From the

Archives
Hosted by
Mark Donlan

Play through and download
the games from
ChessCafe.com in the
DGT Game Viewer.
From the Archives...
Since it came online many years ago, ChessCafe.com has presented literally
thousands of articles, reviews, columns and the like for the enjoyment of its
worldwide readership. The good news is that almost all of this high quality
material remains available in the Archives. The bad news is that this great
collection of chess literature is now so large and extensive and growing each
week that it is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate it effectively. We
decided that the occasional selection from the archives posted publicly online
might be a welcomed addition to the regular fare.
Watch for an item to be posted online periodically throughout each month.
We will update the ChessCafe.com home page whenever there has been a
new item posted here. We hope you enjoy From the Archives...
An Excellent Tribute
Vasily Smyslov: Endgame Virtuoso by Vasily Smyslov, 1997 Cadogan Books,
Figurine Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 176pp., $19.95 (ChessCafe Price:
$16.95)
"A knowledge of the endgame is the magic key to the secrets of chess
mastery," writes Vasily Smyslov in the preface to his recently published work
Vasily Smyslov: Endgame Virtuoso. Considering Smyslov's well-known
endgame ability, coupled with ready access to thousands of his own endings
compiled over a career that has spanned seven decades, makes one wonder
why this sort of book has not appeared before now.
Endgame Virtuoso consists of seven chapters, plus an Index of Opponents and
an Index of Openings. There is a total of 122 endings plus forty complete
games, from the mid-1930s into 1993, covering over sixty years of play by the
man who was World Champion in 1957. Chapter One, Pawn Endings,
includes four examples; Minor Piece Endings, Chapter Two, has thirty
endings; sixteen examples of Rook Endings can be found in Chapter Three;
Endings with Rooks and Minor Pieces account for forty-six examples; there
are twenty-six Endings with Queens; Chapter Six contains seven of Smyslov's
own compositions. In the preface to the last chapter, forty complete games,
Smyslov mentions that by playing through these games "the reader will be
able to follow how the endgame is linked with the opening and the
middlegame."
Perhaps not since the reign of the great Jose Capablanca during the first
quarter of the twentieth century has there been a World Champion as noted
for endgame play as Smyslov. Kudos to Smyslov for opting to select positions
from throughout his career including the 1990s (when he turned seventy years
of age), rather than concentrating solely on his peak years.
Apparently, he also made a conscious effort to include positions and games
that have not been widely published (for the most part). For instance, this
writer expected to find many familiar positions in the Rook Endings chapter,
not an illogical assumption considering that Smyslov co-authored a
monumental work with Grigory Levenfish by the same title in the early
1970s. But such was not the case. Of the sixteen rook and pawn endings
contained in Endgame Virtuoso, only three could be found in the Levenfish
and Smyslov book. All three included different annotations and one even
started at a later position.
Purchases from our shop help
keep ChessCafe.com freely
accessible:

Understanding Chess
Endgames
by John Nunn

Van Perlo's
Endgame Tactics
by Van Perlo

Smyslov's Best Games,
Volume II
by Vasily Smyslov
Endgame Virtuoso essentially is a showcase for Smyslov's sterling endgame
play. Although the material is not deeply annotated, the positions and games
are still undeniably interesting by themselves. This writer's attention was
captured by the unusual queen versus rook, knight and bishop ending that
arose in Smyslov-Filip, 1958 Munich Olympiad.
Smyslov, marshaling the white pieces, eventually won after 84 Rd7+ Kg6 85
Nd3 Qc6+ 86 Ke3 Qb6+ 87 Ke4 Qc6+ 88 Ke5 Qc3+ 89 Ke6 Qc4+ 90 Rd5
Qc8+ 91 Ke5 Qe8+ 92 Be6 Qb8+ 93 Rd6 Qc7 94 Kd5 Qb7+ 95 Rc6 Qb3+
96 Kd4 Qa4+ 97 Bc4+ Kg7 98 Rc7+ Kf6 99 Rf7+ Kg6 100 Ne5+ Kh6 101
Ke4 Qa8+ 102 Kf5 Qc8+ 103 Rd7 Qc5 104 Bd5 Qf2+ 105 Bf3 Qc2+ 106
Kf6 Qb2 107 Rd6 Kh7 108 Be4+ Kh6 109 Kf7+ 1-0
Since all examples are from tournament or match play, there are many
positions of practical value which are barely (if at all) addressed in endgame
manuals. Positions with minor pieces and numerous pawns are quite common
in tournament play but, at least in the opinion of this writer, are usually
inadequately covered in instructional books. Take the following knight and
pawn ending, for example, from Smejkal-Smyslov, 1977 Leningrad.
Smyslov hung on to draw after 81...f6 82 Nf4 Kg5 83 Ne6+ Kf5 84 Nc5 Kg5
85 Ne4+ Kf5 86 Nf2 Kg5 87 Nh3+ Kf5 88 Nf4 Kg5. According to Smyslov,
"White cannot play his king to h3, because of the threat of a pawn
exchange" (page 13).
One can't help but be impressed by the longevity of Smyslov's career playing
top-level chess. The following game, included in the illustrative games'
chapter, was played by Smyslov in 1990 when he was sixty-nine years old,
against an opponent who was his junior by many decades.
Milos,Gilberto (2530) - Smyslov,Vassily (2570)
Buenos Aires (2), 1990
English Opening [A21]
1 c4 e5 2 g3 f5 3 Bg2 Nf6 4 Nc3 Bb4 5 Nf3 Nc6 6 0-0 e4 7 Ne1 Bxc3 8 bxc3
d6 9 d3 h6 10 f3 exd3 11 exd3 0-0 12 Rb1 b6 13 Nc2 Bb7 14 Bh3 Nh7 15
Nd4 Qf6 16 Nxf5 Bc8 17 g4 Bxf5 18 gxf5 Ne7 19 f4 Nxf5 20 Qf3 Rae8 21
Bd2 Nh4 22 Qg4 Qg6 23 Qxg6 Nxg6 24 Rf2 Nf6 25 Bg2 Nh4 26 Bh3 h5 27
Re1 Rxe1+ 28 Bxe1 Re8 29 Rf1 Nf3+ 30 Rxf3 Rxe1+ 31 Rf1 Re2 32 Rf2
Re3 33 Bf1 Kf7 34 h3 h4 35 Rb2 Nh5 36 Kf2 Rg3 37 Rb5 c5 38 Rb3 Nxf4
0-1
Endgame Virtuoso is an excellent tribute (although probably not written as
such) to one of the finest endgame players of our time. While the often brief
notes hardly do justice to his play, this is a book that is a worthy addition to
one's chess library for the endgame positions alone. At the very least, playing
through the material will help one to develop an appreciation for one of the
least appreciated World Champions, Vasily Smyslov.
Order Vasily Smyslov: Endgame Virtuoso
by Vasily Smyslov
This article first appeared at ChessCafe.com in November, 1997.



[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists]
[Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives]
[Links] [Online Bookstore] [About ChessCafe.com] [Contact Us]
2009 BrainGamz, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"ChessCafe.com" is a registered trademark of BrainGamz, Inc.