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| Szabo vs. Smyslov |
Meant to clear the way for reform, Khrushchev’s “Secret Speech” of February 25, 1956, shattered the myth of Stalin’s infallibility and resulted in a wave of anti-Stalin sentiment that morphed into calls for democratic reform and eventually erupted in dissent within the Soviet bloc.
The Soviets ruthlessly crushed the Workers' uprising against Communist rule in Poland that lasted from June 28 to the 30th.
Most notably there was the Hungarian Revolt which was also viciously crushed by Soviet tanks and troops. It was this revolt that lead to some Hungarian players fleeing...Laszlo Witt to Canada, Bela Berger to Australia and Pal Benko to the US, for example.
Other big news was Egypt, under Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal in late July and Israel launched attack on Egypt's Sinai peninsula and drove toward the Canal in October. Then British and French invaded Egypt at Port Said on November 5th. A cease-fire forced by US pressure stopped the advance of British, French and Israeli troops.
Chess happenings in 1956 included the death of 5-time British Ladies Champion Edith Price and Veniamin Sozin, a Russian master, author, and theoretician. Savielly Tartakower died in Paris at the age of 68. Julius du Mont, a player, journalist, editor and writer, died in Hastings at the age of 74. On July 16, Karel Hromadka, Czech champion in 1913 and 1921 died in Prague at the age of 69. Also in 1956, Lajos Asztalos, the 1913 Hungarian champion, died in Budapest. He was a professor of philosophy and languages.
In February Isaac Kashdan appeared on Groucho Marx’s game show You Bet Your Life. Kashdan’s partner was Helen Schwartz, actor Tony Curtis’ mother. They didn’t win any money. View
In July Bobby Fischer took first place in the U.S. Junior Championship in Philadelphia with 8 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss thus becoming the youngest-ever junior champion at age 13. Later in the year he defeated Donald Byrne in the famous Game of the Century.
In March and April, Smyslov won the Candidates tournament in Amsterdam. For twenty-five years after Alekhine fled Russia he was considered a traitor and an enemy of the people, but within a few years after his death in 1946 he was being hailed as Russia’s greatest player. After the Candidates tournament in a Soviet delegation that included Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Geller and Petrosian, marked the tenth anniversary of his death at a ceremony organized by FIDE in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris.
Between August 31 and September 25 the Chess Olympiad, won by the USSR, was held in Moscow. Not long after the Olympiad, Moscow was the scene of the Alekhine Memorial that was held from October 9th to November 2nd.
Alekhine's death – an unresolved mystery
Alekhine’s Death by Edward Winter
Vasily Smyslov, Mark Taimanov and Mikhail Botvinnik were the early leaders. Then beginning in round 10 Botvinnik scored 4.5 points out of 5 which gave him a full point lead going into the last round. In the last round an out-of-form Paul Keres handed Botvinnik a stunning defeat. Smyslov ground out a win over Gideon Stahlberg to tie for first place while Taimanov settled for a short last-round draw which left him a half point short of a tie for first. Botvinnik’s shared 1st place was his only first place finish during his world championship years.
British champion C.H.O’D. Alexander was invited to Moscow, but the British Foreign Office forbade him to go because as one of Britain’s top decoding experts at Bletchley Park during World War II it was felt he knew too many secrets.
1) Botvinnik * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11.0
2) Smyslov ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11.0
3) Taimanov ½ ½ * ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 10.5
4) Gligoric ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 10.0
5) Bronstein ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 9.5
6) Najdorf 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 9.0
7) Keres 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8.5
8) Pachman ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 8.5
9) Unzicker ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 8.0
10) Stahlberg 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 8.0
11) Szabo 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 6.0
12) Padevsky 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ 5.5
13) Uhlmann 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ ½ 5.5
14) Ciocaltea 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 3.5
15) Sliwa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 ½ 0 * ½ 3.0
16) Golombek 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 2.5
In the following game Szabo played his home-prepared innovation 8.e4 offering his d-Pawn which Smyslov readily accepted. With the initiative that came with the P-sac Szabo went on to launch what appeared to be a crushing K-side attack, but misplayed it and lost.
Szabo had started out with a modest score of 3-2. This game was played in round 6 on October 17th when rumblings of political unrest coming out of Hungary. On October 23rd, a national uprising began and a few days later, on November 4th, Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest and crushed it. The news was upsetting to Szabo, who was from Budapest, and he later wrote that he didn’t have the ambition to prepare for his remaining games.
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