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    Vasily Smyslov
    1977. Photo: Koen Suyk / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

    7THWorld chess champion

    Vasily Smyslov

    Vasily Smyslov was world champion 1957–1958, for 1 year. He won the title in 1957, beating Mikhail Botvinnik 12½–9½ in Moscow.

    Born
    24 March 1921 · Moscow, Russian SFSR
    Died
    27 March 2010 · Moscow, Russia
    Learned chess
    First became interested in chess at six
    Profiles
    FIDE World Chess MuseumWikipediaChessmetrics
    1 year
    World champion
    1 of 4
    Title events won or kept
    2800
    Peak (Chessmetrics), Sep 1956
    2830
    On today's scale: 11th of 18

    Every title event

    YearOpponentScoreResultGamesWhere
    1948Tournament (winner: Mikhail Botvinnik)–2nd–The Hague (1–10), Moscow (11–20)
    1954Mikhail Botvinnik12–12Drawn; the champion kept the title+7 −7 =10Moscow
    1957Mikhail Botvinnik12½–9½Won+6 −3 =13Moscow
    1958Mikhail Botvinnik12½–10½Lost+5 −7 =11Moscow

    Across 3 title matches, Smyslov won 18 games, lost 17 and drew 34: a score of 50.7% of the points against the best player of his day.

    Scores are listed winner first; a dash means the match wasn't played or was a tournament. Games are won, lost and drawn (+ − =) from Smyslov's side, counted from chessgames.com and shown only where they add up to the official score. Source: Wikipedia, List of World Chess Championships.

    Honours

    1
    World championship titles

    1957

    2
    Candidates wins

    1953, 1956

    1
    Interzonal wins

    1964*

    1
    National championships

    1949*

    9
    Olympiad team golds

    1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1970, 1972

    4
    Olympiad board golds

    1952, 1960, 1964, 1968

    5
    European team golds

    1957, 1961, 1965, 1970, 1973

    1
    World senior title

    1991

    Each year links to its source. * Shared title. World championship titles are title events won or kept. Olympiad board golds are the best score on a board. Most of these events didn't exist before the 1920s.

    Compare all 18 champions' honours

    Impact at home: Soviet Union and Russia

    • HonoursHis 17 Chess Olympiad medals are an all-time record source
    • HonoursWon ten gold medals in five European Team Championships source
    • InstitutionsPlayed for the USSR in both matches against the Rest of the World, in 1970 and 1984 source
    • PlayersReached the Candidates final at 62, losing to 21-year-old Kasparov at Vilnius in 1984 source

    The Soviet Union had 19 grandmasters when Smyslov became world champion in 1957. By 1967 the Soviet Union had 33, and by 1991, its last year, 129.

    Measure1957when he became champion1967ten years on1991the Soviet Union's last year
    Grandmasters1933129
    In the world top 100––45 Jul 1991 list

    Soviet grandmasters, 1950–1991

    02040608010012014019501960197019801990Smyslov champion

    Move over the chart to see any year.

    Grandmasters by the year FIDE gave the title, from Wikipedia's list of all 2,162 grandmasters (October 2026); Soviet players are counted to 1991, including those the list now files under a successor state. Top 100 from FIDE's rating lists (OlimpBase to 2001, then FIDE); FIDE's lists begin in 1971. These numbers show what happened around each champion, not what he caused: many things grow a country's chess.

    Rivalries

    Botvinnik v SmyslovTitle events 1948, 1954, 1957, 1958

    29 wins52 draws · 105 games24 wins

    How strong was Smyslov?

    Vasily Smyslov's best years came before FIDE's first rating list (July 1971). On Chessmetrics, Jeff Sonas's historical rating system, he peaked at 2800 in Sep 1956. FIDE's lists, which came later, rated him at most 2620 (Jul 1971).

    That month the best other player was Paul Keres, at 2779: Smyslov was 21 points clear. The top 10 averaged 2747; on today's scale (FIDE's Nov 2026 top 10 average 2777) his peak is about 2830, 11th of the 18 champions. How this is worked out.

    FIDE's first list came 14 years after Smyslov's title; his best years were the mid-1950s.

    Chessmetrics also ranks him 16th of all time on three-year average (2793, 1954-Jan to 1956-Dec). Source.

