Vasily Smyslov
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Vasily Smyslov | |
---|---|
Full name | Vasily Vasilyevich (Vasilievich) Smyslov |
Country | Soviet Union |
Born | Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | 24 March 1921
Died | 27 March 2010 Moscow, Russia | (aged 89)
Title | Grandmaster (1950) |
World Champion | 1957–58 |
Peak rating | 2620 (July 1971) |
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov (Russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в,
Smyslov remained active and successful in competitive chess well after the age of sixty. Despite failing eyesight, he remained active in the occasional composition of chess problems and studies until shortly before his death in 2010. Besides chess, he was an accomplished baritone singer.
Early years
Smyslov was born in Moscow. He first became interested in chess at the age of six. His father,
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
War years
In his first Soviet final, the 1940
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.
World War II forced a halt to most international chess, but several tournaments involving Soviet players only were still organized. Smyslov was exempted from military service due to being severely nearsighted, and he won the 1942 Moscow Championship outright with a powerful 12/15. At
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 8½/17; 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, scoring just 6½/15 in a not especially strong field. It was little better in the Moscow Championship of 1945–46, as he could only score 7½/15 for a tie of 7th–11th places, as Bronstein won. Then in the Moscow Championship of 1946, Smyslov scored just 8½/15, 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%.
Nevertheless, Smyslov's earlier strong results secured him one of the five Soviet places in the first really strong post-war international tournament, at
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,
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 Championship 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.
World Champion
Smyslov again won the Candidates' Tournament at
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
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 8½–4½ 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 6½–4½ 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.
Soviet Championships
Smyslov was a frequent competitor at the
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. He was ranked by FIDE as one of the top 15 players in the world from the late 1940s into the early 1980s, a stretch of almost 40 years.
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
His good form continued throughout the 1960s. There were shares of second place at
While less prolific than in previous decades, Smyslov played many strong tournaments in the 1970s and even into the 1980s and beyond. He was joint runner-up with Hort, Gligoric and
Notable outcomes for 1980 included joint first places at San Miguel (with
Smyslov remained on FIDE's top 100 list until he was 70 years old. His tournament appearances were fewer in the 1990s, but results included a share of first place at Buenos Aires 1990 and a share of second at Malmö (Sigeman) in 1997, after Hellers.
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 strongly 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.
His overall Olympiad score is an imposing 90 points in 113 games (+69−2=42), for 79.6%. This performance is the fifth all-time best for players participating in at least four Olympiads. 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%. From olimpbase.org, here is his European teams' data.
- Vienna 1957: board 1, 3½/6 (+2−1=3), board and team gold medals;
- Oberhausen 1961: board 5, 8/9 (+7−0=2), board and team gold medals;
- Hamburg 1965: board 4, 6/9 (+3−0=6), board and team gold medals;
- Kapfenberg 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 in 1970, and on board four at London in 1984, with the Soviets winning both matches.
Final years
In 1991, Smyslov won the inaugural
Smyslov died of
Chess style and legacy
Smyslov was known for his positional style, and, in particular, his precise handling of the
A variation of the Closed Ruy Lopez is named after 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
Opera singer
A baritone, Smyslov only decided upon a chess career after a failed audition with the Bolshoi Theatre in 1950. He occasionally gave recitals during chess tournaments, often accompanied by fellow grandmaster and concert pianist Mark Taimanov. Smyslov once wrote that, as in music, he tried to achieve harmony on the chess board, with each piece assisting the others.[6] He also recorded operatic arias.[7]
Personal life
For more than 50 years, Smyslov was married to Nadezhda Smyslova, a woman three years his senior whose first husband was executed during a Stalinist purge in the early 1940s. They met in 1948. Nadezhda had a son from her first marriage, an aspiring chess player who competed at the World Junior Championship. Vasily and Nadezhda had no children of their own. She often accompanied her husband at major tournaments to provide moral support.[8][9] However, she remained in Moscow during the 1959 Candidates tournament when, to the consternation of Soviet authorities, the normally staid Smyslov had a flagrant affair with a woman grandmaster that affected his play.[10] Smyslov's stepson, Vladimir Selimanov, represented the USSR at the 1957 World Junior Championship at Toronto, where he finished 4th. He died by suicide in 1960.[11]
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)
Notable 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 Zoltan Ribli, World Championship Candidates Semi-final, London 1983, Queens Gambit, Semi-Tarrasch Defence (), 1-0 The finest game of Smyslov's semi-final win, featuring several sacrifices.
References
- ^ Crowther, Mark (27 March 2010). "Vasily Smyslov 1921–2010". The Week in Chess. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
- ^ Fine, R. (Ed.). (1976). The World's Greatest Chess Games. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
- ^ a b Watson, J. "Book Reviews by John Watson". chess.co.uk.
- ^ Vasily Smyslov 1921–2010. The Week in Chess (27 March 2010). Retrieved on 2018-05-04.
- ^ "I'M SORRY, FRANK..." ChessBase. 29 August 1999. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007.
- ^ Smyslov, Vassily (1995) Smyslov's Selected Games. London, Everyman Chess.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Vasily Smyslov. Operatic Arias (1997) - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
- ^ 24 марта выдающемуся шахматисту исполнилось 87 лет. president.org.ua (26 March 2008)
- ^ ГЛАВА 1 ЖИЗНЬ И СУДЬБА. chesslibrary.ru
- ^ "Vasily Smyslov obituary". The Guardian. 29 March 2010.
- ^ Soltis, Andy (4 April 2010). "Champ's tragedy". New York Post. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-5950043321.
- Terekhov, Andrey (2020). The Life and Games of Vasily Smyslov. Volume 1: The Early Years 1921–1948. Russell Enterprises. ISBN 978-1-949859-24-9.
- Winter, Edward G., ed. (1981). World Chess Champions. Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-024094-1.
- ISBN 0-486-28674-6.
- Kasparov, Garry (2003). My Great Predecessors, part II. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-342-X.
External links
- “Vassily Smyslov (1921-2010)” by Edward Winter
- Vasily Smyslov player profile and games at Chessgames.com
- Interview with Vassily Smyslov
- Vasily Smyslov's 85th birthday interview, 2006
- Vasily Smyslov – Daily Telegraph obituary
- Smyslov's Chess Record
- Visa with photo 1962