Abstract
This study is dedicated to the cultural and political role chess played in the Soviet Union. It describes how chess - originally an ancient pastime of nobility, Jewish merchants and intelligentsia - became a popular game played by wide masses of Soviet people and why Bolsheviks had chosen it as one of the "weapons" of Cultural Revolution, propaganda and eventually as a symbol of Soviet intellectual domination over the West.
The mechanisms of all this are described on the example of the first Soviet World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik who became famous during Stalinism. This study consists of two main parts.
The first one describes how chess became such a popular game under patronage of influential Bolsheviks, mainly N.V.Krylenko. During his "rule" Moscow has seen three international tournaments attended by world top players and Botvinnik could participate in tournaments in abroad.
The phenomenon of "chess fever" period in 1925, the Chess International (Shakhintern), but also using chess for Bolsheviks propaganda and the persecution of older players are analyzed here. The second part shows how top players, namely Botvinnik, could benefit but also lose on the high popularity of chess.
This part is based mostly on documents from Soviet archives, mainly materials of Agitation and Propaganda Department of CC CPSU. One whole chapter focuses on the situation in 1945 when Bolsheviks had to decide whether Botvinnik could play a match against World Champion Alekhine.
This Russian emigré was listed as the "enemy of the nation" and he was also accused of collaboration with the Nazis because of an article "Jewish and Aryan Chess" published by Nazi press. Another chapter analyzes the only situation when Botvinnik tried to discuss with the Party on political and economical topics.
In the conclusion this study shows that Botvinnik as well as other top chess players could benefit from his exclusive position in Soviet society, but had several "political responsibilities" as well.