Vasily Smyslov

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Vasily Smyslov bigraphy, stories - Chess grandmaster

Vasily Smyslov : biography

1921-3-24 – 27 March 2010

Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) 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 twice tied for 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 problems and studies until shortly before his death in 2010.

Early years

Smyslov (pronounced "smis-LOFF") first became interested in chess at the age of six. His father, Vasily Osipovich Smyslov, 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 12½/17. 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.

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)

Team competition

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. 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 10½/13. At Amsterdam 1954, he was again on second board, scored 9/12, and took the individual bronze medal. At Moscow 1956, he scored 8½/13 on second board, but failed to win a medal. At Munich 1958, he made 9½/13 on second board, good for the silver individual medal. At Leipzig 1960, he was dropped to first reserve, and made a great score of 11½/13, 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.