ChessTerra.com

March 2 in Chess History

10 birthdays, 2 matches, tournaments and games and 5 deaths from chess history on March 2.

March 2, 1948: World Chess Championship 1948 began, won by Mikhail Botvinnik. On this day in chess history.

194878 years ago today

World Chess Championship 1948 began

Won by Mikhail Botvinnik

Facebook X WhatsApp RedditDownload square

Card photo: Post of USSR, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Tap any entry to put it on the share card.

Matches, tournaments and games

1948World Chess Championship 1948Began · won by Mikhail Botvinnik
19781978 Ukrainian Chess ChampionshipBegan · won by Konstantin Lerner

Born on March 2

1874Carl SchlechterAustro-Hungarian chess player
1888Otto LöwenborgSwedish chess player
1908Eva AronsonUSA chess player
1913Regina GerleckaPolish chess player
1919Tibor FlóriánHungarian chess composer and chess player
1930Bela SoosRomanian-German chess player
1934Atanas KolarovBulgarian chess player
1953Rico MascariñasFilipino chess player
1971Olena HessChess player
1992Shushanna SargsyanArmenian chess player

Died on March 2

1878John CochraneScottish lawyer and chess player
1949Eduard DyckhoffGerman chess player
1982Elek BakonyiHungarian chess player
2006Valter HeuerEstonian chess player, writer and sports journalist
2010Dieter MohrlokGerman chess player

Dates from Wikidata (CC0). Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each card. Dates can differ between sources, especially before 1918 when Russia used the old calendar.

<div id="puzzlebot-container"></div>

<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.polyfills.min.js"></script>

<script>
  var board = null;
  var game = new Chess();

  function onDragStart(source, piece, position, orientation) {
    // do not allow dragging when game is over
    if (game.game_over()) return false;

    // only allow white pieces to be dragged
    if (piece.search(/^b/) !== -1) return false;
  }

  function onDrop(source, target) {
    // see if the move is legal
    var move = game.move({
      from: source,
      to: target,
      promotion: "q" // always promote to a queen for example simplicity
    });

    // illegal move
    if (move === null) return "snapback";

    // update the board position
    board.position(game.fen());

    // get a random move from the engine
    window.setTimeout(makeRandomMove, 250);
  }

  // make a random move
  function makeRandomMove() {
    var possibleMoves = game.moves();

    // game over
    if (possibleMoves.length === 0) return;

    var randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * possibleMoves.length);
    game.move(possibleMoves[randomIndex]);
    board.position(game.fen());
  }

  // initialize the chessboard
  function init() {
    var config = {
      draggable: true,
      onDragStart: onDragStart,
      onDrop: onDrop,
      position: 'start'
    };

    board = Chessboard('puzzlebot-container', config);

    makeRandomMove();
  }

  $(document).ready(init);
</script>

<script src="https://revolvermaps2.com/embed.js" data-site="z79wnx94gq4m" data-size="300" data-theme="custom" data-color="ffffff" data-land="d4a843" data-ocean="0f1a2e" async></script>