Vasily Smyslov
Encyclopedia
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet
and Russian chess
grandmaster
, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate
for the World Chess Championship
on eight occasions (1948, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1965, 1983, and 1985). Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship (1949, 1955), and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad
medals won is an all-time record. In five European Team Championships, Smyslov won ten gold medals.
Smyslov remained active and successful in competitive chess well into the 1960s and 1970s, qualifying for the finals of the World Championship Candidates' Matches as late as 1983. Despite failing eyesight, he remained active in the occasional composition of chess problem
s and studies until shortly before his death in 2010.
, worked as an engineering technician and had represented the St. Petersburg Technical Institute in intercollegiate chess competitions. Smyslov's father had also studied chess for a time under the tutelage of Mikhail Chigorin
and the senior Smyslov became the boy's first teacher. The elder Smyslov gave his son a copy of Alexander Alekhine's book My Best Games of Chess 1908–1923 and the future world champion would later write that this book became his constant reference. He would also write that "...I was later to read everything that my father had in his library: Dufresne's
handbook, separate numbers of the Soviet chess magazines Chess and Chess Sheet, the text-books of Lasker
and Capablanca
, and the collections of games of Soviet and international tournaments. The games of the great Russian chess master M. I. Tchigorin made an indelible impression on me; it was with interest that I read the various declarations on questions of strategy by A. I. Nimzovitch
; I studied attentively the genius of prominent Soviet masters."
Smyslov's competitive chess experiences began at the age of 14, when he started taking part in classification tournaments. In 1938, at age 17, Smyslov won the USSR Junior Championship. That same year, he tied for 1st–2nd places in the Moscow City Championship
, with 12.5/17. However, Smyslov's first attempt at adult competition outside his own city fell short; he placed 12th–13th in the Leningrad
–Moscow International tournament of 1939 with 8/17 in an exceptionally strong field. In the Moscow Championship of 1939–40 Smyslov placed 2nd–3rd with 9/13.
(Moscow, URS-ch12), he performed exceptionally well for 3rd place with 13/19, finishing ahead of the reigning champion Mikhail Botvinnik
. This tournament was the strongest Soviet final up to that time, as it included several players, such as Paul Keres
and Vladas Mikėnas
, from countries annexed by the USSR, as part of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939.
The Soviet Federation held a further tournament of the top six from the 1940 event, and this was called the 1941 Absolute Championship of the USSR, one of the strongest tournaments ever organized. The format saw each player meet his opponents four times. The players were Botvinnik, Keres, Smyslov, Isaac Boleslavsky
, Igor Bondarevsky
, and Andor Lilienthal
. Smyslov scored 10/20 for third place, behind Botvinnik and Keres. This proved that Smyslov 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 international chess. But several tournaments involving Soviet players only were still organized. Smyslov won the 1942 Moscow Championship outright with a powerful 12/15. At Kuibyshev
1942, he placed second with 8/11. In a strong field at Sverdlovsk
1943, Smyslov tied for 3rd–4th places with 8/14. In the 1943–44 Moscow Championship, Smyslov tied for 3rd–4th with 11.5/16. He finished second in the 1944 USSR Championship at Moscow (URS-ch13) with 10.5/16. He emerged as champion from the 1944–45 Moscow Championship with 13/16. By this juncture, Smyslov had advanced into the group of the top three Soviet players, along with Botvinnik and Keres (who was playing in Nazi-occupied Europe during the War).
As the war ended, organized chess picked up again. But Smyslov's form hit a serious slump in the immediate post-war period. In the 1945 USSR Championship at Moscow (URS-ch14), Smyslov was in the middle of the very powerful field with 8.5/17; the winner was Botvinnik, with Boleslavsky and the new star David Bronstein
occupying second and third places. At Tallinn
1945, Smyslov had the worst result of his career to date, scoring just 6.5/15 in a not especially strong field. It was little better in the Moscow Championship of 1945–46, as he could only score 7.5/15 for a tie of 7th–11th places, as Bronstein won. Then in the Moscow Championship of 1946, Smyslov scored just 8.5/15, for a tie of 3rd–6th places, as Bronstein won again. During this period he scored just 31/62 in those four tournaments, for 50 per cent.
Nevertheless, Smyslov's earlier strong results secured him one of the five Soviet places in the first really strong post-war international tournament, at Groningen, Netherlands, in August 1946. This event, the Howard Staunton
Memorial, was won by Botvinnik with 14.5/19, half a point ahead of former World Champion Max Euwe
. Smyslov finished third with 12.5/19, and this confirmed his status as one of the world's top players.
Smyslov found it tough going for the next while however, once he was back playing in Soviet events. In the next Soviet Championship (URS-ch15, Leningrad
1947), he tied for 3rd–4th places with 12/19, as Keres won. At Pärnu
1947, Smyslov scored 8/13 for a tied 4th–6th places, as Keres won again. At Warsaw
1947, Smyslov scored 6/9 to tie for 2nd–5th places; the winner was Svetozar Gligorić
. In the Mikhail Chigorin
Memorial tournament, Moscow 1947, Smyslov tied for 3rd–4th places, with 10/15, as Botvinnik won.
