EP 506: FM Andrey Terekhov on Smyslov's Legacy and the Mysteries of Zurich 1953 

FM Andrey Terekhov is an award-winning author, dad, and software engineer. For the last decade or so, Andrey has been consumed with writing a detailed biography of the underappreciated World Champion, GM Vasily Smyslov. This week he joins me to discuss The Life and Games of Vasily Smyslov, Volume 2: The Challenger. The book goes beyond Smyslov's life and games, offering a fascinating look at Soviet chess history, including what may be the most famous chess tournament of all time. We discuss:

• The enduring legacy of Zurich 1953. What makes this tournament so famous? What did Andrey discover about allegations of Soviet collusion and political interference?

• How close did Smyslov get to giving up chess to pursue a career as an opera singer? What characterized his style as a chess player?

• Andrey's incredibly detailed research process, including primary sources in multiple languages and a visit to Smyslov's former home in Moscow.

Lastly, we discuss Andrey's own chess adventures and the chess scene in Paris and France, where Andrey now resides. I am so grateful to people like Andrey for devoting so much time to preserving chess history, and I greatly enjoyed his latest book and our conversation.

• Kotov's famous queen sacrifice against Averbakh

• Zurich 1953 by GM David Bronstein

• Center Stage and Behind the Scenes by GM Yuri Averbakh

• Achieving the Aim by GM Mikhail Botvinnik

• Andrey's blog post about the 2026 French Championship

• Paris Blitz Society

  
  

• Andrey's Chess.com profile

• The Life and Games of Vasily Smyslov on Forward Chess

• Russell Enterprises — Smyslov biography

  Thanks to this week's sponsor:

  Check out Claude AI at claude.ai/chess

  
  

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