Vasily Smyslov vs Bobby Fischer
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Vasily Smyslov | Bobby Fischer | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1921 | 1943 |
| Died | 2010 | 2008 |
| Country of birth | Russia | - |
| Star sign | Pisces | Pisces |
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 →
Bobby Fischer
On a July evening in 1972, in a stark hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, two men sat down to play chess with the eyes of the world upon them. One represented the Soviet Union, the dominant chess power that had held the World Championship for twenty-four consecutive years. The other was a twenty-nine-year-old from Brooklyn who had learned the game from a pamphlet at age six, who had barely slept in weeks, who had already threatened to withdraw from the match twice, and who was now the most famous chess player on earth. Robert James Fischer…
Full biography of Bobby Fischer →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
- Both Pisces.
Where they part
- 22 years separate their births (1921 and 1943).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Vasily Smyslov or Bobby Fischer?
- Vasily Smyslov. Vasily Smyslov was born in 1921, Bobby Fischer in 1943.
- What field is each of them in?
- Vasily Smyslov is filed under Sports (Chess). Bobby Fischer is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.