His results showed a consistent pattern of high finishes against strong company, but with virtually no tournament championships. Smyslov had never actually won an adult tournament other than the Moscow City Championship, before he played in the 1948 World Championship Tournament.
tournament to determine who should succeed the late Alexander Alekhine
as champion. His selection was questioned in some quarters, but this criticism was amply rebutted when he finished second behind Mikhail Botvinnik
, with a score of 11/20.
With his second-place finish from the 1948 World Championship, Smyslov was admitted directly into the 1950 Budapest
Candidates' tournament without needing to play in qualifying events. Smyslov scored 10/18 for third place, behind Bronstein and Boleslavsky, who tied for first place. Smyslov's third place automatically qualified him into the next Candidates' tournament. He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1950 by FIDE on its inaugural list.
After winning the Candidates Tournament
in Zürich
1953, with 18/28, two points ahead of Keres, Bronstein, and Samuel Reshevsky
, Smyslov played a match with Botvinnik for the title the following year. Sited at Moscow, the match ended in a draw, after 24 games (seven wins each and ten draws), meaning that Botvinnik retained his title.
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. Smyslov later said his health suffered during the return match, as he came down with pneumonia
, but he also acknowledged that Botvinnik had prepared very thoroughly. Over the course of the three World Championship matches, Smyslov had won 18 games to Botvinnik's 17 (with 34 draws), and yet he was only champion for a year. Yet Smyslov was to write in his autobiographical games collection Smyslov's Best Games, "I have no reason to complain of my fate. I fulfilled my dream and became the seventh world champion in the history of chess."
, 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
, with 17/23. However 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 at Vilnius
1984 to Garry Kasparov
, who was 21 at the time, and who went on to beat Karpov to become world champion in 1985. He had beaten Zoltán 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. His final Candidates' appearance was the Montpellier
1985 tournament, where he did not advance.
He was a joint winner of the contest in 1949 and again in 1955 (with Bronstein and Geller respectively). Whilst the 1949 title was shared, the 1955 title was awarded to Geller after a play-off.
Much later in his career he showed that he could still mount a credible challenge; he took a share of third place in 1969 (behind Petrosian
and Polugaevsky
) and in 1971, was joint runner-up with Tal, after Savon
.
In 1950, he was second behind Kotov
at Venice
and in 1951, won The Chigorin Memorial, held in Leningrad
. He shared third place with Botvinnik at Budapest (The Maróczy
Memorial) in 1952, after Keres and Geller. In 1953, he won a training tournament in Gagra
and finished third at Bucharest
, behind Tolush
and Petrosian. At the 1954/55 edition of the Hastings Congress
, he shared first place with Keres. At Zagreb
1955, he was sole winner, two clear points ahead of the field. He continued his winning streak at Moscow's Alekhine Memorial in 1956, a victory shared with his constant rival, Botvinnik. During this period, there were several triumphs in his city of birth, when he shared first place with Bronstein and Spassky
in 1959, was a joint winner in both 1961 (with Kholmov
) and 1962 (with Vasiukov), and won outright in 1963.
His good form continued throughout the sixties. There were shares of second place at Dortmund
1961 (after Taimanov
) and at Mar del Plata
1962 (after Polugaevsky). He travelled again to Hastings at the end of 1962 and registered third place behind Gligoric and Kotov. In 1963, he was second at Sochi
(The Chigorin Memorial) after Polugaevsky. His visit to Havana
's Capablanca
Memorial in 1964 resulted in a share of first with the East German, Uhlmann
. He took outright first at the same tournament the following year. In 1966, there were victories at Mar del Plata
and at The Rubinstein
Memorial in Polanica Zdroj
. In 1967, he was second to Fischer
at Monte Carlo
, won at Moscow and took second after Stein
at the city's Alekhine Memorial tournament. He placed third the same year at The Capablanca Memorial in Havana (after Larsen
and Taimanov) and finished third again at Palma de Mallorca
1967 and Monte Carlo 1968, the latter two events both being headed by Larsen and Botvinnik. This was also the year he repeated his previous success at Polanica Zdroj, taking outright first. His next trip to Hastings also ended in triumph, as he took clear first at the 1968/69 edition. The sixties drew to a close with victory at Monte Carlo 1969 (shared with Portisch
) and a share of third place at Skopje 1969 (with Uhlmann and Kholmov, after Hort
and Matulovic
).
While less prolific than in previous decades, Smyslov played many strong tournaments in the seventies and even into the eighties and beyond. He was joint runner-up with Hort, Gligoric and Korchnoi
at Rovinj
/Zagreb 1970, after Fischer. A winner at Amsterdam
in 1971, he came third at The Alekhine Memorial (Moscow) the same year, after Karpov and Stein. At Las Palmas 1972, he was second equal with Larsen, behind Portisch and in 1973, topped The Capablanca Memorial in Cienfuegos
. First place followed at Reykjavik
in 1974 and at the Venice tournament of the same year, he finished second behind Liberzon
. There followed a second place at The Alexander Memorial (Teesside
) in 1975 (after Geller), a first place at Szolnok
(also 1975), and a multi-way share of second at the large Lone Pine
Open of 1976 (Petrosian won). He finished third behind Romanishin
and Tal at Leningrad in 1977, when all three eclipsed the efforts of then world champion Anatoly Karpov. In 1978, he won at São Paulo
and finished with a share of second at Buenos Aires
, after Andersson
. As the seventies ended, he took first place at Berlin 1979, this time shared with Csom
.
