Talk:Vasily Smyslov

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One point neglected in this article is that Smyslov is famous for having losed a game to Etienne Bacrot in 1993. Can someone add more on this?

It wasn`t a single game, it was a match. Smyslov was far, far past his prime in 1996 (not 1993). A chessplayer`s prime, with few exceptions, ends around 40 at the latest. Most top players say that they peak in their mid-30s and begin a mild decline even before reaching 40. This hardly merits such mention, though perhaps it would merit it on Bacrot`s entry. It would be like mentioning that John McEnroe at 60 lost a tennis match with a prime-aged Roger Federer. Why would it be listed among McEnroe`s achievements? Smyslov didn`t even manage to win a single game in the 8-game match, but that is hardly surprising. Bacrot was an ascending star full of youth, vitality, hunger, energy, and calculation powers. Smyslov was not only aged, but also very out of practice, and did not train and maintain his opening repertoire in a way that is required to win matches.

Why is there no photo for this page? A world champion deserves a photo I should think. I 08:06, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jewish?!

I'm no fan of these religion-based categories. But in any case, I'd never heard before that Smyslov is Jewish, while this interview with Yuri Averbakh [1] (page 9) suggests he isn't. I propose deleting the category unless there's evidence that he is Jewish. Rocksong 06:35, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Answering my own question, this site http://www.jinfo.org/Chess_Champions.html says his mother was Jewish. Yet there are other lists on the internet which don't mention him. I guess it can stay, until the day I get my way and all categories "People of occupation X and religion Y" are deleted. Rocksong 07:02, 26 February 2007 (UTC)