Chessmetrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2800 in 1956 and to have been #1 between January 1952 and September 1958. Very impressive!
Smyslov was born in Moscow. A talented opera singer, he narrowly missed joining the Bolshoi Opera.
He was awarded the Soviet Grandmaster title in 1941.
The 1953 Candidates Tournament, held at Zurich, was a marathon 15 player double round robin that was won by Smyslov. In 1954, his world title match against Botvinnik ended in a 12-123 tie.
At the 1956 Amsterdam Candidates Tournament, a ten player double round robin, Smyslov again emerged victorious.
In 1957, he crushed Botvinnik in their world title match, winning by a four point margin. Botvinnik regained the title, winning by 2 points in their 1958 return match.
The following game is indicative of the skill Smyslov possessed when he won the finals of a Class A Championship Tournament in Moscow in 1938 and thereby was awarded the Soviet Master title.
His opponent was Vladimir Zak (February 11, 1913 - November 25, 1994), a Soviet player, writer and well known trainer in the chess section of the Pioneers Palace in Leningrad. His students included Boris Spassky Viktor Korchnoi and, among many others, GM Yermolinsky. In his book The Road to Chess Improvement, Yermolinsky did not have a very high opinion of Zak’s antiquated training method and credited his students' success to their talent, not to Zak’s methods.
[Event "Class A Championship, Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1938.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Vasily Smyslov"]
[Black "Vladimir Zak"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "1938.??.??"]
{Pirc Defense} 1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. g3 {What to call this opening? With 1...
c5 starts oyut as a Benoni, but when white refrains from playing c4 it's
classified by Fitz auto-analysis as the Pirc.} d6 4. Bg2 g6 {At the time the
popular line was 4...e5. Instead, black reverts to the old idea of
fianchettoing the B. Soviet Master Yudovich questioned this strategy because
it allows white to obtain a mobile P-center. It must be remembered that at the
time this game was played all this hypermodern stuff was not well established
in theory.} 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. e4 O-O 7. Nge2 Na6 8. O-O Rb8 9. a4 Nc7 10. h3 b6 11.
Be3 (11. g4 a6 12. Rb1 b5 13. axb5 axb5 14. b4 {is equal. Najer,E (2663)
-Kokarev,D (2635) Sochi RUS 2015}) 11... a6 (11... e6 12. dxe6 Bxe6 13. Bf4
Nfe8 14. Qd2 Qd7 {White has the more active position. Hort,V (2545)-Polgar,Z
(2430) Dortmund 1985}) 12. Rb1 {With this move Smyslov, himself, prepares
Q-side play.} b5 13. axb5 Nxb5 (13... axb5 {is less precise because after} 14.
b4 {White has the initiative.} cxb4 15. Nd4 Bd7 (15... bxc3 16. Nc6 {favors
white.}) 16. Na2 Na6 17. Nxb4 Nxb4 18. Rxb4 {with the more active position.})
14. Qd2 Bd7 15. Bh6 {While this exchanges dark squared Bs it actually doesn't
accomplish anything because white has no realistic prospects of taking
advantage of it. The alternative, 15.Nxb5, also does not gain anything special
and so the chances must be considered equal.} Nxc3 (15... Bxh6 {was just a bit
more precise. After} 16. Qxh6 Nd4 17. Nxd4 cxd4 18. Ne2 Bb5 {Black has active
play and the chances are equal.}) 16. Nxc3 Qc7 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Rfe1 Rb5 {
[%mdl 8192] This rates a big question mark. Zak does not appreciate the
brewing trouble on the K-side and tries to attack on the Q-side. Instead, he
had to first try to neutralize white's advance in the center.} (18... h5 19. f4
a5 20. e5 Nh7 21. b3 Bf5 {White;s advantage is nominal.}) 19. f4 {There was no
reason not to take the R!} (19. Nxb5 axb5 20. Qf4 h5 21. e5 Ng8 22. Ra1 {
White has complete control of the game.}) 19... Qb6 {[%mdl 8192] He should
simply have moved the R.} (19... Rb4 20. e5 Ne8 {White is better, but far from
winning!}) 20. e5 {Of course, the was nothing wrong with 20,Nxb5} Ne8 21. exd6
{An interesting idea. Snyslov trades his strong P-chain for the seemingly
valueless e-file, but he knows what he is doing! Of course, taking the R is
still quite playable.} exd6 22. Re7 {As it turns out this move works out well,
but it should not have! Once again capturing the R would have left white with
a significant advantage.} Nf6 {[%mdl 8192]} (22... Qd8 {Saves the day. Now
white is pretty much forced to take the R, but the result is only equality.}
23. Nxb5 Qxe7 24. Qc3+ Qf6 25. Qxf6+ Kxf6 {The only move that equalizes!} (
25... Nxf6 26. Nxd6 {with a won ending.}) 26. Nc3 {The position id completely
equal.}) 23. g4 {White now has a very strong attack, but, yet again, taking
the R was much stronger.} Qd8 24. Rbe1 {I hate to repeat myself, but he must
take the R if he wants a winning advantage.} (24. Nxb5 Qxe7 25. Re1 Qd8 26.
