Vasily Smyslov

At 89 years old, Vasily Smyslov physical status not available right now. We will update Vasily Smyslov's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Vasilyevich Smyslov (Russian): асилеви мслов, tr. Vasliy Vastich Smyslóvich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – March 27, 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who competed in World Chess from 1957 to 1958. On eight occasions (1948, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1985, and 1985), he was a candidate for the World Chess Championship. Smyslov twice tied for first place at the USSR Chess Championships (1949-1955), and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won is an all-time record. Smyslov earned ten gold medals in five European Team Championships.

After the age of sixty, Smyslov continued to be active and successful in competitive chess. Despite his poor eyesight, he was still playing in the occasional mixture of chess problems and research until just before his death in 2010. He was an excellent baritone singer, more than chess.

Early years

Smyslov, a Russian boy, first became interested in chess at the age of six. Vasily Osipovich Smyslov, his father, served as an engineer and had represented the St. Petersburg Technical Institute in intercollegiate chess tournaments. Smyslov's father had also studied chess for a time under Mikhail Chigorin's tutelage, and junior Smyslov became the boy's first tutor. The older Smyslov gave his son a copy of Alexander Alekhine's book My Best Games of Chess 1908–1923, and the future world champion would later write that this book became his regular reference. He would later write that "I was later to read everything that my father had in his library": Dufresne's handbook, individual copies of the Soviet chess magazines Chess and Chess Sheet, Lasker and Capablanca's text-books, and the collection of games of Soviet and international tournaments. The games of the legendary Russian chess master M. I. Chigorin left an indelible impression on me; it was with utmost curiosity that I read the numerous statements on strategy by A. I. Nimzovitch; I followed closely the philosophy of influential Soviet masters.

Smyslov's competitive chess career began at the age of 14, when he began competing in classification tournaments. Smyslov won the USSR Junior Championship in 1938, at the age of 17. He ranked for 1st-and-second positions in the Moscow City Championship last year, with 121–2/17. However, Smyslov's first attempt at adult sports outside of his hometown city fell short, placing 12th–13th in the Leningrad-Moscow International Tournament of 1939, which featured an extremely strong field. Smyslov finished 2nd-3rd in the Moscow Championships 1939-39, with 9/13.

Personal life

Smyslov has been married to Nadezhda Smyslova, a woman three years his elder whose first husband was executed during Stalin's reign in the early 1940s. They met in 1948 when they met. Nadezhda had a son from the first marriage, an aspiring chess player who competed at the World Junior Championships. There were no more children in Vasily and Nadezhda than ever before. Nadezhda attended her husband's major tournaments often, giving her moral assistance.

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