World Chess Championship 1957

Opponents of the 1957 World Chess Championship

photo
	Mikhail Botvinnik	Vasily Smyslow
nation
status	Defending champion world champion since 1948	challenger
Age	45 years	35-36 years

The 1957 World Chess Championship was a duel between the reigning world chess champion Mikhail Botvinnik and his challenger Vasily Smyslow for the world chess title of the 20th World Chess Championship , which took place from March 5 to April 27, 1957 . After only 22 games, the 24-game duel was decided, as Smyslow had an unassailable lead and was thus the 7th world chess champion. In the revenge fight in 1958 , however, Botvinnik won the title back.

Venue and supporting program

As in 1951 and 1954 , the duel took place in the Tchaikovsky concert hall in Moscow . With a 12:12 draw, Botvinnik would have successfully defended his world title. As the seconds were Igor Bondarewski and Grigory Goldberg available. Botvinnik, however, did not claim his second, according to Graeme Cree.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, grandmasters were available for simultaneous performances in the lower foyer. In the foyer on the second floor, in addition to further simultaneous performances , the analysis of the games and chess composition competitions were also offered. Prizes and awards were given to successful players and solvers.

prehistory

Botvinnik had been world chess champion since 1948 . Smyslow had qualified as an opponent of Botvinnik by winning the Amsterdam Candidates Tournament in 1956 . Before the 1957 World Chess Championship, Botvinnik and Smyslow had played 47 games. Botvinnik led the record with 15 wins, 22 draws and 10 defeats. In 1951 Botvinnik had defended his world title against Bronstein and in 1954 against Smyslow with 12:12 points, with Smyslow in 1954 at the beginning of half a point from four games.

course

	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	Victories	Points
Mikhail Botvinnik	0	½	½	1	1	0	½	0	½	½	½	0	1	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	3	9 ½
Vasily Smyslow	1	½	½	0	0	1	½	1	½	½	½	1	0	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	½	½	6th	12 ½

Botvinnik - Smyslow
5th competition game

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

With 25. b5 – b6 Botvinnik got a decisive positional advantage

Smyslow - Botvinnik
12th competition game

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

The maneuver 42. Rd8 – d3 secured victory

Smyslow - Botvinnik
18th competition game

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

The study-like move 52. La3 – c1 !! saved the endgame believed lost by the commentators

Botvinnik was mainly preparing for the move 1. d2 – d4, although Smyslow used to open with 1. e2 – e4. For this move Botvinnik had prepared a variant of the Sicilian defense with mutual chances, with which he wanted to make Smyslov's king pawn move unpleasant. In the competition, however, this variant brought Smyslow an advantageous position. In several games Botvinnik was faced with problems, which is why he switched to the French defense . Smyslow's openings were more solid, so that as a black he achieved a balance of +2 = 7 −2 and his larger number of white victories was decisive.

In the first game, Botvinnik was undoed by a time pressure mistake when he made a positional error that caused his defeat. Smyslow was leading after the first game. The second game was difficult again for Botvinnik after an opening mistake, but he reached a draw in the final. After another draw game, the opening of the second game was on the agenda again, for which Botvinnik had prepared another move instead of the faulty one. Smyslow lost a quality in the middle game and the game. So the score was even.

Botvinnik put Smyslow in a difficult position in the fifth game with positional play and initially captured a pawn. In the following move he missed a promising tactical blow and instead brought the point safely by continuously improving his position.

In the sixth game Smyslow switched to the queens' pawn opening. Botvinnik then chose a sharp variant of the Grünfeld-Indian defense , which had previously been often played by Smyslow with Black. Smyslow notes: "So the roles were reversed in this game - I had to fight against my own theoretical weapon." After Botvinnik prematurely exchanged women, Smyslow outplayed him positionally, so that the competition level was again equal.

The seventh game soon ended in a draw, whereupon the Sicilian defense was tried again in the eighth game, in which Smyslow achieved a decisive advantage and realized it after less than 20 moves. In the ninth game Smyslow was outplayed, but Botvinnik missed several opportunities to win and had to be satisfied with a draw.

