Volume I: The Early Years 1921-1948

by Andrey Terekhov

SRP: $34.95
536 pages

Foreword by Peter Svidler
Smyslov’s Endgames by Karsten Müller
Hardcover
Excerpt
Interview with the Author

There have been several articles and podcasts featuring this book.

Article on Chess.com
https://www.chess.com/article/view/five-tips-to-become-a-world-chess-champion

Article on Chess24:
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/smyslov-s-breakthrough-year

Podcast:
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hq6ZFd2Two
or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/cz/podcast/ep-208-fm-andrey-terekhov/id1185023674?i=1000503789072

Reviews:
"This book provides insight into the Soviet era, as Terekhov had access to rare archive material and unique photos. Besides describing the life of this world champion, he gives several deeply analyzed games in each chapter... Obviously, this 536-page book and more books to come is an incredibly good biography of one of the most lovable world champions the world has produced." - Herman Grooten in his review that appeared on Schaaksite.nl, 21 May 2021

"The book itself is no less than 536 pages and is beautifully produced with hardcover binding and numerous photos, many of which have never been reproduced before because they stem from the Smyslov's family's own archives... The biographical material, much of which is published for the first time, makes absorbing reading for anyone who enjoys chess history, while the game annotations and tournament reports will certainly be appreciated by all chess players... I will conclude by stating that it is one of the very best books of 2020, not just in the biographical sense, but overall." - Carsten Hansen in his review that appeared in issue 20 of the American Chess Magazine, 2021.

 The Life & Games of the
Seventh World Chess Champion

Vasily Smyslov, the seventh world champion, had a long and illustrious chess career. He played close to 3,000 tournament games over seven decades, from the time of Lasker and Capablanca to the days of Anand and Carlsen. From 1948 to 1958, Smyslov participated in four world championships, becoming world champion in 1957.

Smyslov continued playing at the highest level for many years and made a stunning comeback in the early 1980s, making it to the finals of the candidates’ cycle. Only the indomitable energy of 20-year-old Garry Kasparov stopped Smyslov from qualifying for another world championship match at the ripe old age of 63!

In this first volume of a multi-volume set, Russian FIDE master Andrey Terekhov traces the development of young Vasily from his formative years and becoming the youngest grandmaster in the Soviet Union to finishing second in the world championship match tournament. With access to rare Soviet-era archival material and invaluable family archives, the author complements his account of Smyslov’s growth into an elite player with dozens of fascinating photographs, many never seen before, as well as 49 deeply annotated games. German grandmaster Karsten Müller’s special look at Smyslov’s endgames rounds out this fascinating first volume.

[This book] is an extremely well-researched look at his life and games, a very welcome addition to the body of work about Smyslov…
– from the Foreword by Peter Svidler

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 Singapore. This is his first book for Russell Enterprises.