    25002600270019721976198019841988Peak 2620 · Jul 1971
    FIDE standard rating on each list where Vasily Smyslov was in the world top 100 (lists were published once or twice a year until 2000), and FIDE's own monthly record from April 2003. Sources: OlimpBase, FIDE.
    Every month as a table
    FIDE listRating
    Jul 19902570
    Jan 19902570
    Jul 19892565
    Jan 19892560
    Jul 19882550
    Jan 19882550
    Jul 19872550
    Jan 19872550
    Jul 19862555
    Jan 19862575
    Jul 19852595
    Jan 19852600
    Jul 19842610
    Jan 19842600
    Jul 19832600
    Jan 19832595
    Jul 19822565
    Jan 19822565
    Jul 19812580
    Jan 19812545
    Jan 19802550
    Jan 19792560
    Jan 19782575
    Jan 19772595
    Jan 19762580
    Jan 19752605
    May 19742600
    Jul 19732610
    Jul 19722620
    Jul 19712620

    The road to the title

    1. 1938

      USSR Junior Chess Championship[1]

      Won

      At 17

    2. 1940-10

      12th USSR Chess Championship (Moscow)[1]

      Third, 13/19

      His first Soviet final, finishing ahead of the reigning champion, Botvinnik

    3. 1941-04

      Absolute Championship of the USSR[1]

      Third, 10/20, behind Botvinnik and Keres

      Proved he was of world-class grandmaster strength at 20

    4. 1948-05

      World Chess Championship Tournament (The Hague–Moscow)[1]

      Second, 11/20, behind Botvinnik

      His selection had been questioned in some quarters

    5. 1950-05

      Budapest Candidates Tournament[1]

      Third, 10/18

      Admitted directly, without qualifying; Bronstein and Boleslavsky tied first

    6. 1953-10

      Zurich Candidates Tournament[1]

      Won with 18/28, two points clear

      Ahead of Keres, Bronstein and Reshevsky; it earned a title match with Botvinnik

    7. 1954-05

      World Chess Championship Match vs. Botvinnik (Moscow)[1]

      Drawn: 7 wins each, 10 draws

      Botvinnik kept the title

    8. 1956-05

      Amsterdam Candidates Tournament[1]

      Won by 1½ points

      Qualified for a second match with Botvinnik

    9. 1957-04-27

      World Chess Championship Match vs. Botvinnik (Moscow)[1]

      Won 12½–9½

      Became the seventh world champion

    10. 1984-04

      Candidates Final Match vs. Garry Kasparov (Vilnius)[1]

      Lost 8½–4½ to Kasparov in the Candidates final

      Kasparov, then 21, went on to become world champion in 1985

    What Smyslov changed about chess

    • strategyKnown for his positional style and precise endgame play, though many of his games had spectacular tactics too.[1]
    • openingMade enormous contributions to opening theory, including the English Opening, the Grünfeld Defence and the Sicilian Defence.[1]
    • otherWrote that, as in music, he tried to achieve harmony on the board, with each piece helping the others.[1]

    Achievements

    • 1957-04-27Seventh World Chess Champion (1957–1958)[1]
    • 1955Twice tied for first in the USSR Championship (1949, 1955)[1]
    • 17 Chess Olympiad medals, an all-time record[1]
    • Ten gold medals in five European Team Championships[1]
    • 1991Won the first World Senior Championship (1991)[1]
    • 1948–1985A Candidate for the world title eight times, from 1948 to 1985[1]

    Famous games

    • Paul Keres v Vasily Smyslov, Zurich Candidates 1953 1953 · 0–1[1]

      A vital late-tournament game: Smyslov fought off Keres' very dangerous attack and took control of the tournament.

      Vasily Smyslov
      Paul Keres

      Start position

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      29. 0–1

      Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).

      Game score: chessgames.com

    • Vasily Smyslov v Mikhail Botvinnik, World Chess Championship 1954, game 9 1954 · 1–0[1]

      A queen sacrifice that blew up one of Botvinnik's favourite variations.

      Mikhail Botvinnik
      Vasily Smyslov

      Start position

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      42. 1–0

      Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).

      Game score: chessgames.com

    • Mikhail Botvinnik v Vasily Smyslov, World Chess Championship 1954, game 14 1954 · 0–1[1]

      Deep home preparation, then a queen sacrifice; the win changed the theory of the variation.

      Vasily Smyslov
      Mikhail Botvinnik

      Start position

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      34. 0–1

      Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).

      Game score: chessgames.com

    In his words

    "I have no reason to complain of my fate. I fulfilled my dream and became the seventh world champion in the history of chess."[1]
    "The games of the great Russian chess master M. I. Chigorin made an indelible impression on me; it was with interest that I read the various declarations on questions of strategy by A. I. Nimzovitch; I studied attentively the genius of prominent Soviet masters."[1]

    More on Vasily Smyslov

    Quick answers

    When was Vasily Smyslov world chess champion?

    1957–1958: 1 year. He won the title in 1957, beating Mikhail Botvinnik 12½–9½ in Moscow.

    Sources

    1. [1] en.wikipedia.org: "In 1938, when he was 17, Smyslov won the USSR Junior Championship."