Mikhail Botvinnik
Botvinnik played no formal competitive games after winning the 1948 match tournament until he defended his title. In 1951, he drew with David Bronstein over 24 games in Moscow, +5 =14 -5, keeping the world title. He struggled to draw this match with Bronstein, and had (by his standards) weak tournament results. Botvinnik did not play in the Soviet team that won the 1952 Chess Olympiad in Helsinki: the players voted for the line-up and placed Botvinnik on second board, with Keres on top board; Botvinnik protested and refused to play. Keres' playing record from 1950 to early 1952 had been outstanding.