On Nov 26, 6:54 pm, samsloan <
samhsl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> However, FIDE, the World Chess Federation, did have almost exactly
> that rule at one time. The rule was that no more than a certain number
> of players from the same country would be allowed to qualify to the
> candidates tournaments for the World Chess Championship. The rule was
> designed to prevent the World Chess Championship from being all-
> Russian.
No, the rule was actually designed to limit the number of
challengers Botvinnik needed to prepare for. Botvinnik used his
political influence to extend his reign as World Champion beyond what
his playing strength alone could ensure. Thus he got first the rematch
rule, which allowed him to reclaim the title twice, then later the
rule limiting to three the number of candidates from any one country
who could qualify for the Candidates round from the Interzonal.
Since at that time no country besides the USSR had more than three
top-rank players, the rule effectively applied only to the USSR. And
because, until the rise of Fischer, it was a foregone conclusion that
the WCh challenger would be a Soviet player, the real effect (and
intent) of the rule was to limit the number of possible challengers
Botvinnik needed to prepare for.
Here's a chronological list of the number of Soviet players and how
they finished in the five FIDE Candidates Tournaments held 1950-1962,
after which they changed to elimination matches:
1950: 7 Soviet players out of 10 contestants, finishing =1st-2nd, 3rd,
4th, 6th, =8th-10th
1953: 9 out of 15; 1st, =2nd-4th, 5th, =6th-7th, =8th-9th, =10th-11th
1956: 6 out of 10; 1st, 2nd, =3rd-7th
1959: 4 out of 8; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
1962: 4 out of 8; 1st, =2nd-3rd, 5th
The rule ended up not helping Botvinnik much, if any. The one year
it had any effect during his reign was 1962, when Stein tied with
Benko and Gligoric at the Interzonal but was not allowed into the
Candidates. The challenger from that cycle, Petrosian, dethroned
Botvinnik and because the rematch rule had been abolished, MMB never
got the title back.