12. Vasily Smyslov vs Cenek Kottnauer (1946)

"The Silent Assassin", Vasily Smyslov was a Soviet chess legend. Born in 1921, he first learned about chess when he was 6 and remained very active in the elite levels of chess well into his 60's winning the first World Senior Championship in 1991.  During such a long chess career, Smyslov was always at the highest levels of chess. He was excused from WWII service due to his severe short sightedness, but was still able to play in the USSR.  After the war, he was a candidate for the World Championship 8 times in 1948 (finishing 2nd), 1950 (finishing 3rd), 1953 (1st, but lost to Botvinnik), 1956 (1st and defeating Botvinnik and became World Champion) He then lost the world championship in 1958 to Botvinnik. Which kicked him back to the Candidates in 1959 (finishing 4th), 1965, 1983 (losing to Kasparov in the finals), and 1985 (at the age of 64). When he wasn't playing for the World Championship, he was winning the Soviet Championships on 2 occasions and holding the all-time record of Medals won at the chess Olympiad with 17 (and the 5th highest win percentage of all time). He is quoted as saying "I always think one move ahead, but the move must be very good".  A strong competitor, he built upon the Ruy Lopez, English, Sicilian, and Grunfeld openings, and created many endgame puzzles before retiring from chess tournaments in 2000 at the age of 79.  Not only was Smyslov an accomplished chess player, but he was also a baritone opera singer having done auditions at the Bolshoi Theatre. Stanley Kubrick also named a character after him in 2001 a Space Odyssey (Dr. Andrei Smyslov). In today's game, Smyslov is taking on Cenek Kottnauer in 1946.  Now, if we're ready, let's begin.  1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6<br/>7. O-O b5 8. Bf3 Ra7 9. Qe2 Rc7 10. Rd1 Nbd7 11. a4 bxa4<br/>12. Nxa4 Bb7 13. e5 Nxe5 14. Bxb7 Rxb7 15. Qxa6 Qb8 16. Nc6<br/>Nxc6 17. Qxc6+ Nd7 18. Nc5 dxc5 19. Bf4 Bd6 20. Bxd6 Rb6<br/>21. Qxd7+ 1-0 https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1125510 https://en.chessbase.com/post/smyslovs-100th-birthday#:~:text=Smyslov%20holds%20the%20record%20for,then%20again%20in%20the%201980s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Smyslov http://cassidynoble.com/