Smyslov was a wonderful player and truly a gentleman. He will be missed by our chess community. My condolences to his family.
Décès de Vassily Smyslov, 7e champion du monde d’échecs
Le champion du monde d’échecs Vassily Smyslov est décédé dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi dans un hôpital de Moscou à l’âge de 89 ans, a annoncé à RIA Novosti une source au sein de l’établissement médical.
“Le grand champion est décédé des suites d’une insuffisance cardio-vasculaire”, a indiqué l’interlocuteur de l’agence.
Vassily Smyslov qui était le 7e champion du monde d’échecs (1957-1958) est né à Moscou le 24 mars 1921. Il a appris les échecs à l’âge de 6 ans, avec son père, qui était lui-même un excellent joueur. A 17 ans, il a remporté le championnat de Moscou.
Source: http://fr.rian.ru
Former world chess champion Smyslov dies at 89
(Reuters) – Former Soviet world chess champion Vasily Smyslov died on Saturday of heart failure, Russian television reported.
Smyslov, who turned 89 on Wednesday, was taken to a Moscow hospital earlier in the week after complaining of heart problems. He died on Saturday morning, NTV reported.
Smyslov was best remembered for his fierce battles against fellow Russian grandmaster Mikhail Botvinnik in the 1950s.
Their first title match ended in a draw in 1954, allowing holder Botvinnik to retain the crown.
Smyslov finally beat Botvinnik in 1957 to become the seventh world champion, before losing in a re-match the following year.
Smyslov was best known as a positional expert and strong exponent of the endgame, but also contributed to opening theory.
His career in the top flight of world chess spanned some four decades. Aged 63, he was beaten by Garry Kasparov in 1984 in the Candidates Final match for the right to challenge Anatoly Karpov for the world title, which Kasparov went on to capture.
Russian media quoted Karpov as saying: “What I remember most about him was his competitive spirit, but also his delicate sense of humor. It was always very tough playing against him, despite him being more than twice my age.”
(Reporting by Gennady Fyodorov; editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Source: http://www.reuters.com
Sad day for us. I’ll miss him as a chess player and as a musician.
Sad, charming person and great chanpion!
I like these two especially:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032320,
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067631,
Who is that charming little lady left?
Ah, yet another chess legend is no longer with us.
Vasilievich was beautifully creative. Many of his games are so simple, as if, chess itself was simple to him. I remember one of his games, in the 1954 world championship match against mighty Botvinnik, where he sacrificed his queen and crushed the world champion in mere 25 moves!
Heartfelt condolences for his family and closed ones.
Alimuzzaman
Canberra
Very sad news, but his brillant games still remain
ex.
-14th game against Botvinnik 1954
-against Castro, Biel 1976
-against Polugajewski Mallorca 1970
When I learned chess I liked Spielmann and Tal but the older I get myself the more i like Smyslow way of playing …
RIP
I was lucky to meet Smyslov in 1996 at the Fox Trot tournament in London,where your younger sister played.
He autographed my book of his games,and was very nice to all the spectators that wanted photos or autographs.
A great great chess player who’s like will be missed.
Sad news.
This makes Spassky the oldest living ex-champion. After that it is already Karpov and then Kasparov!
Oh my, how time flies by.
Damn it…..one of the only things I don’t like about life is hearing news like this all the time….a very dear friend told me once..after listening to me complain about it…”It gets worse” Thank you Mr Smyslov for making our lives richer…
http://manoloajedrez.blogspot.com/
este ha sido mi pequeño homenaje a este gran campeon del mundo. Descanse en paz.
Rest in Peace Mr Smyslov!!
Old Grandmasters never die…. they simply fade away.
RIP 1957-58 World Champion Smyslov
yeah, sad news for chess fans for sure. oh well, that’s life…
Smyslov apparently held some very weird mystical beliefs. He was a very interesting man, and not cut from the same rationalist mold as Botvinnik.