We were blessed that except for a brief period of heavy downpour the bad stuff missed us, but only by a very few miles. After the storm passed a couple of hours before sunset a beautiful double rainbow appeared that lasted for about half an hour.
This morning as I drink my coffee and work on this post my sympathy is extended to those who are left with a messy cleanup and have destroyed cars and damaged homes. I know because in the past we suffered a catastrophic flood that put us out of our home for a couple of weeks and did over $20,000 damage, not including the loss of my car which was sitting in three feet of water.
Vasily Smyslov (1921 - 2010) was a Candidate for the World Championship on eight occasions (1948, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1965, 1983, and 1985), played three world championship matches and held the title from 1957 to 1958.
The 1954 World Championship match between Botvinnik and Smyslov was drawn 12–12, meaning Botvinnik retained the world title. Smyslov won the Candidates' Tournament at Amsterdam in 1956 and then went on to defeat Botvinnik by a score of 12.5-9.5 in 1957.
Botvinnik exercised his right to a rematch, and the following year won the title back with a score of 12.5-10.5. Smyslov later said his health suffered during the return match, as he came down with pneumonia, but he also acknowledged that Botvinnik had prepared very thoroughly.
Botvinnik started with three straight wins and was never in any danger of losing the match. After 14 games Botvinnik was leading with a score of 9-5 when, in a favorable position after 55 moves and only to two moves to make in three minutes to reach adjournment, he became so absorbed that he was surprised when the referee, Gideon Stahlberg, informed him that he had forfeited in time.
Game 18 was critical. After 17 games Botvinnik was leading 10-7. If he won he would be up four games with six games left. If he lost his lead would be two games and Smyslov would have had some hope.
As it turned out Botvinnik missed a brilliant win then Smyslov returned the favor, but things got even worse; he repeatedly missed the best moves. After this game his hopes of salvaging the match were zero.
It's interesting to note that in their three world championship matches Smyslov held a slim edge: +18 -17 =34, but history gives preference to Botvinnik.
Personally, I think Smyslov was the better of the two and his games are more enjoyable to play over. Smyslov was primarily a positional player, but many of his games were fantastic attacking games and he was also an endgame virtuoso. You can read an interesting short article on Smyslov at ChessBase HERE.
Mikhail Botvinnik–Vasily Smyslov1–0A16World Championship Match, Moscow1819.04.1958Stockfish 15
English Opening 1.c4 The English was a favorite of Botvinnik. f6 2.c3 d5 2...g6 3.g3 g7 4.g2 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.d3 Became known as the Botvinnik
System in which white obtains good piece play and a center spatial advantage. 3.cxd5 xd5 4.g3 g6 5.g2 xc3 6.bxc3 g7 7.b3 A departure from Games
14 and 16 in which Botvinnik played the more modern 7.Rb1. The text move
threatens 8.Bxb7, but the Q will exposed to possible attack. c6 In the
other games Smyslov played 7...Nd7 which is satisfactory because 8.Bxb7 loses
to 8...Rb8. With the text move Smyslov is seeking complications. 8.f3 0-0 9.0-0 a5 10.c2 c5 11.d3 f5 The threat is 12...c4 and ...cxd3 which would
leave white with weak Ps in the center. 12.e4 This meets the threat but his
center ends up vulnerable. A safer continuation is 12.Nh4 followed by ...Rb1 d7 13.g5 White hopes to provoke black into weakening his Ps with ...h6 or .
..f6 c8 14.d2 b5 15.fd1 a4 16.e1 f6 17.h6 This P offer is more
active than the quiet retreat to e3. xh6 18.xh6 xd3 Smyslov accepts the
challenge, but 18...e5 may have been safer. 19.e5 Intending to play on the
e-file. If allowed he will play 20.exf6 exf6 21.Re7 which explains black's
next move. c6 19...xc3 would be a serious error. 20.ac1 b2 21.exf6 xf6 Otherwise white has Re7 22.g5 g7 22...xf2+ 23.h1 f7 24.f1
wins 23.d5+ h8 24.xg7+ xg7 25.e6+ h8 26.xf8 xf8 27.xc5
and white is winning. 19...ce8 This is the best move challenging white
