Vasily Smyslov, Former World Chess Champion, Dies at 89
Vasily Smyslov, the seventh world chess champion, who was known for both the artistry of his play and the solidity of his technique, died Saturday at a hospital in Moscow. He was 89.
The cause was heart failure, according to the Russian television station NTV.
Mr. Smyslov, though he held the championship for just a year, from April 1957 to May 1958, was one of the most successful and durable tournament and match players of the generation that came of age after World War II.
In 1984, when he was 63 and most of his contemporaries, like Mikhail Botvinnik and David Bronstein, had long ceased to be important players on the world stage, Mr. Smyslov made it to the final candidates match to determine a challenger for Anatoly Karpov, who was world champion at the time. He lost that match to Garry Kasparov, then a prodigy in his early 20s; before the final, however, he dispatched two opponents who were both 30 years his junior.
One of those matches, the quarterfinal against Robert Hübner of Germany, ended after one of the strangest incidents in world championship history.
Mr. Smyslov and Mr. Hübner had reached a 5-to-5 tie in the regulation part of the match. They played four more games, but they all ended in draws. To break the deadlock, the two men, who were playing in Velden, Austria, agreed to go to a local casino and let a spin of a roulette wheel decide the outcome. Mr. Smyslov chose red and Mr. Hübner black, but on the first spin the ball dropped onto the zero, a green slot. On the second spin, however, the ball landed on a red number, and Mr. Smyslov advanced to the next round.
The Oxford Companion to Chess described Mr. Smyslov’s style of play as positional — that is, intended primarily to gain an advantage by subtle maneuvering rather than by overt threats or gain of material. He was also an acknowledged expert in the end game.
But Mr. Smyslov also thought of chess as an art form and each game as more than just a struggle between two opponents. In his book, “Smyslov’s 125 Selected Games,” he wrote, “The content of a game should be a search for truth, and victory a demonstration of its rightness.” His games often sparkled with beautiful, small combinations that served strategic ends....
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The cause was heart failure, according to the Russian television station NTV.
Mr. Smyslov, though he held the championship for just a year, from April 1957 to May 1958, was one of the most successful and durable tournament and match players of the generation that came of age after World War II.
In 1984, when he was 63 and most of his contemporaries, like Mikhail Botvinnik and David Bronstein, had long ceased to be important players on the world stage, Mr. Smyslov made it to the final candidates match to determine a challenger for Anatoly Karpov, who was world champion at the time. He lost that match to Garry Kasparov, then a prodigy in his early 20s; before the final, however, he dispatched two opponents who were both 30 years his junior.
One of those matches, the quarterfinal against Robert Hübner of Germany, ended after one of the strangest incidents in world championship history.
Mr. Smyslov and Mr. Hübner had reached a 5-to-5 tie in the regulation part of the match. They played four more games, but they all ended in draws. To break the deadlock, the two men, who were playing in Velden, Austria, agreed to go to a local casino and let a spin of a roulette wheel decide the outcome. Mr. Smyslov chose red and Mr. Hübner black, but on the first spin the ball dropped onto the zero, a green slot. On the second spin, however, the ball landed on a red number, and Mr. Smyslov advanced to the next round.
The Oxford Companion to Chess described Mr. Smyslov’s style of play as positional — that is, intended primarily to gain an advantage by subtle maneuvering rather than by overt threats or gain of material. He was also an acknowledged expert in the end game.
But Mr. Smyslov also thought of chess as an art form and each game as more than just a struggle between two opponents. In his book, “Smyslov’s 125 Selected Games,” he wrote, “The content of a game should be a search for truth, and victory a demonstration of its rightness.” His games often sparkled with beautiful, small combinations that served strategic ends....