Alexander Kotov

Who was Alexander Kotov?

Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the US and the USSR. Therefore, his works tended to be rather critical of American players. Russian players, on the other hand, were presented and described in a particularly favorable light.

Kotov's books also included frequent praise for the Soviet system in general. For example, the 1958 book The Soviet School of Chess stated that "The rise of the Soviet school to the summit of world chess is a logical result of socialist cultural development." At the time, statements such as this were sufficiently controversial that Western publishers felt compelled to include disclaimers in versions of his books that were translated for distribution to English-speaking countries.