Notable outcomes for 1980 included joint first places at San Miguel (with Browne, Panno
, Emma) and at Copenhagen
(the Politiken Cup, with Mikhalchishin
). The same year, he finished second at Bar
, after Petrosian and second at Baguio City
, after Torre
. At Moscow 1981, he joined Kasparov and Polugaevsky in second place, behind Karpov. A further Hastings visit in 1981/82 resulted in a share of second place, with Speelman
, after Kupreichik
. He was first at Graz
in 1984 and first equal at Copenhagen (Politiken Cup) 1986 with Chernin
, Pigusov and Cserna. He played at Reggio Emilia
over the New Year of 1986/87 and shared second spot with Hort, Chernin and Spassky, after Ribli. At Hastings in 1988/89, he took a share of third with Gulko and Speelman, behind Short
and Korchnoi.
His tournament appearances were relatively more sparse in the nineties, but results included a share of first at Buenos Aires 1990 and a share of second at Malmö
(Sigeman) in 1997, after Hellers.
s, 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. His total of 17 Olympiad medals won, including team and individual medals, is an all-time Olympiad record, according to olimpbase.org.
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 Olympiad was Skopje 1972
, where at age 51 he played third board and scored 11/14, good for the silver medal.
His overall Olympiad score is an imposing 90 points in 113 games (+69 −2 =42), for 79.6 per cent. This performance is the fifth all-time best for players participating in at least four Olympiads. S
Smyslov also represented the USSR in five European Team Championships, and emerged with a perfect medals' record: he won five team gold medals and five board gold medals. His total score in these events was (+19 −1 =15), for 75.7 per cent. From olimpbase.org, here is his European teams' data.
Smyslov played for the USSR in both the 1970 and 1984 matches against teams representing the Rest of the World. He was on board six at Belgrade
in 1970, and on board four at London in 1984, with the Soviets winning both matches.
. He played no competitive games after the 2001 Klompendans Veterans versus Ladies tournament in Amsterdam
. His Elo rating after this event was 2494.
Smyslov died of heart failure in hospital in Moscow on the morning of 27 March 2010, three days after his 89th birthday.
Smyslov was known for his positional style, and, in particular, his precise handling of the endgame, but many of his games featured spectacular tactical shots as well. He made enormous contributions to chess opening
theory in many openings, including the English Opening
, Grünfeld Defence
, and the Sicilian Defence
. He has a variation of the Closed Ruy Lopez
named for him: the line runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 h6. In the Grünfeld Defence
, the continuation 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 is known as the Smyslov Variation and remains a major variation. Smyslov also successfully revived the Fianchetto Defence to the Ruy Lopez
(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6) in the 1970s. In the Slav Defence, the side line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Na6 is named the Smyslov Variation.
Perhaps in tribute to his probing intellect, Stanley Kubrick
named a character after him in his film 2001: A Space Odyssey
.
in 1950. He once said, "I have always lived between chess and music." On the occasion of a game against Mikhail Botvinnik
, he sang to an audience of thousands. He occasionally gave recitals during chess tournaments, often accompanied by fellow Grandmaster and concert pianist Mark Taimanov
. Smyslov once wrote that he tried to achieve harmony on the chess board, with each piece assisting the others.
Soviet people
Soviet people or Soviet nation was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Initially used as a nonspecific reference to the Soviet population, it was eventually declared to be a "new historical, social and international unity of people".-Nationality politics in early Soviet...
and Russian chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
for the World Chess Championship
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
on eight occasions (1948, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1965, 1983, and 1985). Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship (1949, 1955), and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
medals won is an all-time record. In five European Team Championships, Smyslov won ten gold medals.
Smyslov remained active and successful in competitive chess well into the 1960s and 1970s, qualifying for the finals of the World Championship Candidates' Matches as late as 1983. Despite failing eyesight, he remained active in the occasional composition of chess problem
Chess problem
A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by somebody using chess pieces on a chess board, that presents the solver with a particular task to be achieved. For instance, a position might be given with the instruction that White is to move first, and checkmate Black in two...
s and studies until shortly before his death in 2010.
Early years
Smyslov first became interested in chess at the age of six. His father, Vasily Osipovich SmyslovVasily Osipovich Smyslov
Vasily Osipovich Smyslov was a Russian chess master, and the father of Vasily Vasilievich Smyslov, World Chess Champion from 1957–8....
