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Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov was born on March 24, 1921. He learnt chess at the age of six, and after studying books in his father's library, became really serious about the game at the age of 13, when two world champions, Capablanca and Lasker, visited his native city of Moscow. At the age of 16 he won the All-Union boys' championship, and at 17 he shared first in the Moscow City Championship. At 19 he came third in the unrestricted USSR Championship. There followed a string of successes that caught the eye of world champion Alexander Alekhine, and he became internationally known when he beat Samuel Reshevsky twice in the famous USSR vs USA radio match in 1945.
Smyslov, Bronstein, Keres and Botvinnik in 1954
In the world championship tournament staged in 1948 to determine Aljechin's
successor Smyslov came second after Botvinnik, who got the title, and ahead
of Keres, Reshevsky and Euwe. In the Zurich Candidates Tournament of 1953 Smyslov
scored +9 =10 –1, two points more than the nearest rival. He
drew the world championship match against Botvinnik in 1954, and Botvinnik
retained the title. Smyslov won the next Candidates, 1956 in Amsterdam, again
with a clear margin, and in 1957 he beat Botvinnik in the world championship
match by +6 =13 –3, but lost it a year later to the same player +5 =11
–7. The picture on the left was taken during this second match.
After his one-year reign as world champion Smyslov played in the 1959, 1964 and 1982 Candidates tournaments. But he never again became a challenger. One should note that at his final Candidates event in 1982 was 61, the oldest player ever to participate in such an event. Incidentally he drew his quarter-final match against Robert Hübner 7:7 and won the tiebreak, which was a spin of the roulette wheel in the Casino where they were playing. He went through to the final, the match that determined who would challenge Anatoly Karpov, but lost 8.5:4.5 to Garry Kasparov.
Smyslov has always been known for his positional style and is extraordinary endgame abilities. He was also a great combinational player, and in his games we find many spectacular tactical shots. In the opening he made important contributions to the English, Grünfeld, Ruy Lopez and Sicilian.
Smyslov with his wife at the 2004 Russian Superfinals
The Smyslovs
In his early years Smyslov studied at the Moscow Institute of Aviation, and he became an accomplished baritone singer. In fact he only decided to take up chess full-time when he failed an audition for the Bolshoi Theatre in 1950. He gave many recitals during his chess career, often accompanied by fellow world championship candidate and pianist Mark Taimanov.
The baritone singer Vasily Smyslov. At the age of 75 he produced his first
CD of Russian romances. And in Mai 2001, exactly 50 years after his audition
in the Bolschoi Theater, he sang there – in celebration of Anatoli Karpov's
50th birthday.
Smyslov has played no competitive games since the 2001, his failing eyesight being one of the prime reasons. He ended his chess career at the age of 80 and with an Elo rating of 2500. He will be honored in a specialy ceremony in the Moscow House of Chess (Gogol Boulevard) today.
The former world champion, in Monaco 1994
Colour pictures provided by Dagobert Kohlmeyer
1: Wilhelm Steinitz, 1886–1894, Austria/USA
2: Emanuel Lasker, 1894–1921, Germany
3: José Raúl Capablanca, 1921–1927, Cuba
4: Alexander Alekhine, 1927–1935, Russia/France
5: Max Euwe, 1935-1937, Netherlands
4: Alexander Alekhine, 1937–1946, France
6: Mikhail Botvinnik, 1948–1957, Soviet Union (Russia)
7: Vasily Smyslov, 1957–1958, Soviet Union (Russia)
6: Mikhail Botvinnik, 1958–1960, Soviet Union (Russia)
8 : Mikhail Tal, 1960–1961, Soviet Union (Latvia)
6: Mikhail Botvinnik, 1961–1963, Soviet Union (Russia)
9 : Tigran Petrosian, 1963–1969, Soviet Union (Armenia)
10: Boris Spassky, 1969–1972, Soviet Union (Russia)
11: Robert J Fischer, 1972–1975, United States
12: Anatoly Karpov, 1975–1985, Soviet Union (Russia)
13: Garry Kasparov, 1985–2000, Soviet Union (Russia)
14: Vladimir Kramnik, 2000–present, Russia (PCA/Braingames)
FIDE
Anatoly Karpov, 1993–1999, Russia
Alexander Khalifman, 1999–2000, Russia
Viswanathan Anand, 2000–2002, India
Ruslan Ponomariov, 2002–2004, Ukraine
Rustam Kasimdzhanov, 2004–2005, Uzbekistan
Veselin Topalov, 2005–present, Bulgaria
