Botvinnik's disciplined research and iron logic was a strange parallel of the era of Stalin, the man of steel; Smyslov's chess was something altogether lighter and more intuitive.

Smyslov could often distil something clear and attractive from a game in ferment, and bring a fresh eye to familiar settings.

In the 1980s, he had a remarkable second wind, playing his elegant, modern chess all the way to the Candidate's Matches, where he was stopped by Kasparov.

Opening

Smyslov's best-known contribution to opening theory is his eponymous variation of the Grunfeld, but in fact he innovated across the whole spectrum of opening systems, and could improvise happily at the board. Here's Smyslow equalising happily with his Grunfeld:

[Event "Clarin"]
[Site "Buenos Aires"]
[Date "1978.??.??"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Keene, Raymond"]
[Black "Smyslov, Vassily"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D99"]
[WhiteElo "2480"]
[BlackElo "2575"]
[Annotator "Regis,David"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Bg4 8.
Be3 Nfd7 9. Qb3 Nb6 10. Rd1 c6 11. Be2 Na6 12. O-O Qd6 13. a3 Nc7 14. h3 Be6
15. Qc2 Rad8 16. Ng5 Bc4 17. e5 Qd7 18. Bg4 e6 19. Rfe1 Ncd5 20. Nge4 Nxe3 21.
fxe3 Qe7 22. b3 Bd5 23. Nf6+ Bxf6 24. exf6 Qxa3 25. Rb1 e5 26. dxe5 Rfe8 27.
Nxd5 Nxd5 28. Rbd1 $2 (28. e6 $6 Qd6 29. e7 $4 Ra8) (28. e4 Nc7 29. Qc3) 28...
Rxe5 29. e4 Qb4 30. Qf2 Rxe4 31. Rxe4 Qxe4 32. Qxa7 Re8 33. Qxb7 Nxf6 34. Bf3
Qe3+ 35. Kh1 c5 36. Bd5 Re7 37. Qb8+ Kg7 38. Bf3 h5 39. Rf1 Qd3 40. Rd1 Qc3 41.
Rd8 0-1

I was struck by this little-known game, which showed an unprejudiced eye:

[Event "Hastings 8182"]
[Site "Hastings"]
[Date "1981.??.??"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Smyslov, Vassily"]
[Black "Szabo, Laszlo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B70"]
[WhiteElo "2580"]
[BlackElo "2510"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Bg5 Bg7 7. Qd2 Nc6 8.
Nb3 a5 9. a4 Be6 10. Bb5 O-O 11. O-O Rc8 12. Rfe1 Nb4 13. Nd4 Bc4 14. b3 Bxb5
15. Ncxb5 Ng4 16. c3 Na6 17. h3 Ne5 18. Bh6 Nc5 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Re3 Nc6 21.
Rd1 Kg8 22. c4 Nxd4 23. Qxd4 f6 24. f4 Qb6 25. Kh2 Rcd8 26. Rg3 Qc6 27. Re1 e5
28. Qe3 f5 29. exf5 Rxf5 30. fxe5 dxe5 31. Qe2 e4 32. Rd1 Rd3 33. Nd4 Qd7 34.
Nxf5 Rxd1 35. Ne7+ Kh8 36. Nd5 Rd3 37. Rxd3 exd3 38. Qe5+ Qg7 39. Qb8+ Qg8 40.
Qd6 Na6 41. Nf4 Nb4 1-0

And a bit of opening preparation that came off:

[Event "USSR - USA Radio Match"]
[Site "Moscow RUS and New York USA"]
[Date "1945.09.01"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Smyslov, V.."]
[Black "Reshevsky, Samuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C82"]
[Annotator "Top 10: annotations"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "1945.09.01"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5
Be6 9. c3 Bc5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Bc2 f5 12. Nb3 Bb6 13. Nfd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Bxd4
15. cxd4 f4 16. f3 Ng3 {rkovach: I thought I had posted this comment a few
days ago - so, if this a repeat, sorry. I was a witness to the playing of this
game. My part was to carry radiograms from the Henry Hudson's Grand Ballroom
mezzanine, where the MacKay Radio operators were to the catering room, half a
floor up, where the American players were. Reshevsky sat for 45 minutes (!) on
his 16th move. Shortly after receiving Smyslov's immediate reply, Reshevsky
asked for time on Smyslov's clock - the response was "2 1/2 minutes" After
several confirmations conviced him that it was indeed 2 1/2 minutes Al
Horowitz came up, turned the score so he could read it and asked R "Sammy,
have you kept up with the Russian journals? - Smyslov published 22 pages on
this line and beats it in every variation" (comment on chessgames.com)} 17.
hxg3 fxg3 18. Qd3 Bf5 19. Qxf5 Rxf5 20. Bxf5 Qh4 21. Bh3 Qxd4+ 22. Kh1 Qxe5 23.
Bd2 Qxb2 24. Bf4 c5 25. Be6+ Kh8 26. Bxd5 Rd8 27. Rad1 c4 28. Bxg3 c3 29. Be5
b4 30. Bb3 Rd2 31. f4 h5 32. Rb1 Rf2 33. Rfe1 Qd2 34. Rbd1 Qb2 35. Rd8+ Kh7 36.
Bg8+ Kg6 37. Rd6+ Kf5 38. Be6+ Kg6 39. Bd5+ Kh7 40. Be4+ Kg8 41. Bg6 1-0