, worked as an engineering technician and had represented the St. Petersburg Technical Institute in intercollegiate chess competitions. Smyslov's father had also studied chess for a time under the tutelage of Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
and the senior Smyslov became the boy's first teacher. The elder Smyslov gave his son a copy of Alexander Alekhine's book My Best Games of Chess 1908–1923 and the future world champion would later write that this book became his constant reference. He would also write that "...I was later to read everything that my father had in his library: Dufresne's
Jean Dufresne
Jean Dufresne was a German chess player and chess composer. He was a student of Adolf Anderssen, and lost the "Evergreen game" to him in 1852. Dufresne was an unsuccessful novelist under the anagrammatic pseudonym E. S...
handbook, separate numbers of the Soviet chess magazines Chess and Chess Sheet, the text-books of Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
and Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...
, and the collections of games of Soviet and international tournaments. The games of the great Russian chess master M. I. Tchigorin made an indelible impression on me; it was with interest that I read the various declarations on questions of strategy by A. I. Nimzovitch
Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch was a Russian-born Danish unofficial chess grandmaster and a very influential chess writer...
; I studied attentively the genius of prominent Soviet masters."
Smyslov's competitive chess experiences began at the age of 14, when he started taking part in classification tournaments. In 1938, at age 17, Smyslov won the USSR Junior Championship. That same year, he tied for 1st–2nd places in the Moscow City Championship
Moscow City Chess Championship
-References: ****** from chessbase.com...
, with 12.5/17. However, Smyslov's first attempt at adult competition outside his own city fell short; he placed 12th–13th in the Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
–Moscow International tournament of 1939 with 8/17 in an exceptionally strong field. In the Moscow Championship of 1939–40 Smyslov placed 2nd–3rd with 9/13.
War years
In his first Soviet final, the 1940 USSR Chess ChampionshipUSSR Chess Championship
This is a list of all the winners of the USSR Chess Championship. It was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners...
(Moscow, URS-ch12), he performed exceptionally well for 3rd place with 13/19, finishing ahead of the reigning champion Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
. This tournament was the strongest Soviet final up to that time, as it included several players, such as Paul Keres
Paul Keres
Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
and Vladas Mikėnas
Vladas Mikenas
Vladas Mikėnas was a Lithuanian International Master of chess, an Honorary Grandmaster, and a journalist.- Early life :Vladas Mikėnas played for Lithuania at first board in five official and one unofficial Chess Olympiads....
, from countries annexed by the USSR, as part of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939.
The Soviet Federation held a further tournament of the top six from the 1940 event, and this was called the 1941 Absolute Championship of the USSR, one of the strongest tournaments ever organized. The format saw each player meet his opponents four times. The players were Botvinnik, Keres, Smyslov, Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9...
, Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky was a Soviet Russian chess Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess, an International Arbiter, trainer, and chess author...
, and Andor Lilienthal
Andor Lilienthal
Andor Arnoldovich Lilienthal was a Hungarian and Soviet chess Grandmaster. In his long career, he played against ten male and female world champions, beating Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, and Vera Menchik...
. Smyslov scored 10/20 for third place, behind Botvinnik and Keres. This proved that Smyslov 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 international chess. But several tournaments involving Soviet players only were still organized. Smyslov won the 1942 Moscow Championship outright with a powerful 12/15. At Kuibyshev
Samara, Russia
Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
1942, he placed second with 8/11. In a strong field at Sverdlovsk
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
1943, Smyslov tied for 3rd–4th places with 8/14. In the 1943–44 Moscow Championship, Smyslov tied for 3rd–4th with 11.5/16. He finished second in the 1944 USSR Championship at Moscow (URS-ch13) with 10.5/16. He emerged as champion from the 1944–45 Moscow Championship with 13/16. By this juncture, Smyslov had advanced into the group of the top three Soviet players, along with Botvinnik and Keres (who was playing in Nazi-occupied Europe during the War).
As the war ended, organized chess picked up again. But Smyslov's form hit a serious slump in the immediate post-war period. In the 1945 USSR Championship at Moscow (URS-ch14), Smyslov was in the middle of the very powerful field with 8.5/17; the winner was Botvinnik, with Boleslavsky and the new star David Bronstein
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
occupying second and third places. At Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
1945, Smyslov had the worst result of his career to date, scoring just 6.5/15 in a not especially strong field. It was little better in the Moscow Championship of 1945–46, as he could only score 7.5/15 for a tie of 7th–11th places, as Bronstein won. Then in the Moscow Championship of 1946, Smyslov scored just 8.5/15, for a tie of 3rd–6th places, as Bronstein won again. During this period he scored just 31/62 in those four tournaments, for 50 per cent.
Nevertheless, Smyslov's earlier strong results secured him one of the five Soviet places in the first really strong post-war international tournament, at Groningen, Netherlands, in August 1946. This event, the Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardised shape—the Staunton pattern—that...
Memorial, was won by Botvinnik with 14.5/19, half a point ahead of former World Champion Max Euwe
Max Euwe
Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...
. Smyslov finished third with 12.5/19, and this confirmed his status as one of the world's top players.
