Overview

Winner of the prestigious 2021 FIDE Book of the Year Award Chess Journalists of America Book of the Year Award for 2021 The Life & Games of the Seventh World Chess Champion Vasily Smyslov, the seventh world champion, had a long and illustrious chess career. He played close to 3,000 tournament games over seven decades, from the time of Lasker and Capablanca to the days of Anand and Carlsen. From 1948 to 1958, Smyslov participated in four world championships, becoming world champion in 1957. Smyslov continued playing at the highest level for many years and made a stunning comeback in the early 1980s, making it to the finals of the candidates' cycle. Only the indomitable energy of 20-year-old Garry Kasparov stopped Smyslov from qualifying for another world championship match at the ripe old age of 63! In this first volume of a multi-volume set, Russian FIDE master Andrey Terekhov traces the development of young Vasily from his formative years and becoming the youngest grandmaster in the Soviet Union to finishing second in the world championship match tournament. With access to rare Soviet-era archival material and invaluable family archives, the author complements his account of Smyslov's growth into an elite player with dozens of fascinating photographs, many never seen before, as well as 49 deeply annotated games. German grandmaster Karsten Müller's special look at Smyslov's endgames rounds out this fascinating first volume. [This book] is an extremely well-researched look at his life and games, a very welcome addition to the body of work about Smyslov... - from the Foreword by Peter Svidler About the Author St. Petersburg native Andrey Terekhov is a FIDE Master, an ICCF International Master (correspondence chess) and holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science. His best results at the board were victories in the 2008 Munich Open and the 2012 Nabokov Memorial. He currently resides in Singapore. This is his first book for Russell Enterprises.

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9781949859249

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Reviews

This an extremely well-researched look at his life and games, a very welcome addition to the body of work about Smyslov... --from the Foreword by Peter Svidler

Winner of the prestigious 2021 FIDE Book of the Year Award: https: //www.fide.com/news/1218 Chess Journalists of America Book of the Year Award for 2021 This is chess history at its best. --James Vigus in his review that appeared in the June 2021 issue of the British journal CHESS. This an extremely well-researched look at his life and games, a very welcome addition to the body of work about Smyslov... --from the Foreword by Peter Svidler [a] highly readable book based on impressive research... Leonard Barden in his chess column in the British daily The Guardian Russian FM Andrey Terekhov has devoted years of study and research to the task. [The book] is the first installment of what the author says will very likely be more than three volumes. [It] has already vastly expanded our historical understanding, since Terekhov has unearthed countless previously unknown games and biographical facts from the pre-war and war years ... Along with the games and biographical material, [the book] includes an informative introduction by Terekhov in which he outlines Smyslov's place in chess history and describes the nature of his own research for the book. ... It's worthwhile in and of itself to see the history of our game preserved, but a book like this can also constitute an important role in one's chess education. Although I suspect that young players aren't frequently examining the games of the old masters, they would be well served by taking a break from opening theory and studying these. During the years covered in this volume, Smyslov was perfecting his game and rising from an inexperienced and awed player to parity with the best players of the world. To my mind, that's a process worth reflecting upon and trying to learn from. - John Watson in his review that appeared in the February 2021 issue of Chess Life. The book itself is no less than 536 pages and is beautifully produced with hardcover binding and numerous photos, many of which have never been reproduced before because they stem from the Smyslov's family's own archives... The biographical material, much of which is published for the first time, makes absorbing reading for anyone who enjoys chess history, while the game annotations and tournament reports will certainly be appreciated by all chess players... I will conclude by stating that it is one of the very best books of 2020, not just in the biographical sense, but overall. - Carsten Hansen in his review that appeared in issue 20 of the American Chess Magazine, 2021. This book provides insight into the Soviet era, as Terekhov had access to rare archive material and unique photos. Besides describing the life of this world champion, he gives several deeply analyzed games in each chapter... Obviously, this 536-page book and more books to come is an incredibly good biography of one of the most lovable world champions the world has produced. - Herman Grooten in his review that appeared on Schaaksite.nl, 21 May 2021

Author Information

St. Petersburg native Andrey Terekhov is a FIDE Master, an ICCF International Master (correspondence chess) and holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science. His best results at the board were victories in the 2008 Munich Open and the 2012 Nabokov Memorial. He currently resides in Singapore. This is his first book for Russell Enterprises.

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