on the e-file. The continuation might be 20.e3 f5 21.ae1 h5 22.xh5 gxh5 with equal chances. 20.e3 c2 21.exf6 exf6 21...xf6 loses to 22.g5 xf2+ 23.h1 f7 24.f3 22.ae1 cd8 Both playesr
have overlooked the fact that white has a clear win after this move. 22...xa2 fails... 23.h3 cd8 24.e6+ 22...e5 This would keep white's
advantage to a minimum. 23.xe5 fxe5 24.d5+ h8 25.f4 25.xe5 xf2+ 26.h1 ce8 White's attack is over and black is left a P up. 25...c6 26.c4
White is slightly better. 23.h3 White can still claim the advantage after
this, but 23.Nd4 wraps it up! 23.d4 cxd4 24.d5+ leads to mate h8 24...xd5 25.e8 25.e7 xe7 26.xe7 Black can only delay, but not
prevent, mate. 23...e5 By blocking the e-file black has succeeded in
repelling white's attack. 24.xe5 fxe5 25.f4 Botvinnik is still seeking
play on the e-file, but it allows Smyslov to seize the initiative. 25.e6+ h8 Eliminating the threat to his f-Pawn. 26.f3 de8 27.d5 with an equal
position. 25...c6 White must now prevent ...Rf7. White is
under pressure. 25...d2 looks threatening, but it allows mate. 26.xe5 dd8 26...xh2 27.e6+ f7 28.xf7+ xf7 29.e7+ mate next move. 27.e7 f7 28.xf7 black cannot avert mate. 26.g5 This move
ought to have lost immediately. It's shocking that the two best players in the
world missed the refutation of this move. 26.xe5 xc3 27.g2 d4+ 28.h1 d6 29.xc6 xc6+ 30.g1 f6 31.f5 31.xc5 d4+ 31...d7 32.xc5
Black is only marginally better. 26...de8 Smyslov proceeds as he intended,
but misses the win. 26...d2 There is no answer to this. 27.e6+ f7
He gets mated after 27.Kg7 28.Qe7+ 28.h4 g2+ 29.h1 xh2+ mate next move 27.xe5 xc3 28.xe8 This next move is much weaker than trading off the
Rs with 28...Rxe8 xe8 28...xe8 29.xe8+ xe8 30.e6+ f8 Black has
what should prove to be a won ending. 29.e5 xe5 30.xe5 b6 White's active R compensates for his P minus. 31.e7 a5 32.b7 Better was
32.Be6 first f6 It's interesting that in annotating this game Hans Kmoch
was critical of this move claiming that it throws away whatever advantage
black had. He recommended that black play 32...b5. That's the exact opposite
of what Stockfish claims as it gives 32...Rf6 an exclamation mark. 33.b8 f7 34.f2 d6 35.e3 a4 It's surpring that an endgame player of Smyslov's
caliber missed the winning line here. Kmoch makes no mention of it either. 35...c4 36.f1 c3 37.d3 With his K cut off from the defense white is
helpless. d7 38.b7 b5 with a decisive advantage. 36.b7+ g8 37.b8+ g7 38.b7+ g8 39.b8+ f7 40.b7+ f8 41.xh7 c4 The difference between
this position and the one in the note to move 35 is that black's K is also cut
off and white's R is more active and he, too, has a P-majority that black will
have to reckon with. 42.c7 b5 43.e4 b4 43...d2 is the main
alternative, but it's no better and things get quite tactical. 44.e5 xa2 45.f6 b4 46.h7 g8 47.g7+ h8 47...f8 48.e6 mate next move. 48.e6 xh2 49.c7 d2 49...c3 50.c8+ mates in 5 50.f5 d7 50...gxf5 51.c8+ h7 52.xf5+ h6 53.h8# 51.xd7 d6+ 52.f7 mates in 8... g5 53.f6 h7 54.e7 g6 55.xd6 xf6 56.g4 f7 57.e5 e7 58.e6+ f8 59.f6 c3 60.c8# 44.xc4 d2 45.e5 xa2 46.c8+ Now with 46...Ke7 black
can hold the draw. e8 47.d7 Black is in Zugzwang. e2+ 48.f6 White id winning. g5 49.fxg5 49.xe8+ obviously loses. xe8 50.xe8 xe8 51.xg5 b3 49...f2+ 50.e5 e2+ 51.f4 b3 Black loses a piece
after 51...Rf2+ 52.Ke3 52.b8 b2 53.xe8 xe8 54.xb2 a4 55.a2 a8 56.a3 White has a sure win, but a quick one. f7 57.h4 g6 58.e4 h5 59.d4 d8+ 60.c4 e8 61.d5 d8+ 62.e5 a8 63.d5 d8+ 64.c5 b8 65.xa4 b3 66.d6 xg3 A visit to the SHredder endgame tablebase web site reveals that
after Botvinnik's next move he has a win in 30 moves. 67.e7 b3 68.a6 b7+ 69.f6 b4 70.d6 a4 70...xh4 runs into 71.f5 and there is no way
to avoid Rh6# 70...xh4 71.g6 is an obvious win 71.e6 b4 72.f7 b7+ 73.e7 b4 This the move as given in Chess Review's June 1958 issue.
Some databases give the continuation 73...Rb5 74.Kg7 1-0 74.g7 Smyslov
resigned. Black must lose eventually. 74.g7 Play might continue. e4 75.f7 g4 76.f5 f4 77.f8 a4 78.h8+ g4 79.g6 b4 80.h7 g3 81.h5 b7+ 82.g7 h2 83.f8 e7 84.g6 g1 85.h6 e6+ 86.h7 e7 87.h8 e1 88.g8+ It's mate in 4 1–0
I have always maintained that Smyslov was the best player of the 1950's.
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