Smyslov found it tough going for the next while however, once he was back playing in Soviet events. In the next Soviet Championship (URS-ch15, Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
1947), he tied for 3rd–4th places with 12/19, as Keres won. At Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
1947, Smyslov scored 8/13 for a tied 4th–6th places, as Keres won again. At Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
1947, Smyslov scored 6/9 to tie for 2nd–5th places; the winner was Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligoric
Svetozar Gligorić is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia...
. In the Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
Memorial tournament, Moscow 1947, Smyslov tied for 3rd–4th places, with 10/15, as Botvinnik won.
His results showed a consistent pattern of high finishes against strong company, but with virtually no tournament championships. Smyslov had never actually won an adult tournament other than the Moscow City Championship, before he played in the 1948 World Championship Tournament.
World title challenger
Smyslov was one of the five players selected to compete for the 1948 World Chess ChampionshipWorld Chess Championship 1948
The 1948 World Chess Championship was a tournament played to determine a new World Chess Champion following the death of the previous champion Alexander Alekhine in 1946. The tournament marked the passing of control of the championship title to FIDE, the International Chess Federation which had...
tournament to determine who should succeed the late Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
as champion. His selection was questioned in some quarters, but this criticism was amply rebutted when he finished second behind Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
, with a score of 11/20.
With his second-place finish from the 1948 World Championship, Smyslov was admitted directly into the 1950 Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
Candidates' tournament without needing to play in qualifying events. Smyslov scored 10/18 for third place, behind Bronstein and Boleslavsky, who tied for first place. Smyslov's third place automatically qualified him into the next Candidates' tournament. He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1950 by FIDE on its inaugural list.
After winning the Candidates Tournament
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
1953, with 18/28, two points ahead of Keres, Bronstein, and Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...
, Smyslov played a match with Botvinnik for the title the following year. Sited at Moscow, the match ended in a draw, after 24 games (seven wins each and ten draws), meaning that Botvinnik retained his title.
World Champion
Smyslov had again won the Candidates' Tournament at AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in 1956, which led to another world championship match against Botvinnik in 1957. Assisted by trainers Vladimir Makogonov
Vladimir Makogonov
Vladimir Andreevich Makogonov was a chess player from Azerbaijan. He was born in Nakhchivan but lived in Baku for most of his life. He became an International Master in 1950 and was awarded an honorary Grandmaster title in 1987. Makogonov never became well known outside the Soviet Union, but was...
and Vladimir Simagin
Vladimir Simagin
Vladimir Simagin was a Russian Grandmaster of chess. He was three times Moscow champion , helped to train Vasily Smyslov to the World Championship, and made many significant contributions to chess openings...
, 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. Smyslov later said his health suffered during the return match, as he came down with pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, but he also acknowledged that Botvinnik had prepared very thoroughly. Over the course of the three World Championship matches, Smyslov had won 18 games to Botvinnik's 17 (with 34 draws), and yet he was only champion for a year. Yet Smyslov was to write in his autobiographical games collection Smyslov's Best Games, "I have no reason to complain of my fate. I fulfilled my dream and became the seventh world champion in the history of chess."
Later World Championships
Smyslov did not 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 YugoslaviaYugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, which was won by the rising superstar Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
. He missed out in 1962, but was back in 1964, following a first-place tie at the Amsterdam Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
, with 17/23. However he lost his first-round match to Efim Geller
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
.
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
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
), losing 8.5–4.5 at Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
1984 to Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
, who was 21 at the time, and who went on to beat Karpov to become world champion in 1985. He had beaten Zoltán Ribli
Zoltan Ribli
Zoltán Ribli is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and International Arbiter . He was twice a World Championship Candidate and three times Hungarian Champion.-A career in chess:...
6.5–4.5 in the semifinal, but drew his quarter-final match against Robert Hübner
Robert Hübner
Robert Hübner is a respected German chess Grandmaster, chess writer, and papyrologist . At eighteen, he was joint winner of the West German Chess Championship...
7–7, with the advancing player (Smyslov) determined only by the spin of a roulette
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....
wheel. His final Candidates' appearance was the Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
1985 tournament, where he did not advance.
Soviet Championships
Smyslov was a frequent competitor at the Soviet Championships and enjoyed some notable successes. In 1940, while still a teenager, he finished third behind Bondarevsky and Lilienthal. At the 13th Championship in 1944, he placed second behind Botvinnik and in 1947, shared third with Bondarevsky, after Keres and Boleslavsky.He was a joint winner of the contest in 1949 and again in 1955 (with Bronstein and Geller respectively). Whilst the 1949 title was shared, the 1955 title was awarded to Geller after a play-off.
Much later in his career he showed that he could still mount a credible challenge; he took a share of third place in 1969 (behind Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
and Polugaevsky
Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky was an International Grandmaster of chess and frequent contender for the world chess championship, although he never achieved that title...
) and in 1971, was joint runner-up with Tal, after Savon
Vladimir Savon
Vladimir Andreyevich Savon was a Ukrainian chess player.He learned how to play late, at the age of 13....
.
Post-war tournament record
Smyslov maintained an active tournament schedule throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, registering many top three finishes in some of the most prestigious tournaments of the period.In 1950, he was second behind Kotov
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...
at Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and in 1951, won The Chigorin Memorial, held in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
. He shared third place with Botvinnik at Budapest (The Maróczy
Géza Maróczy
Géza Maróczy was a leading Hungarian chess Grandmaster, one of the best players in the world in his time. He was also a practicing engineer.-Early career:...
