Vasily Smyslov vs Alexei Shirov
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Vasily Smyslov | Alexei Shirov | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1921 | 1972 |
| Died | 2010 | living / not documented |
| Country of birth | Russia | Spain |
| Star sign | Pisces | Cancer |
Who they are
Vasily Smyslov
There is a quality in the chess of Vasily Smyslov that analysts have struggled for decades to name precisely. The word most often used is harmony — his pieces moved as if pulled by gravitational attraction to their correct squares, his positions unfolded with the logic of a musical composition, his endgame technique translated apparently equal positions into victories with a consistency that approached the mechanical. But harmony is an aesthetic judgment, and Smyslov's chess was something more than aesthetically pleasing. It was, in the deepest sense, correct — and correctness sustained over a career…
Full biography of Vasily Smyslov →
Alexei Shirov
There is a move in a 1998 game between Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov that chess players call simply "the Shirov move." It is a bishop sacrifice — Bh3!! — made in a complex middlegame position in the Benoni Defense, in a game that Shirov was playing from behind. The move appears, at first and second and third glance, to be simply wrong. Bishops do not belong on h3 in such positions; the move gives material without obvious compensation; no computer engine of the era would have found it. Shirov found it, played it, and…
Full biography of Alexei Shirov →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: Russia and Spain.
- 51 years separate their births (1921 and 1972).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Vasily Smyslov or Alexei Shirov?
- Vasily Smyslov. Vasily Smyslov was born in 1921, Alexei Shirov in 1972.
- What field is each of them in?
- Vasily Smyslov is filed under Sports (Chess). Alexei Shirov is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.