"Volume II: The Challenger 1948-1953"
This is the second volume of the series The Life & Games of Vasily Smyslov. It covers the period from spring 1948, after The Hague-Moscow world championship match-tournament, to the end of 1953, when he won the Candidates’ tournament in Zürich to become the official challenger for the world championship.
FIDE master Andrey Terekhov continues the narrative as we follow Smyslov's intense struggle with Boleslavsky, Bronstein, Keres and Reshevsky for the right to play a world championship match with Mikhail Botvinnik.
With access to rare Soviet-era archival material and invaluable family archives, the author complements his account of Smyslov’s emergence as an elite player and title challenger with dozens of fascinating photographs, many never seen before, as well as 28 deeply annotated games.
The first volume won critical accolades, including 2020 Book of the Year from both FIDE and the Chess Journalists of America.
About the Author
St. Petersburg native Andrey Terekhov is a FIDE Master, an ICCF International Master (correspondence chess) and holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science. His best results at the board were victories in the 2008 Munich Open and the 2012 Nabokov Memorial. He currently resides in Paris. This is his second book for Russell Enterprises.
Excerpt
Content:
005 Introduction
006 Chapter 12. Soviet Champion - 1948-49
032 Chapter 12: Games
056 Chapter 13. Winning Drought - 1950
086 Chapter 13: Games
112 Chapter 14. Behind the Iron Curtain - 1951
133 Chapter 14: Games
166 Chapter 15. The Rocky Road to Zürich - 1952-53
206 Chapter 15: Games
241 Chapter 16. Zürich Candidates - 1953
326 Chapter 16: Games
368 Appendix A: "International Chess Tournament in Switzerland: Impressions of a Participant" - Transcript of a public lecture by Vasily Smyslov
393 Appendix B: Smyslov and Singing
423 Acknowledgments
425 Signs & Symbols
426 Bibliography
432 Game Index
433 Opening Index
434 Photo and Illustration Credits
435 General Index