Memorial) in 1952, after Keres and Geller. In 1953, he won a training tournament in Gagra
Gagra
Gagra is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains...
and finished third at Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, behind Tolush
Alexander Tolush
Alexander Kazimirovich Tolush was a Soviet Russian chess grandmaster. He was one of Boris Spassky's mentors. Tolush was born and died in Saint Petersburg...
and Petrosian. At the 1954/55 edition of the Hastings Congress
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
, he shared first place with Keres. At Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
1955, he was sole winner, two clear points ahead of the field. He continued his winning streak at Moscow's Alekhine Memorial in 1956, a victory shared with his constant rival, Botvinnik. During this period, there were several triumphs in his city of birth, when he shared first place with Bronstein and Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
in 1959, was a joint winner in both 1961 (with Kholmov
Ratmir Kholmov
Ratmir Dmitrievich Kholmov was a Russian chess Grandmaster. He won many international tournaments in Eastern Europe during his career, and tied for the Soviet Championship title in 1963, but lost the playoff...
) and 1962 (with Vasiukov), and won outright in 1963.
His good form continued throughout the sixties. There were shares of second place at Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
1961 (after Taimanov
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...
) and at Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...
1962 (after Polugaevsky). He travelled again to Hastings at the end of 1962 and registered third place behind Gligoric and Kotov. In 1963, he was second at Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
(The Chigorin Memorial) after Polugaevsky. His visit to Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
's Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...
Memorial in 1964 resulted in a share of first with the East German, Uhlmann
Wolfgang Uhlmann
Wolfgang Uhlmann is a prominent German International Grandmaster of chess. Despite being a dedicated professional chess player, and undoubtedly the GDR's most successful ever, he has also had a career in accountancy.-Chess career:...
. He took outright first at the same tournament the following year. In 1966, there were victories at Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...
and at The Rubinstein
Akiba Rubinstein
Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein was a famous Polish chess Grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th century. He was scheduled to play a match with Emanuel Lasker for the world championship in 1914, but it was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War I...
Memorial in Polanica Zdroj
Polanica Zdrój
Polanica-Zdrój is a town in Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland.It lies approximately south-west of Kłodzko, and south-west of the regional capital Wrocław...
. In 1967, he was second to Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
at Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
, won at Moscow and took second after Stein
Leonid Stein
Leonid Zakharovich Stein was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s , and was among the world's top ten players during that era.- Early life :...
at the city's Alekhine Memorial tournament. He placed third the same year at The Capablanca Memorial in Havana (after Larsen
Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union's dominance of chess...
and Taimanov) and finished third again at Palma de Mallorca
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...
1967 and Monte Carlo 1968, the latter two events both being headed by Larsen and Botvinnik. This was also the year he repeated his previous success at Polanica Zdroj, taking outright first. His next trip to Hastings also ended in triumph, as he took clear first at the 1968/69 edition. The sixties drew to a close with victory at Monte Carlo 1969 (shared with Portisch
Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"...
) and a share of third place at Skopje 1969 (with Uhlmann and Kholmov, after Hort
Vlastimil Hort
Vlastimil Hort is a chess Grandmaster of Czech nationality. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the Candidates stage of competition for the world chess championship, but was never able to compete for the actual title.Hort was born in Kladno,...
and Matulovic
Milan Matulovic
Milan Matulović is a chess Grandmaster who was the second or third strongest Yugoslav player for much of the 1960s and 1970s behind Svetozar Gligorić and possibly Borislav Ivkov. He was primarily active before 1977, but has remained an occasional tournament competitor as recently as...
).
While less prolific than in previous decades, Smyslov played many strong tournaments in the seventies and even into the eighties and beyond. He was joint runner-up with Hort, Gligoric and Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
at Rovinj
Rovinj
Rovinj is a city in Croatia situated on the north Adriatic Sea with a population of 13,562 . It is located on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula and is a popular tourist resort and an active fishing port...
/Zagreb 1970, after Fischer. A winner at Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in 1971, he came third at The Alekhine Memorial (Moscow) the same year, after Karpov and Stein. At Las Palmas 1972, he was second equal with Larsen, behind Portisch and in 1973, topped The Capablanca Memorial in Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos is a city on the southern coast of Cuba, capital of Cienfuegos Province. It is located about from Havana, and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed La Perla del Sur...
. First place followed at Reykjavik
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
in 1974 and at the Venice tournament of the same year, he finished second behind Liberzon
Vladimir Liberzon
Vladimir Mikhailovich Liberzon was a Russian–born Israeli chess grandmaster.-Biography:Liberzon played in several Soviet championships, his best result being fourth at the 36th Championship, Alma-Ata 1968/69...
. There followed a second place at The Alexander Memorial (Teesside
Teesside
Teesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...
) in 1975 (after Geller), a first place at Szolnok
Szolnok
Szolnok is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. Its location on the banks of the Tisza river, at the heart of the Great Hungarian Plain, has made it an important cultural and economic crossroads for centuries....
