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World Chess Championship 1961

The 1961 World Chess Championship was played between former champion Mikhail Botvinnik and champion Mikhail Tal in Moscow from March 15 to May 13, 1961. Tal had unseated Botvinnik in the 1960 match, thus Botvinnik was entitled to this rematch the next year. Botvinnik, a Russian, defeated Tal, a Latvian, to regain the world championship.

Results

The match was played as best of 24 games. If it ended 12-12, Tal, the title holder, would retain the Championship.

World Chess Championship Match 1961
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Points
Mikhail Botvinnik (Soviet Union) 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 13
Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union) 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 8

Botvinnik regained his title.

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