Passing of a master

It is very easy to get excited when meeting revered players such as world champions, or even former world champions. When my friends and I were in Lucerne way back in 1982, our greatest reverence were reserved for two former world champions who turned up at the Chess Olympiad.  

One of them was Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov, officially the seventh world chess champion. His reign at the pinnacle of the chess world for only a very short period, 1957-1958, but nevertheless, he was still the world champion.

Smyslov died in Moscow last Saturday. He was 89 years old, having celebrated his birthday just three days earlier. He was warded in a Moscow hospital and he died there of heart failure. The first inkling of his death came when Moscow TV announced it in a news broadcast.

Vasily Smyslov could have been a professional opera singer. Blessed with a powerful baritone voice, he auditioned for the Bolshoi Theatre in 1950. When he was not accepted into the Theatre, he concentrated and excelled in his other love, chess. 

Yet, music was never far from his mind. He once said, "I have always lived between chess and music." It was not uncommon of him to give private impromptu recitals in the midst of a chess event. It was said that on occasions, he would be accompanied by his fellow chess grandmaster, Mark Taimanov, who also happened to be a professional concert pianist.

He produced a CD of Russian romances when he was 75 years old. And in May 2001, he finally took centre stage in the Bolshoi Theatre in celebration of Anatoly Karpov's 50th birthday. (Karpov is, of course, another former world chess champion. Recently, he announced his intention to contest for the World Chess Federation’s presidency.)

But enough of Smyslov’s music abilities. It’s his chess abilities that people remember Smyslov for and for a long while, from 1954 until 1958, his world chess championship matches with Mikhail Botvinnik was one of the few great rivalries in the modern game.

He was already a Candidate player in the world chess championship cycles on two occasions in 1948 and 1950 but in 1953, Smyslov won the Candidates tournament in Zurich to earn a shot at the defending champion, Botvinnik. That match ended drawn at 12-all and Botvinnik retained his world title.

In the next Candidates tournament in Amsterdam in 1956, Smyslov again showed his fine mettle by eliminating the other contenders to earn a second shot at the title.

This time, Smyslov was successful, beating Botvinnik by 12½-9½ in 1957. A rematch ensued the following year and Smyslov lost back his title with a 10½-12½ final score. Smyslov later said his health suffered during the return match, as he came down with influenza and pneumonia, but he also acknowledged that Botvinnik had prepared better.

Smyslov never got near to challenging Botvinnik or anyone in the world championship final again. By 1959, other rising stars were emerging in the old Soviet Union and they were surpassing their older colleagues with their results.

Nevertheless, Smyslov still featured occasionally in Candidates qualifying events right through until 1985. But more so, Smyslov achieved great successes in tournament play well through the 60s and 70s.

Maybe I should also mention that in 1983, he catalyzed one of the biggest chess rivalries at world championship levels. At the ripe age of 62, which was already a surprise for a player his age, he made his last appearance in the final stage of that year’s Candidates series. The winner of that match would have played with Karpov in 1984. However, Smyslov lost that match by 4½-8½. 

We all know what happened in 1984, don’t we? It was the start of Karpov’s six-year struggle with Garry Kasparov over the chessboard. Yes, Kasparov was the player that Smyslov could not overcome in 1983. 

Smyslov last appearance in a Candidates event was in 1985. He still played chess but it was clear that he was no longer up there with the world’s best players. 

In 1991, he won the inaugural world senior chess championship. However, his eyesight was starting to fail him and his swansong event was the 2001 Klompendans Veterans versus Ladies tournament in Amsterdam. He never played competitively after that.

According to an obituary in The Guardian newspaper, “Smyslov and his wife of more than half a century spent their final few years in near-poverty as his heart ailment deteriorated.” His wife survives him. With Smyslov’s death, the oldest surviving former world chess champion is now Boris Spassky.

Up next  

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the third leg of the KL rapid grand prix tomorrow and on Sunday. Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC) and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. Venue is the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

Klang Parade open

The Klang Parade and the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre are jointly organizing this year’s Klang Parade chess tournament early next month. An age group event for under-12 and under-18 players will be held on Apr 3, while there will be an open event on Apr 4. Entry fees are RM10 for under-12 players and RM15 for all others. To register, contact Hamid Majid (019.3158098) or Siti Nor Faiza (03-33437889).

KL open

The Kuala Lumpur open chess tournament begins at the Grand Olympic Hotel in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur, on Apr 6. The seven-day event features some 120 participants from 21 countries, including at least 15 grandmasters and about 24 international masters and 20 Fide masters. 

As part of the activities, English GM Nigel Short, the former finalist of the world chess championship in 1993, will be in town on Apr 10 to give a simultaneous exhibition to a maximum of 20 players. More information available from the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association website at http://www.klchess.com or alternatively, contact Peter Long (013.3920920, peterlong@aol.asia) for details.

Perak grand prix

The second leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament, sponsored by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, will be played at the Chinese Recreation Club in Jalan Stesen, Taiping on Apr 11. Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of the Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. Participants are reminded that entries will close on Apr 8. More information is available from Yunus (013.908129) or http://perakchess.blogspot.com