(also 1975), and a multi-way share of second at the large Lone Pine
Lone Pine International
Lone Pine International was a series of chess tournaments held annually in March or April from 1971 through 1981 in Lone Pine, California. Sponsored by Louis D. Statham , millionaire engineer and inventor of medical instruments, the tournaments were formally titled the Louis D. Statham Masters...
Open of 1976 (Petrosian won). He finished third behind Romanishin
Oleg Romanishin
Oleg Mikhailovich Romanishin is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster and former European junior champion.Many honours and awards were bestowed on him as a young man. After winning the European Junior Championship in 1973, he became an International Master the same year...
and Tal at Leningrad in 1977, when all three eclipsed the efforts of then world champion Anatoly Karpov. In 1978, he won at São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
and finished with a share of second at Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, after Andersson
Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972 .-Career:...
. As the seventies ended, he took first place at Berlin 1979, this time shared with Csom
István Csom
István Csom is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster and International Arbiter. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1967 and the Grandmaster title in 1973. He was Hungarian Champion in 1972 and 1973...
.
Notable outcomes for 1980 included joint first places at San Miguel (with Browne, Panno
Oscar Panno
Oscar R. Panno is an Argentine chess Grandmaster.Panno won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1953, and also won the championship of Argentina the same year....
, Emma) and at Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
(the Politiken Cup, with Mikhalchishin
Adrian Mikhalchishin
Adrian Bogdanovich Mikhalchishin is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster now playing for Slovenia....
). The same year, he finished second at Bar
Bar, Montenegro
Bar is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has a population of 17,727...
, after Petrosian and second at Baguio City
Baguio City
The City of Baguio is a highly urbanized city in northern Luzon in the Philippines. Baguio City was established by Americans in 1900 at the site of an Ibaloi village known as Kafagway...
, after Torre
Eugenio Torre
Eugenio Torre is a chess Grandmaster . He is considered the strongest chess player the Philippines has ever produced during the 1980s and 1990s period, following the heels of Fischer-era Filipino chess champions National Master Ramon Lontoc, International Master Renato Naranja, IM Rodolfo Tan...
. At Moscow 1981, he joined Kasparov and Polugaevsky in second place, behind Karpov. A further Hastings visit in 1981/82 resulted in a share of second place, with Speelman
Jon Speelman
Jonathan Simon "Jon" Speelman is an English Grandmaster chess player, mathematician and chess writer.-Early life and education:He was educated at Worcester College, Oxford, where he studied mathematics, earning a doctorate.-Career:...
, after Kupreichik
Viktor Kupreichik
Viktor Davidovich Kupreichik is a Belarusian chess master.At the beginning of his career, he won individual gold medal at Ybbs 1968 ....
. He was first at Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
in 1984 and first equal at Copenhagen (Politiken Cup) 1986 with Chernin
Alexander Chernin
Alexander Mikhailovich Chernin is a prominent chess master and a former Soviet Champion now living in Hungary.-Tournaments and championships:...
, Pigusov and Cserna. He played at Reggio Emilia
Reggio Emilia
Reggio Emilia is an affluent city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 170,000 inhabitants and is the main comune of the Province of Reggio Emilia....
over the New Year of 1986/87 and shared second spot with Hort, Chernin and Spassky, after Ribli. At Hastings in 1988/89, he took a share of third with Gulko and Speelman, behind Short
Nigel Short
Nigel David Short MBE is an English chess grandmaster earning the title at the age of 19. Short is often regarded as the strongest English player of the 20th century as he was ranked third in the world, from January 1988 – July 1989 and in 1993, he challenged Garry Kasparov for the World Chess...
and Korchnoi.
His tournament appearances were relatively more sparse in the nineties, but results included a share of first at Buenos Aires 1990 and a share of second at Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
(Sigeman) in 1997, after Hellers.
Team competition
Smyslov represented the Soviet Union a total of nine times at chess OlympiadChess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s, 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. His total of 17 Olympiad medals won, including team and individual medals, is an all-time Olympiad record, according to olimpbase.org.
At Helsinki 1952
10th Chess Olympiad
The 10th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 9 and August 31, 1952, in Helsinki, Finland.-References:* OlimpBase...
, he played second board, and won the individual gold medal with 10.5/13. At Amsterdam 1954
11th Chess Olympiad
The 11th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 4 and September 25, 1954, in Amsterdam, Netherlands...
, he was again on second board, scored 9/12, and took the individual bronze medal. At Moscow 1956
12th Chess Olympiad
The 12th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 31 and September 25, 1956, in Moscow, Soviet Union.-References:...
, he scored 8.5/13 on second board, but failed to win a medal. At Munich 1958
13th Chess Olympiad
The 13th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 30 and October 23, 1958, in Munich, West Germany.-References:...
, he made 9.5/13 on second board, good for the silver individual medal. At Leipzig 1960
14th Chess Olympiad
The 14th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between October 26 and November 9, 1960, in Leipzig, East Germany.-References:...