The tenth game started again with the king's pawn elevator, but this time Botvinnik chose the Spanish opening , which Smyslow was very familiar with. This achieved a slight positional advantage, but Botvinnik built a secure defense and kept counter opportunities upright. The game ended in a draw. In the eleventh game Botvinnik offered a passive quality sacrifice , which Smyslow refused, however, as it would have led to an advantage for Botvinnik. Instead, this game also ended in a draw. The twelfth game, however, brought Smyslow a material advantage early on, which he was able to maintain. A few moves later, however, Smyslow sacrificed the pawn back and thus received a positional advantage. A rook sacrifice was not allowed to be accepted, otherwise a pawn conversion would have decided. But the game sequence also brought Smyslow another victory and thus an extension of his lead to two points.

In the following game, Botvinnik managed to cut the challenger's lead in half with positional play. It was decided by his passed pawns, who were already stronger than Smyslow's passed pawns in the middle game. In the 14th game Smyslow initiated an attack on the king with a courageous maneuver, but this never got beyond preparation, as the challenger had to defend his position elsewhere. Botvinnik reached a good, but not won, final. Smyslow defended himself to a draw. The 15th game brought with it a sharp middlegame, which ultimately resulted in a final won by Botvinnik. However, this let slip several good chances and only achieved one more draw. Experts later estimated that a victory in this game and thus the equalization in the duel could have changed the course of the fight.

The 16th game ended in a positionally advantageous position, which Smyslow improved on and on, without giving Botvinnik counterplay. However, Smyslow forgave his advantage one move after the demolition. A few moves later there was a draw by repetition of positions .

In the 17th game Smyslow received a slight advantage, which he saved in the final. After an inaccuracy by Botvinnik, Smyslow won the game in the final. The 18th game was marked by two pawn sacrifices by Botvinnik, through which the world champion received an attack against the white queen. After a combination he regained a pawn and gained an advantage. Smyslow finally saved the endgame with bishops of different colors with an extremely precise move (see diagram). In the 19th game, however, a draw was agreed early on. After Smyslow got a positional overweight in the 20th game, which he slowly converted to a full point, the duel was effectively over with a three-point lead for Smyslow, as Botvinnik no longer resisted in the last two games and after 13 and 11 Consented moves in the draw.

After the 22nd game, Wassili Smyslow became the 7th world chess champion in continuity since Wilhelm Steinitz .

consequences

Smyslow lost the title in the revenge fight in 1958 . Botvinnik held the title until 1960 when he was defeated by Mikhail Tal, but managed to regain the title in 1961 . Only Tigran Petrosyan could finally conquer the title of Botvinnik in 1963 . Nevertheless, Botvinnik remained a strong tournament player until around 1970, but then withdrew from tournament chess in order to promote chess talents and develop a computer chess program. His students include Anatoly Karpow , Garry Kasparow and Vladimir Kramnik , who also became world champions.

Smyslow remained a top player for a long time, who even took part in the candidates' tournament for the world championship in 1983 and had to admit defeat in the first final to Botvinnik's student Garry Kasparov, who then became world chess champion himself in this cycle.

Individual references and sources

1. ↑ On March 24, 1957, Smyslow's 36th birthday was
2. ↑ Mohaupt and Machatschek, pp. 17–18.
3. ↑ Information from Graeme Cree ( Memento from January 22, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ The source for this is the BigDatabase 2005 , in Mohaupt and Machatschek's book on the 1957 World Chess Championship, 46 games are named, with Botvinnik's only 14 victories remaining the same.
5. ↑ It was 1. e2 – e4 c7 – c5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. d2 – d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8 – f6 5. Nb1 – c3 d7 – d6 6. Bc1 – g5 e7 – e6 7. Qd1-d2 a7-a6 8. 0-0-0 h7-h6 . Mohaupt & Machatschek, pp. 10-11.
6. ↑ Wassily Smyslow, My 130 most beautiful parts , Heidelberg 1988, p. 104.

literature

• Hermann Mohaupt, Heinz Machatschek (eds.): World championship tournament 1957 . Sports publishing house, Berlin 1957.

Web links

• Highlights at mark-weeks.com
• Botvinnik vs Smyslov Return Match 1957 at chessgames.com (English)