"Vasily Smyslov: Endgame Virtuoso" by Vasily Smyslov, 1997
Cadogan Books, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 176pp.,
$19.95

"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 40 complete games, from the mid-1930s into 1993,
covering over 60 years of play by the man who was World
Champion in 1957. Chapter 1, Pawn Endings, includes 4 examples;
Minor Piece Endings, Chapter 2, has 30 endings; 16 examples of
Rook Endings can be found in Chapter 3; Endings with Rooks and
Minor Pieces account for 46 examples; there are 26 Endings with
Queens; Chapter 6 contains 7 of Smyslov's own compositions. In
the preface to the last chapter, 40 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 70 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 16 rook and pawn endings contained in "Endgame
Virtuoso", only 3 could be found in the Levenfish and Smyslov
book. All 3 included different annotations and one even started at a
later position.

"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. 

White: Kf3, Rd3, Nf2, Bg4; pawn - h3 
Black: Kg7, Qc1; pawns - g5, h4 

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. 

White: Kf3, Nh3; pawn - g3 
Black: Kf5; pawns - f7, h5 

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 69 years old, against an opponent who was his junior by
many decades. 

White: Milos Black: Smyslov 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.