national championship and the city championships large cities such as Moscow or Leningrad were occupied high-profile than most international tournaments.

Popularization through public relations

In the Soviet Union numerous publications on chess appeared, in particular for opening theory. The American Grandmaster Bobby Fischer taught himself Russian in being able to study just about the games and analysis of the Soviet players. Some things were well kept secret, so Botvinnik played some training matches, which were not published until decades later.

Talented young people such as Boris Spassky and Anatoly Karpov later have already received early, received full-time coaches at its side and thus were better educated than Western players. In the 1970s, the most talented juniors, such as Garry Kasparov, were supervised by former World Champion Botvinnik. Vladimir Kramnik also is still considered a product of this talent.

Other well-known trainers are Vladimir Sak, Yuri Razuvayev, Vyacheslav Tschebanenko and Mark Dworezki.