Middlegame

A couple of standard themes that I always use with groups, the IQP and the Knight outpost, but to impose these ideas on other Grandmasters is impressive.

[Event "URS-ch39"]
[Site "Leningrad"]
[Date "1971.??.??"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Smyslov, Vassily"]
[Black "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D42"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 e6 6. d4 cxd4 7. exd4 Be7 8.
Bd3 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Re1 Nf6 (10... Bf6 $5) (10... Nxc3) 11. a3 b6 12. Bc2
Bb7 13. Qd3 Rc8 (13... g6) 14. Bg5 (14. d5 $1 exd5 (14... Na5 15. Bg5 g6 16. d6
$1 $18) 15. Bg5 g6 16. Rxe7 $1 Qxe7 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Bxe7 $16) 14... g6 15.
Rad1 Nd5 16. Bh6 Re8 17. Ba4 a6 18. Nxd5 Qxd5 (18... exd5) 19. Qe3 Bf6 (19...
Qh5 $2 20. d5 $1 {Soltis}) (19... Red8 $1 {Soltis}) 20. Bb3 (20. b3 Qh5 21. d5
Nd8 22. d6 Rc5 23. d7 Re7 24. Qf4 Bg7 25. Qb8 Qxh6 26. Qxd8+ Bf8 27. Re3 Bc6
28. Qxf8+ Qxf8 29. d8=Q) 20... Qh5 21. d5 Nd8 (21... exd5 $2 22. Qxe8+ Rxe8 23.
Rxe8#) 22. d6 Rc5 23. d7 Re7 (23... Rf8) 24. Qf4 Bg7 25. Qb8 Qxh6 26. Qxd8+ Bf8
27. Re3 (27. Qxf8+ $18) 27... Bc6 28. Qxf8+ Qxf8 29. d8=Q 1-0

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1945.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Smyslov, V.."]
[Black "Rudakovsky, Iosif"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B83"]
[Annotator "strategy: knight outpost"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "1945.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8.
Be3 Nc6 9. f4 Qc7 10. Qe1 (10. Ndb5 Qb8 11. Qd2 a6 12. Nd4) 10... Nxd4 11. Bxd4
e5 12. Be3 Be6 13. f5 {[#]} Bc4 $2 {? Black needs that Bishop. White now has a
simple plan: exchange off the other defender of the d5 square, improve the
position of his pieces, and look for the win!} (13... Bd7 14. Rd1 Bc6) 14. Bxc4
Qxc4 15. Bg5 {!} Rfe8 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 {[#]} 17. Nd5 {!} Bd8 (17... Qxc2 18. Rf2
Qc6 (18... Qa4 19. b3) 19. Rc1 Qd7 20. Nc7) 18. c3 b5 19. b3 Qc5+ 20. Kh1 Rc8 {
[#] White now transfers his attention to the King} 21. Rf3 Kh8 22. f6 gxf6 23.
Qh4 Rg8 24. Nxf6 Rg7 (24... Bxf6 25. Qxf6+ Rg7 26. Rg3 Rcg8) 25. Rg3 Bxf6 26.
Qxf6 Rcg8 27. Rd1 {Black's position cracks.} d5 28. Rxg7 {! 1-0 (28) Smyslov,
V-Rudakovsky,I Moscow 1945} (28. Rxg7 Rxg7 29. Rxd5 Qf8 30. Rd8) 1-0

A celebrated game where Smyslov ensnared his opponent with position play, then faced with a sacrifice for counterplay by his opponent... sacrificed his Queen! Kasparov and his computer piddled over this game, but as Tal says, years of analysis and minutes of play are not quite the same thing.

