On February 5, 1956, the legendary Dr. Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956) died in Paris at the age of 68. Julius du Mont (1881-1956) died in Hastings at the age of 74 on April 7th. He was a player and journalist, editor and writer.
On July 16, 1956, Karel Hromadka (1887-1956) died in Prague at the age of 69 on July 16th. He was champion of Bohemia in 1913 and co-champion with Ladislav Prokes of Czechoslovakia in 1921
The 1913 Hungarian champion Lajos Asztalos (1889-1956) died in Budapest on November 1, 1956. He was a professor of philosophy and a languages teacher.
In San Francisco, on July 18, 1956, Dr. Walter R. Lovegrove (1869-1956), a dentist by profession, died in San Francisco at the age of 86. Lovegrove was one of the strongest c players in California in the 19th and early 20th century. He won the first California championship in 1891.
On December 15th San Francisco lost another player Adolf Fink (1890-1956) who died at the age of 66. He was California State Champion three times (1922, 1928, and 1929) and co-champion, with Herman Steiner, in 1945.
The year began with Korchnoi and Olafsson tying for first at the Hastings Christmas. In February Spassky, Taimanov and Averbakh tied for first in the USSR Championship and Taimanov won the playoff. In August the Chess Olympiad was held in Moscow. The USSR(Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Taimanov and Geller) took first. The US didn't sent a team.
In the US, on January 2nd Arthur Bisguier and Larry Evans tied for first at in the second Rosenwald tournament. They were followed by Samuel Reshevsky, I.A. Horowitz, and William James Lombardy and Walter Shipman. Note that this was not the US Championship. Arthur Bisguier won that title in 1954 and was the current US Champion. Bisguier was defeated by Reshevsky in a match in 1957, but the title was not at stake. Bisguier was champion until Fischer took his first title in the 1957/58 tournament.
In July Bobby Fischer took first place at the US Junior Championship in Philadelphia and became the youngest ever junior champion at age 13. His post-tournament USCF rating was 2321 ranking him number 33 in country and the youngest master in history.
In the US Open held in August in Oklahoma City, Fischer tied for 4th-8th. The title went to Bisguier.
The 3rd Rosenwald tournament was held in New York and it was won by Reshevsky ahead of Bisguier, Edmar Mednis and Arthur Feuerstein, Donald Byrne and Sidney Bernstein and Abe Turner, Herbert Seidman and Fischer and Eliot Hearst, Max Pavey, George Shainswit. It was in this tournament that Fischer defeated Donald Byrne in the Game of the Century.
The big event of the year was Amsterdam because it was the Candidates Tournament for the 1957 World Championship match between Smyslov and Mikhail Botvinnik.
Smyslov had also won the Candidates at Zurich in 1953, and in 1954, the match with Botvinnik was drawn at 12-12 and Botvinnik retained the title. This time Smyslov defeated Botvinnik, but Botvinnik got the title back in 1958.
Is it just me or when thinking of Smyslov – Botvinnik matches is it only Smyslov’s 1957 victory and 1958 loss that come to mind? It’s possible that the 1954 match was the best of the bunch as many games were very hard fought as Smyslov battled back from a horrible start. Just look at the score:
The 1956 tournament was played at Amsterdam and Leeuwarden from March 27 to April 30. As the loser of the Botvinnik - Smyslov World Championship Match in 1954, Smyslov was seeded directly while the other nine were qualified from the Gothenburg Interzonal that had been held the previous year.
Smyslov took the lead soon after the halfway mark as Geller slowly faded and Bronstein never quite measured up. Smyslov described the finish thus: The battle became especially fierce in the second cycle, when three rounds from the finish Keres was level with me, with Geller and Bronstein half a point behind, and Spassky and Petrosian trailing by a further half point. As Smyslov described it: In this sharp situation I won a very tense game against Bronstein, then drew with Spassky, and success in the final game with Pilnik gave me victory in the tournament.
Smyslov (March 24, 1921 – March 27, 2010) is an underappreciated champion whose games should be better known. He learned chess at the age of six from his father who had briefly studied with Chigorin. Smyslov studied every chess book and magazine that his father had, especially the games in Alekhine’s My Best Chess Games 1908 – 1923.
By 1940 he was good enough that he finished third in the USSR Championship, ahead of Mikhail Botvinnik. In 1948 he was one of the five players selected for the World Championship in order to determine Alekhine’s successor where he finished second behind Botvinnik.
Smyslov played in eight Candidates tournaments in his chess career and won two. He represented the Soviet Union nine times at the Olympiads and won a total of 17 medals. He retired from competitive chess in 1991 due to his failing eyesight.
He was known for his great positional play and endgame technique, but when the situation required it, he could deliver spectacular tactical shots. He made many contributions to the theory of the English, Grunfeld, Sicilian, Ruy Lopez, King’s Indian Defense and the Slav.
Smyslov quotes:
“My father instilled in me a love for so-called simple positions, with the participation of only a few pieces. I was able to gain a deep feeling for what each piece is capable of, to sense their peculiarities, their strength and importance in various different situations on the board, the limits of their capabilities, what they like and what they don’t like and how they behave…:
"Such a mutual understanding with the pieces enables a player to see that which often remains concealed to purely logical analysis. It is then that the innate ability of a player, which I call a sense of harmony, manifests itself. ”
That's an amazing photo. Smyslov and Keres were quite tall, but they are totally dwarfed by Filip, who must be at least 6'8" Is he the tallest GM ever?
ReplyDeleteFilip was 6-9. At the other end, Reshevsky was 5-0. I used to be 6-0, but the last trip to the Dr. reveals that I have apparently shrunk a half an inch! One time I had filled out paperwork for my flight physical and upon review the nurse asked how tall I was. I told her six feet. She said I had put down 60 inches. I told her yes, 6 times 10 is 60 inches. She looked perplexed then said, Oh, right. Anyway, somebody has researched this!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.chess.com/blog/GM_Kenny_Ji/heights-of-famous-chess-players