Vasily Smyslov
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| Full name | Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov | |
| Country |  Russia |
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| Born | March 24, 1921 (age 86) Moscow, Russia |
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| Title | Grandmaster | |
| World Champion | 1957-1958 | |
Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Russian: Васи́лий Васильевич Смысло́в) (born March 24, 1921) in Moscow, is a Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958.
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[edit] Early years
Smyslov learned chess from his father, Vasily O. Smyslov, a strong Candidate Master strength player. He must have been trained well by his father, since his own rise was swift once he entered the competitive arena. The younger Smyslov won a Soviet Candidate Master tournament in his late teens, earning the National Master title. By age 19, he was playing in his first USSR Championship, performing very well.
[edit] Grandmaster
The next year, 1941, he scored well in one of the strongest tournaments ever held, the Absolute Championship of the Soviet Union, a quadruple round robin event which also featured winner Mikhail Botvinnik, runner-up Paul Keres, Isaac Boleslavsky, Igor Bondarevsky, and Andor Lilienthal. This proved he was of genuine world-class Grandmaster strength at age 20, a very rare achievement at that time.
The Second World War forced a halt to most competitive chess. But when it ended, Smyslov had emerged as one of the world's top players, a status confirmed by his joint second place finish at Groningen 1946, the first really strong post-war international tournament; this event was won by Botvinnik, and former World Champion Max Euwe tied with Smyslov.
[edit] World title challenger
Smyslov played in the 1948 World Chess Championship tournament to determine who should succeed the late Alexander Alekhine as champion, finishing second behind Mikhail Botvinnik. (Since Botvinnik's death in 1995, Smyslov has been the last survivor of this tournament.) After winning the Candidates Tournament in Zurich 1953, he played a match with Botvinnik for the title the following year. It ended in a draw, meaning that Botvinnik retained his title.
[edit] World Champion
Smyslov had again won the Candidates' Tournament at Amsterdam in 1956, which led to another world championship match against Botvinnik in 1957. Assisted by trainers Vladimir Makogonov and Vladimir Simagin, Smyslov won by the score 12.5-9.5. The following year, Botvinnik exercised his right to a rematch, and won the title back with a final score of 12.5-10.5.
[edit] Continues to challenge
Smyslov didn't qualify for another World Championship, but continued to play in World Championship qualifying events. In 1959, he was a Candidate, but finished fourth in the qualifying tournament held in Yugoslavia, which was won by the rising superstar Mikhail Tal. He missed out in 1962, but was back in 1964, following a first-place tie at the Amsterdam Interzonal. But he lost his first-round match to Efim Geller.
In 1983, at the age of 62, he went through to the Candidates' Final (the match to determine who plays the champion, in that case Anatoly Karpov), losing 8.5 - 4.5 to Garry Kasparov, who was 42 years younger, and who went on beat Karpov to become world champion in 1985. He had beaten Zoltan Ribli 6.5-4.5 in the semifinal, but drew his quarter-final match against Robert Hübner 7-7, with the advancing player (Smyslov) determined only by the spin of a roulette wheel.
[edit] Wizard of Olympiads
Smyslov represented the Soviet Union a total of nine times at chess Olympiads, from 1952 to 1972 inclusive, excepting only 1962 and 1966. He contributed mightily to team gold medal wins on each occasion he played, winning a total of eight individual medals. At Helsinki 1952, he played second board, and won the individual gold medal with 10.5/13. At Amsterdam 1954, he was again on second board, scored 9/12, and took the individual bronze medal. At Moscow 1956, he scored 8.5/13 on second board, but failed to win a medal. At Munich 1958, he made 9.5/13 on second board, good for the silver individual medal. At Leipzig 1960, he was dropped to first reserve, and made a great score of 11.5/13, which won the gold medal. After missing out on selection in 1962, he returned for Tel Aviv 1964, on third board, and won the gold medal with 11/13. He missed selection in 1966, but returned with a vengeance for Lugano 1968, and made a phenomenal 11/12 for another gold medal as second reserve. At Siegen 1970, he was first reserve, and scored 8/11 for the bronze medal. His final Olypiad was Skopje 1972, where at age 51 he played third board and scored 11/14, good for the silver medal. His overall Olympiad score was an imposing 90 points in 113 games, for just under 80 per cent.
[edit] Later years
In 1991 Smyslov won the inaugural Senior World Chess Championship. He has played no competitive games since the 2001 Klompendans Veterans versus Ladies tournament in Amsterdam. His Elo rating following this event was 2494. Nowadays, his eyesight is very bad.
