# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/vasily-smyslov
# Generated: 2026-09-07T19:03:45.641Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/vasily-smyslov"
name: "Vasily Smyslov"
slug: "vasily-smyslov"
description: "He held the world chess title for one year in the 1950s, competed for it across four decades, and sang baritone at a near-professional level—a combination that made him chess's most unlikely Renaissance figure."
tagline: "Soviet chess grandmaster (1921–2010)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Interpolisschaaktoernooi_Tilburg_1819_Smyslov_aan_zet%2C_Bestanddeelnr_929-3630.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1921-03-24"
deathDate: "2010-03-27"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           58.47
  momentum:             6.625665399239543
  historical:           23.54087333333334
  currentAttention:     6.341662140141227
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Athletes"
    slug: "athletes"
  - name: "Singer / Musician"
    slug: "singer-musician"
  - name: "Singer-Songwriter"
    slug: "singer-songwriter"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "Journalism"
    slug: "journalism"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Smyslov"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104148"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Vasily%20Smyslov"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Sm%C4%B1slov"
    title: "Vasili Smıslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ba.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BC%D1%8B%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2_%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87"
    title: "Смыслов Василий Васильевич"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%A1%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2"
    title: "Василий Смислов"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Smyslov"
    title: "Vasily Smyslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasilij_Smislov"
    title: "Vasilij Smislov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassili_Smislov"
    title: "Vassili Smislov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasilij_Smyslov"
    title: "Vasilij Smyslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Smyslov"
    title: "Vasily Smyslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasilij_Smyslov"
    title: "Vasilij Smyslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassili_Wassiljewitsch_Smyslow"
    title: "Wassili Wassiljewitsch Smyslow"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%92%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%BB%CE%B9_%CE%A3%CE%BC%CE%B9%CF%83%CE%BB%CF%8C%CF%86"
    title: "Βασίλι Σμισλόφ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasilij_Smislov"
    title: "Vasilij Smislov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Smyslov"
    title: "Vasili Smyslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassili_Sm%C3%B5slov"
    title: "Vassili Smõslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Smyslov"
    title: "Vasili Smyslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C_%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%88%D9%81"
    title: "واسیلی اسمیسلوف"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Smyslov"
    title: "Vasili Smyslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassily_Smyslov"
    title: "Vassily Smyslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Smyslov"
    title: "Vasily Smyslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasilii_Smyslov"
    title: "Vasilii Smyslov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%95%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%99_%D7%A1%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%91"
    title: "וסילי סמיסלוב"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasilij_Smislov"
    title: "Vasilij Smislov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vasilij_Vasiljevi%C4%8D_Smislov"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://sr.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%98_%D0%A1%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A_%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%88%D9%81"
    title: "فاسيلي سميسلوف"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%89_%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%88%D9%81"
    title: "فاسيلى سميسلوف"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born in Moscow in 1921, Vasily Smyslov became a Soviet grandmaster who challenged for the World Chess Championship eight times between 1948 and 1985, finally winning the crown in 1957 and holding it until 1958. He tied for first at the USSR Championships twice, accumulated a record 17 Chess Olympiad medals, and claimed ten golds across five European Team Championships. He kept competing past sixty even as his eyesight failed, composing problems nearly until his death in March 2010, three days after his eighty-ninth birthday. Outside the board, he trained as a baritone and performed publicly, serious enough about music that the two pursuits ran in parallel through most of his life.