The history of chess part five - chess origins
"The Russians won by 121 to 7. Again the remarkable feature was the superiority of the Russian team at the top. The first three American players earned only 1 point altogether, out of a possible 6.
" The first of the major international tournaments since the end of the war was held at Groningen, Holland, in 1946. Botvinnik was the winner, with 141/2 games won, 41/2 lost. Second honors went to Dr. Euwe, 14-5, and third to Smyslov. Denker made the best American showing, with a 91/2-91/2 record.
"Botvinnik was crowned world champion by winning a round-robin tournament in 1948, the other participants being Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky and Euwe. Fine of the United States was invited but did not attend. These players were selected by world opinion as the logical contenders.
"The difficulty of arranging a match between Botvinnik and any challenger outside the Soviet orbit has led to the recognition of an unofficial `Western championship,' which was won in 1952 by Reshevsky in a match against Miguel Najdorf of Argentina."
In 1957 Vassily Smyslov of Russia dethroned Botvinnik in a challenge match for the world title. Smyslov did not hold the title long. Early in 1958 he played a match against Botvinnik in Moscow, and the latter won to become the world ruler again.
Bobby Fischer defeated former world champion Tigran Petrosian of the U.S.S.R. on Oct. 26, 1971 and won the right to play the current world champion, Boris Spassky. Fischer became the first American to reach the final step in the elimination series. On Sept. 1, 1972, the 29-year old Fischer defeated Spassky in the 21st game of a 24-game series, winning $156,000 of a $250,000 purse. It was the first time in 25 years that the title had passed out of Russian hands.
