This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits based on personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko.

This episode is the second of a two-part story about the sixth World Chess Champion Mikhail Botvinnik (you can find the first part here). Following his defeat against Petrosian in 1963, he played on for seven more years until he retired from competitive chess in 1970.

The previous episode ended with Botvinnik sharing his own view on several of his competitors and contemporaries. In this episode, we continue where we left off, starting with Botvinnik’s views on Karpov and Kasparov, respectively, and proceeding to have Botvinnik shed light on the careers of those with whom he has crossed swords at the highest level.

Sosonko relays his experiences with Botvinnik, whom he met on multiple occasions throughout the years, both in the Netherlands and in Moscow. The audience gets a unique glimpse behind the mask of the “Engineer”: his opinions, tastes, and convictions, to which he stayed true until his death on May 5th, 1995.

Enjoy this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

Remember, you can find us on popular platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, making it convenient for you to browse the chapters and listen to your favourite parts.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:18 Botvinnik's position on the divide between Karpov and Kasparov
04:34 Botvinnik's regards on Kramnik, Shirov and  Beliavsky
07:27 Botvinnik defused Bronstein, Smyslov and Tal
09:35 How Botvinnik took care of himself
12:13 Botvinnik on the future of computer chess
13:03 AD BREAK
13:56 Botvinnik's relation with and views on politics
17:31 What old age meant to Botvinnik
23:08 Botvinnik remembered his painful losses
24:28 Botvinnik's principles and convictions
27:17 AD BREAK
27:50 To understand Botvinnik is to understand him in the context of his time
30:44 The last time Sosonko met Botvinnik
34:30 Botvinnik’s death and the journey to immortality