1958 World Chess Championship
Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR) vs. Vassily Smyslov (USSR)
Moscow, USSR
March 4 - May 9, 1958

Conditions:  Best of 24 Games.  In the event of 
a 12-12 tie, Smyslov retains the title.



USSR, 1958 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Score
Botvinnik 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 12½
Smyslov 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 10½
Result:  Mikhail Botvinnik becomes World Champion for the 2nd time.

In Game 15 of this match, Botvinnik had a very favorable position after 55 moves, and had only to make two moves in three minutes in order to adjourn and work out the possibilities. However, he stared at the board and became so absorbed in trying to figure out the win of a piece and which pawn to push that he was quite surprised when referee Gideon Stahlberg informed him that he had forfeited in time. The decisive game of the 1977 Spassky-Hort Candidates Match ended in almost exactly the same way, and that was a Game 15 also.

  • Match Breakdown
     #    White - Black        Locale  Date        ECO  Result
     1    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  03-04-1958  B11  0-1 
     2    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  03-06-1958  E81  1-0 
     3    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  03-11-1958  B19  0-1 
     4    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  03-13-1958  D98  ½-½ 
     5    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  03-18-1958  B72  1-0 
     6    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  03-20-1958  E81  1-0 
     7    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  03-22-1958  B72  ½-½ 
     8    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  03-25-1958  E69  ½-½ 
     9    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  03-27-1958  B72  ½-½ 
    10    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  03-29-1958  A16  ½-½ 
    11    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  04-01-1958  D99  1-0 
    12    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  04-03-1958  A12  1-0 
    13    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  04-05-1958  D47  ½-½ 
    14    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  04-08-1958  A16  1-0 
    15    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  04-10-1958  B12  1-0 
    16    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  04-15-1958  A16  ½-½ 
    17    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  04-17-1958  B10  ½-½ 
    18    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  04-19-1958  A16  1-0 
    19    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  04-22-1958  B11  1-0 
    20    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  04-29-1958  A30  ½-½ 
    21    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  05-01-1958  B34  ½-½ 
    22    Botvinnik - Smyslov  Moscow  05-03-1958  A95  0-1 
    23    Smyslov - Botvinnik  Moscow  05-08-1958  A05  ½-½ 
    
    See the Games of the Match!


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