[edit] Legacy
He is known for his positional style, and, in particular, his precise handling of the endgame, but many of his games feature spectacular tactical shots as well. He has made enormous contributions to chess opening theory in many openings, including the English Opening, Grunfeld Defence, Ruy Lopez, and Sicilian Defence.
Smyslov won the Soviet Championship twice. In 1949, he tied with Bronstein, and in 1955 with Geller, losing the playoff match to him.
Smyslov was a fine baritone singer, who only positively decided upon a chess career after a failed audition with the Bolshoi Theatre in 1950. Later, he sometimes gave recitals during chess tournaments, often accompanied by fellow Grandmaster and pianist Mark Taimanov. Smyslov wrote that he tried to achieve harmony on the chess board, with one piece assisting another.
[edit] Notable Chess Games
- Tigran Petrosian vs Vasily Smyslov, USSR Championship, Moscow 1949, Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation (B84), 0-1 The first meeting of two future World Champions goes to Smyslov in a precise positional performance.
- Vasily Smyslov vs Efim Geller, USSR Championship, Moscow 1951, Sicilian Defence, Closed Variation (B26), 1-0 Smyslov used the Closed Sicilian periodically throughout his life, and made many important improvements.
- Paul Keres vs Vasily Smyslov, Zurich Candidates' Tournament 1953, English Opening / Queen's Gambit (A34), 0-1 In a vital late-tournament encounter, Smyslov fights off Keres' very dangerous attack, to put himself in the driver's seat towards winning the tournament.
- Vasily Smyslov vs Mikhail Botvinnik, World Championship Match, Moscow 1954, game 9, French Defence, Winawer Variation (C17), 1-0 Smyslov blows up one of the World Champion's favourite variations with a queen sacrifice to score a stunning win.
- Mikhail Botvinnik vs Vasily Smyslov, World Championship Match, Moscow 1954, game 14, King's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation (E68), 0-1 With one of the deepest pre-game home preparations ever seen, Smyslov unleashes a chain of tactical wizardry, including a queen sacrifice, to record a beautiful win which fundamentally changed the theory in this variation.
- Vasily Smyslov vs David Bronstein, Candidates' Tournament, Amsterdam 1956, English Opening (A34), 1-0 The two players were fighting for the right to qualify, late in the tournament, and Smyslov finds a way to come out on top.
- Vasily Smyslov vs Mikhail Tal, Candidates' Tournament, Yugoslavia 1959, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf / Opecensky Variation (B92), 1-0 It was their first-ever meeting, and the young star Tal gets a sharp lesson from the veteran.
- Robert Fischer vs Vasily Smyslov, Candidates' Tournament, Yugoslavia 1959, Sicilian Defence, Fischer / Sozin Variation (B86), 0-1
The 16-year-old Fischer had honed this opening line into a formidable weapon, but here Smyslov shows him a few new wrinkles.
- Vasily Smyslov vs Boris Spassky, Moscow vs Leningrad team match 1960, Alekhine's Defence (B05), 1-0 Spassky tries the unusual Alekhine's Defence and is dusted in fairly short order.
- Vasily Smyslov vs Anatoly Karpov, USSR Championship, Leningrad 1971, English Opening / Queen's Gambit (A34), 1-0 Karpov was the young rising star, but here he lasts for only 29 moves against Smyslov, who is 30 years older.
- Vasily Smyslov vs Garry Kasparov, Soviet Olympiad Training tournament (?) 1980, Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation (B84), 1-0 Smyslov spots the young Kasparov 42 years, but shows chess is a game for all ages with a precise victory over the future World Champion.
[edit] Books by Smyslov
- Vasily Smyslov (2003) Smyslov's Best Games, Volume 1: 1935-1957 (Moravian Chess Publishing House)
- Vasily Smyslov (2003) Smyslov's Best Games, Volume 2: 1958-1995 (Moravian Chess Publishing House)
- Vasily Smyslov (1997) Endgame Virtuoso (Cadogan)
- Vasily Smyslov (1995) Smyslov's 125 Selected Games (modern edition published by Everyman Chess)
- Grigory Levenfish and Vasily Smyslov (1971) Rook Endings (Batsford Edition)
[edit] Further reading
- Winter, Edward G. (ed.) (1981). World Chess Champions. Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-024094-1.
- Chernev, Irving (1995). Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games. Dover. ISBN 0-486-28674-6.
[edit] External links
- FIDE rating card for Vasily Smyslov
- Vasily Smyslov at ChessGames.com
| Preceded by Mikhail Botvinnik |
World Chess Champion 1957–1958 |
Succeeded by Mikhail Botvinnik |