, 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
16th Chess Olympiad
The 16th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 2 and November 25, 1964, in Tel Aviv, Israel.-References:* OlimpBase...
, on third board, and won the gold medal with 11/13. He missed selection in 1966, but returned with a vengeance for Lugano 1968
18th Chess Olympiad
The 18th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between October 17 and November 7, 1968, in Lugano, Switzerland.-References:* OlimpBase...
, and made a phenomenal 11/12 for another gold medal as second reserve. At Siegen 1970
19th Chess Olympiad
The 19th Chess Olympiad, comprising an open team tournament and the Annual Congress of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs, took place between September 5 and September 27, 1970, in the small town of Siegen, West Germany.-Tournament report:...
, he was first reserve, and scored 8/11 for the bronze medal. His final Olympiad was Skopje 1972
20th Chess Olympiad
The 20th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 18 and October 13, 1972, in Skopje, Yugoslavia ....
, where at age 51 he played third board and scored 11/14, good for the silver medal.
His overall Olympiad score is an imposing 90 points in 113 games (+69 −2 =42), for 79.6 per cent. This performance is the fifth all-time best for players participating in at least four Olympiads. S
Smyslov also represented the USSR in five European Team Championships, and emerged with a perfect medals' record: he won five team gold medals and five board gold medals. His total score in these events was (+19 −1 =15), for 75.7 per cent. From olimpbase.org, here is his European teams' data.
- ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
1957: board 1, 3.5/6 (+2 −1 =3), board and team gold medals; - OberhausenOberhausenOberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
1961: board 5, 9/9 (+7 −0 =2), board and team gold medals; - HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
1965: board 4, 6/9 (+3 −0 =6), board and team gold medals; - KapfenbergKapfenbergKapfenberg is a city in Styria, Austria, near Bruck an der Mur. The town's landmark is Burg Oberkapfenberg. Main employer in the city of Kapfenberg was and still is the steel manufacturer Böhler....
1970: board 5, 5/6 (+4 −0 =2), board and team gold medals; - Bath, Somerset 1973: board 6, 4/5 (+3 −0 =2), board and team gold medals.
Smyslov played for the USSR in both the 1970 and 1984 matches against teams representing the Rest of the World. He was on board six at Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
in 1970, and on board four at London in 1984, with the Soviets winning both matches.
Final years
In 1991 Smyslov won the inaugural World Senior Chess ChampionshipWorld Senior Chess Championship
The World Senior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament established in 1991 by FIDE, the World Chess Federation.Participants must have reached 60 years old on 1 January of the year of the event...
. He played no competitive games after the 2001 Klompendans Veterans versus Ladies tournament in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. His Elo rating after this event was 2494.
Smyslov died of heart failure in hospital in Moscow on the morning of 27 March 2010, three days after his 89th birthday.
Legacy
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
theory in many openings, including the English Opening
English Opening
In chess, the English Opening is the opening where White begins:A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, anywhere from one of the two most successful to the fourth most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins the fight for the...
, Grünfeld Defence
Grünfeld Defence
The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The first instance of this opening is in an 1855 game by Moheschunder Bannerjee, an Indian player who had transitioned from Indian chess rules, playing black against John Cochrane in Calcutta, in May 1855: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4...
, and the Sicilian Defence
Sicilian Defence
The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4...
. He has a variation of the Closed Ruy Lopez
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The opening is named after the 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, who made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del...
named for him: the line runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 h6. In the Grünfeld Defence
Grünfeld Defence
The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The first instance of this opening is in an 1855 game by Moheschunder Bannerjee, an Indian player who had transitioned from Indian chess rules, playing black against John Cochrane in Calcutta, in May 1855: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4...
, the continuation 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 is known as the Smyslov Variation and remains a major variation. Smyslov also successfully revived the Fianchetto Defence to the Ruy Lopez
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The opening is named after the 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, who made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del...
(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6) in the 1970s. In the Slav Defence, the side line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Na6 is named the Smyslov Variation.
Perhaps in tribute to his probing intellect, Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
named a character after him in his film 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
.
Opera singer
Smyslov was a fine baritone singer, who only positively decided upon a chess career after a failed audition with the Bolshoi TheatreBolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in 1950. He once said, "I have always lived between chess and music." On the occasion of a game against Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
, he sang to an audience of thousands. He occasionally gave recitals during chess tournaments, often accompanied by fellow Grandmaster and concert pianist Mark Taimanov
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...
. Smyslov once wrote that he tried to achieve harmony on the chess board, with each piece assisting the others.
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: Anglo-Indian Defense. Hedgehog System (A17) 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 beaten 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.
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 LevenfishGrigory LevenfishGrigory Yakovlevich Levenfish was a leading Jewish Russian chess grandmaster of the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice Soviet champion - in 1934 and 1937. In 1937 he tied a match against future world champion Mikhail Botvinnik...
and Vasily Smyslov (1971) Rook Endings (Batsford Edition)
External links
- Interview with Vassily Smyslov
- Studies of Vassily Smyslov
- Vasily Smyslov - Daily Telegraph obituary
- Smyslov's Chess Record