Smyslov's Best Games of Chess
My Rise to the World Championship
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| By Smyslov, V.V. |
| ISBN 184382115x |
| SERIES Hardinge Simpole Chess Classics |
| Paperback 172 pages |
| Subject [Chess
] [Smyslov
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| Published 26 April, 2004 |
| UK Price £16.95 |
| US Price $29.95 |
Smyslov launched his first bid for the supreme title in the 1948 match tournament - coming second to Botvinnik. Eventually, after two victories in Candidates contests and a drawn match with Botvinnik, Smyslov overcame his great and perennial rival to become World Champion in 1957 while still in his mid 30's. Smyslov's games are complex. Outwardly a serene strategist and undoubtedly a genius of the endgame, closer examination reveals Smyslov to be a fierce seeker after the initiative, paradoxically especially with black. The games and results in this volume have been bettered by very few in the history of competitive chess and it is particularly instructive to hear Smyslov's own voice guiding the reader. The impeccable translation is by Russian expert Peter Clarke, himself author of volumes on Tal and Petrosian. Originally published as My Best Games of Chess - 1935-1957. Now published with corrections. Vassily Smyslov was the victor of the two World Championship Candidates Tournaments of 1953 and 1956, and went on to capture the World Title from Botvinnik in 1957. A genius of practical strategy and filigree endgame play, Smyslov was also a miracle of chess board longevity, reaching the final of the 1984 World Title Candidates qualifier against Kasparov at the age of 63 - exactly three times the age of his opponent! Smyslov's three titanic battles with Botvinnik for the world crown furnished the key creative impulses for the dominant chess style of the 1950's. |
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