Smyslov - or the "art of simplification"!
Submitted by
on Wed, 05/27/2009 at 5:43am.
The Art of Simplification
In my last post I have praised the crystall-clear positional play of Akiba Rubinstein. His games were the favorites in my youth.
Now I have become much older , but I prefere nevertheless the good and clear positional play.
And in the last years I liked more and more the games of
Vasily Smyslov
(this is a link)
His games have become for me a source of inspiration.
In my view his strongest point was the simplification from a middlegame position into a better or won endgame. It happens so often in his games, that we have to presume one of his main winning methods behind it.
Here a game where he demonstrates this effective method of simplificationmasterfully
Smyslow -Vidmar
(Groningen 1946)
In the starting position we see, that white has a clear adventage. He is a pawn ahead in a calm position
Nevertheless the position is not so easy to win. There are different coloured bishops on board and they have a high draw tendency in endgames.
So let us see, how Smyslov managed it to transpose the position into a won endgame. He started a process of simplification
I think here we could see how his art of simplification had worked.
Have one more look at the endposition of the simplification. A clear better endgame.
***
For those who want to see the rookendgame also. Here it is: