World Chess Championship 1957
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A World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov in Moscow from March 5 to April 27, 1957. Botvinnik had been World Champion since 1948, while Smyslov earned the right to challenge by winning the 1956 Candidates tournament. This was the second World Championship match between the pair, after the drawn 1954 match.
Smyslov won the match and became the seventh World Chess Champion. He lost the title, however, in the 1958 rematch.
1955 Interzonal tournament
An interzonal tournament was held in Gothenburg, Sweden, in August and September 1955. The top nine finishers qualified for the Candidates Tournament.
1955 Interzonal Tournament 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Total Tie break 1 David Bronstein (Soviet Union) x 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 15 2 Paul Keres (Soviet Union) 0 x 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 13½ 3 Oscar Panno (Argentina) 0 0 x ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 13 4 Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union) ½ ½ ½ x ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 12½ 5 Efim Geller (Soviet Union) 0 ½ 1 ½ x ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 12 111.75 6 László Szabó (Hungary) ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ x ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 12 108.50 7 Miroslav Filip (Czechoslovakia) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ x ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 11 104.00 8 Hermann Pilnik (Argentina) ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ x 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 11 102.50 9 Boris Spassky (Soviet Union) ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 x 1 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ 11 102.50 10 Georgy Ilivitsky (Soviet Union) ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 x ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 10½ 100.50 11 Luděk Pachman (Czechoslovakia) ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ x ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 10½ 99.25 12 Miguel Najdorf (Argentina) ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ x 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 9½ 94.00 13 Carlos Guimard (Argentina) ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ x ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 9½ 89.50 14 Braslav Rabar (Yugoslavia) ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ x ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 0 9 93.50 15 Andrija Fuderer (Yugoslavia) 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ x 1 1 1 1 0 ½ 9 81.25 16 Wolfgang Unzicker (West Germany) 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 x ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8½ 17 Gideon Ståhlberg (Sweden) 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ x 1 ½ ½ 1 8 74.00 18 Arthur Bisguier (United States) 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 x ½ 1 1 8 70.50 19 Antonio Medina (Spain) 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ x 0 0 5½ 53.25 20 Jan Hein Donner (Netherlands) 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 1 x ½ 5½ 49.25 21 Bogdan Śliwa (Poland) 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ x 5½ 48.50
Ilivitsky won a 6-game match against Pachman (1–0 with 5 draws) to qualify as first reserve for the Candidates.
1956 Candidates tournament
The 1956 Candidates tournament was held in Amsterdam in the Netherlands in April and May. As the loser of the last championship match, Smyslov was seeded directly into the tournament and joined by the top nine from the Interzonal. Smyslov won, once again becoming the challenger in the 1957 championship match.
With two rounds remaining, the leaders were Smyslov 10, Keres 9½, Geller 9. In the penultimate round, Keres lost in a winning position against Filip, while Smyslov and Geller drew their games, giving Smyslov a full point lead (Smyslov 10½, Keres 9½, Geller 9½). Smyslov also won his final game, against Pilnik, to ensure victory.
1956 Candidates Tournament 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Score 1 Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union) xx = = = = 0 = = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1 = = 1 11½ 2 Paul Keres (Soviet Union) = = xx = = = = = = = 1 = = = 0 1 = 1 = 10 3–7 László Szabó (Hungary) = = = = xx 1 = = = = = = 1 0 = = = 0 1 9½ 3–7 Boris Spassky (Soviet Union) 1 = = = 0 = xx = = = 1 0 = = = = = = 1 9½ 3–7 Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union) = = = = = = = = xx 0 = 0 1 1 = = = 1 = 9½ 3–7 David Bronstein (Soviet Union) = 0 = 0 = = = 0 1 = xx = 1 1 = = = = 1 9½ 3–7 Efim Geller (Soviet Union) 0 0 = = = 0 1 = 1 0 = 0 xx 1 1 = 1 1 = 9½ 8–9 Miroslav Filip (Czechoslovakia) = 0 = 1 1 = = = 0 = 0 = 0 0 xx 1 0 = 1 8 8–9 Oscar Panno (Argentina) 0 = 0 = = = = = = = = = = 0 0 1 xx 1 = 8 10 Hermann Pilnik (Argentina) = 0 0 = 1 0 = 0 0 = = 0 0 = = 0 0 = xx 5
1957 Championship match
The match was played as best of 24 games. If it ended 12-12, Botvinnik, the holder, would retain the Championship. Smyslov won.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union) | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 12½ |
| Mikhail Botvinnik (Soviet Union) | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 9½ |
Games
Game 1: Botvinnik–Smyslov, 0–1
Game 2: Smyslov–Botvinnik, ½–½
Game 3: Botvinnik–Smyslov, ½–½
Game 4: Smyslov–Botvinnik, 0–1
Game 5: Botvinnik–Smyslov, 1–0
Game 6: Smyslov–Botvinnik, 1–0
Game 7: Botvinnik–Smyslov, ½–½
Game 8: Smyslov–Botvinnik, 1–0
Game 9: Botvinnik–Smyslov, ½–½
Game 10: Smyslov–Botvinnik, ½–½
Game 11: Botvinnik–Smyslov, ½–½
Game 12: Smyslov–Botvinnik, 1–0
Game 13: Botvinnik–Smyslov, 1–0
Game 14: Smyslov–Botvinnik, ½–½
Game 15: Botvinnik–Smyslov, ½–½
Game 16: Smyslov–Botvinnik, ½–½
Game 17: Botvinnik–Smyslov, 0–1
Game 18: Smyslov–Botvinnik, ½–½
Game 19: Botvinnik–Smyslov, ½–½
Game 20: Smyslov–Botvinnik, 1–0
Game 21: Botvinnik–Smyslov, ½–½
Game 22: Smyslov–Botvinnik, ½–½
External links
- at the Internet Archive record of Graeme Cree's Chess Pages