The Life & Games of Vasily Smyslov Volume II: Challenger: 1948-1953

This is the second volume of the series The Life & Games of Vasily Smyslov. It covers the period from spring 1948, after The Hague-Moscow world championship match-tournament, to the end of 1953, when he won the Candidates' tournament in Zürich to become the official challenger for the world championship. FIDE master Andrey Terekhov continues the narrative as we follow Smyslov's intense struggle with Boleslavsky, Bronstein, Keres and Reshevsky for the right to play a world championship match with Mikhail Botvinnik. With access to rare Soviet-era archival material and invaluable family archives, the author complements his account of Smyslov's emergence as an elite player and title challenger with dozens of fascinating photographs, many never seen before, as well as 28 deeply annotated games. The first volume won critical accolades, including 2020 Book of the Year from both FIDE and the Chess Journalists of America.