[Event "URS-chT Cup 06th"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "1968.12.23"]
[Round "11.3"]
[White "Smyslov, V.."]
[Black "Liberzon, Vladimir Mikhailovi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A25"]
[Annotator "style: Smyslov the adaptable"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Rb1 d6 6. b4 a6 7. e3 f5 8. Nge2 Nf6
9. d3 O-O 10. O-O Bd7 11. a4 Rb8 12. b5 axb5 13. axb5 Ne7 14. Ba3 Be6 {[#]
Black has developed but doesn't seem to have anything in particular to do. The
next phase shows White's coordinated pieces collecting a handful of positional
trumps.} 15. Qb3 b6 16. d4 e4 17. d5 Bf7 18. Nd4 {Knight outpost.} Qd7 19. Bb2
g5 20. Nce2 Kh8 21. Ra1 {Open file.} Ng6 22. f4 exf3 23. Rxf3 {Half-open file.}
Ne7 {<P> ...Ne5 looks more natural, but Black has thoughts of blowing up d5.}
24. Nc6 {Diagonal pressure.} Rbe8 25. Ned4 {[#] Smyslov could play anything -
slow or quick, and all with elegant technique. Here a slow overture is
followed by a sudden burst of tactics.} Nfxd5 26. cxd5 Bxd5 27. Nxf5 Rxf5 (
27... Bxb3 28. Bxg7+ Kg8 29. Ncxe7+ Rxe7 30. Bxf8 {is much the same}) 28. Bxg7+
Kg8 29. Rxf5 Bxb3 30. Rxg5 Ng6 31. Bh6 Qe6 {The Rook and pieces together have
more oomph than the Queen.} 32. h4 Qxe3+ 33. Kh2 Qc3 34. Rf1 Bc4 35. Rf2 Qe1
36. Rgf5 Bxb5 37. Bd2 Qb1 38. Bd5+ Kh8 39. Bc3+ Ne5 40. Nxe5 dxe5 41. Rxe5 {
[#] Who needs Queens?} 1-0

Endgame

Smyslov was famed for his endgame play. A notable win, sustained by intuition as much as calculation, was this one:

[Event "URS-ch37"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1969.09.14"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Smyslov, Vassily"]
[Black "Tal, Mihail"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A38"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. Nc3 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. b3 d5 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. Bb2 Nxc3 10. Bxc3 Bxc3 11. dxc3 Qxd1 12. Rfxd1 Bf5 13. Nh4 Be6 14. Bxc6
bxc6 15. Nf3 f6 16. Nd2 Rfd8 17. Ne4 c4 18. Nc5 Bf5 19. f3 Bc2 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8
21. Kf2 Kf7 22. b4 Bf5 23. Ke1 e5 24. Nb7 Rd7 25. Na5 c5 26. bxc5 Rd5 27. Nb7
Rd7 28. Nd6+ Ke7 29. g4 Be6 30. Rb1 Rc7 31. Rb7 Rxb7 32. Nxb7 Kd7 33. Nd6 h6
34. Kf2 Kc6 35. Ke3 a5 36. Ne8 f5 37. Ng7 Bd7 38. gxf5 gxf5 39. f4 Kd5 40. c6
Bc8 41. c7 Kd6 42. h4 1-0

Another wonderful Smyslov display, showing great insight into the difficulties of playing with a Knight in a closed(!) position.

[Event "World Championship 21th"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1957.04.13"]
[Round "17"]
[White "Botvinnik, Mikhail"]
[Black "Smyslov, Vassily"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D73"]
[PlyCount "138"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. c4 c6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d4 O-O 6. Nc3 d5 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. Ne5
b6 9. Bg5 Bb7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. O-O e6 12. f4 Bg7 13. Rc1 f6 14. Nf3 Nc6 15. e3
Qd7 16. Qe2 Na5 17. h4 Nc4 18. Bh3 Nd6 19. Kh2 a5 20. Rfe1 b5 21. Nd1 b4 22.
Nf2 Ba6 23. Qd1 Rfc8 24. Rxc8+ Rxc8 25. Bf1 Bxf1 26. Rxf1 Qc6 27. Nd3 Qc2+ 28.
Qxc2 Rxc2+ 29. Rf2 Rxf2+ 30. Nxf2 Nc4 31. Nd1 Kf7 32. b3 Nd6 33. Kg2 h5 34. Kh3
Ne4 35. g4 hxg4+ 36. Kxg4 f5+ 37. Kh3 Bf6 38. Ne1 Kg7 39. Nd3 Nc3 40. Nxc3 bxc3
41. Ne1 Kh6 42. Nc2 Be7 43. Kg3 Kh5 44. Kf3 Kxh4 45. Ne1 g5 46. fxg5 Kxg5 47.
Nc2 Bd6 48. Ne1 Kh4 49. Nc2 Kh3 50. Na1 Kh2 51. Kf2 Bg3+ 52. Kf3 Bh4 53. Nc2
Kg1 54. Ke2 Kg2 55. Na1 Be7 56. Nc2 Kg3 57. Ne1 Bd8 58. Nc2 Bf6 59. a3 Be7 60.
b4 a4 61. Ne1 Bg5 62. Nc2 Bf6 63. Kd3 Kf2 64. Na1 Bd8 65. Nc2 Bg5 66. b5 Bd8
67. Nb4 Bb6 68. Nc2 Ba5 69. Nb4 Ke1 0-1