Nxd6 {White id clearly much better.}) 24... Re8 {[%mdl 8192] This vindicates
white's strategy. The white R on e7 prevents the entyr of the white N via Ne2
or Ne4 into the game and so black should not have made this exchange.} (24...
Rxb2 {equalizes.} 25. f5 Re8 26. g5 {White's attack turns out to have more
bark than bite.} Rxe7 27. gxf6+ Kxf6 28. Rxe7 Kxe7 (28... Bxf5 {is also
playable.} 29. Re1 Kg7 30. Ne4 Bxe4 31. Bxe4 {This is also an unbalanced
position where the chances are equal.}) 29. f6+ Ke8 30. Qe3+ Be6 {In this
unbalanced position the chances are equal.}) 25. Rxe8 Bxe8 26. f5 {This move
is satisfactory, but guess what move is even better? 26.Nxb5 of course.} Bd7 (
26... Rxb2 {is no better.} 27. g5 Nd7 28. Ne4 Ne5 29. Qc3 Rb8 30. Nxd6 Qxd6 31.
f6+ Kg8 32. Qxe5 Qxe5 33. Rxe5 h6 34. h4 {This ending is won for white thanks
to his more active pieces. Just one example...} hxg5 35. hxg5 Rb1+ 36. Kf2 Bd7
37. Be4 Rb8 38. Re7 {The R on the 7th and advanced passed P assures the win...}
Rd8 39. Kf3 a5 40. Kf4 a4 41. d6 a3 42. Bd5 Be8 43. Ke5 Kf8 44. Ra7 {and the
Q-side Ps will fall.}) 27. g5 Nh5 28. f6+ Kg8 29. Re7 Rxb2 30. Ne4 {[%mdl 32]}
Ba4 31. Qe2 Bb5 (31... Rxc2 32. Qxa6 Be8 33. Qxd6 {wins for if} Qxd6 34. Nxd6
Ba4 35. Rc7 Rc1+ 36. Kh2 {Black must lose material.} Re1 37. Rc8+ Be8 38. Nxe8)
32. Qe3 Rxc2 33. Bf1 {Brilliant! The object of this move is to remove black's
B from the diagonal from where it controls e8. Prevents Re2.} Qa5 (33... Bxf1
34. Kxf1 h6 35. Nf2 Qb6 36. Re8+ Kh7 37. Rh8+ Kxh8 38. Qe8+ Kh7 39. Qxf7+ Kh8
40. Qf8+ Kh7 41. Qxh6+ Kg8 42. Qxg6+ {eventually wins.} Kf8 43. Qh6+ Kg8 44.
f7+ Kxf7 45. Qxh5+ Ke7 46. Qh7+ Kd8 47. Qxc2) 34. Nf2 {Threatening mate with
Re8+!} Ng7 {This N offer contains a nasty trap, but it was not the best
defense! Against Re8+} 35. Ng4 (35. fxg7 {This allows black to equalize!} Qa1
36. Nd3 Qd4 37. Qxd4 cxd4 38. Re4 (38. Nf4 {This actually loses!} Rc1 39. Kg2
Rxf1 40. Re4 d3 41. Re8+ (41. Rd4 d2 42. Rxd2 Rxf4) 41... Kxg7 42. Nxd3 Bxd3)
38... Kxg7 39. Ne1 Rc3 40. Rxd4 Bxf1 41. Kxf1 Rxh3 {with a likely draw.}) 35...
Qd2 36. Nh6+ {Black resigned} (36. Nh6+ Kh8 37. Nxf7+ Kg8 38. Nh6+ Kf8 39.
fxg7#) 1-0
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