| Nov-28-11 | | Antiochus: Smyslov was 27 when he married his wife, Nadezhda, and adopted her son, Vladimir Selimanov, whose father had been killed in a Stalinist purge. Smyslov, who owed his love of chess to his own father, a strong amateur, became Vladimir's mentor. In 1957, the family reached a pinnacle when Smyslov won the World Championship and Vladimir was the Soviet entrant in the World Junior in Toronto. But Selimanov, then 18, lost in the first round to William Lombardy of New York and in the second to Mathias Gerusel of West Germany. He finished a disappointing fourth. "At that time, such a performance was viewed almost as treason to the motherland," wrote an interviewer on the site president.org.ua on March 26, 2008, noting that Smyslov and his wife never talk of what happened to Vladimir next: "Soon after his return, he killed himself." |
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Nov-29-11
 | | FSR: I read that someplace recently. What a horrible story. |
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| Nov-29-11 | | TheFocus: I never knew this. That is sad. |
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Nov-29-11
| | FSR: I have Bozidar Kazic's book International Championship Chess. I had noticed there that Selimanov had finished fourth in the 1957 championship, and had thought it odd that I'd never heard of the guy again. I'd wondered if he got sent to Siberia or something. |
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| Nov-30-11 | | Antiochus: Tragic. Smyslov never again got the results that their fans expected him. [Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[White "Selimanov"]
[Black "Rabinovich"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2
c6 6. O-O e6 7. c4 Nb6 8. Nc3 N8d7 9. h3
Bh5 10. d5 cxd5 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Nxd5 Be7 13. Bf4
Nxd5 14. Qxd5 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 O-O 16. Qxb7 Rc8 17. Rad1
Nc5 18. Rxd8 Nxb7 19. Rxf8+ Kxf8 20. Bxb7 Rd8 21. Rc1
1-0
Gerusel played some humilliant moves in the next game... [Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[White "Selimanov"]
[Black "Gerusel,Mathias"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E42"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Nge2
cxd4 6. exd4 d5 7. a3 Be7 8. Nf4 dxc4 9. Bxc4
O-O 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Qe2 Nb6 12. Ba2 Bd7 13. d5
exd5 14. Nfxd5 Nfxd5 15. Nxd5 Bd6 16. Be3 Bc6 17. Nxb6
axb6 18. Rfd1 Qc7 19. Qh5 Ra5 20. Qh4 g6 21. f4
Re8 22. Qf2 Rxe3 23. Qxe3 Bxf4 24. Rd8+ Qxd8 25. Qxf4
Rf5 26. Qe3 Qf6 27. Qd2 Bxg2 28. Qxg2 Rg5 29. Bxf7+
Kxf7 30. Rf1 Rxg2+ 31. Kxg2 b5 32. Rxf6+ Kxf6 33. Kf3
g5 34. Kg4 Kg6 35. h4 h5+ 36. Kg3 g4 37. Kf4
Kf6 38. b3 Kg6 39. a4 bxa4 40. bxa4 b6 0-1 |
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Jan-28-12
| | FSR: Lombardy in his new book says that Soltis' account is B.S. According to Lombardy, Selimanov fell in love with a girl in Toronto and wanted to move to Toronto to be with her. When the Soviet authorities refused, the lovesick lad killed himself. It's not clear to me how Lombardy thinks he knows Selimanov's motivation. He also says (plausibly enough) that Smyslov had plenty of clout and could have made this happen, but that he doesn't think Selimanov told him. (Again, I don't know how he could know what Smyslov knew or didn't know.) Weird story - you'd think if your stepfather were someone like Smyslov, you'd see if he could help before you went and killed yourself. |
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| Jan-28-12 | | King Death: <FSR> Somehow I can picture the kid going to Vasya: Vlad: Pop I'm crazy in love for this girl in Canada where streets are paved with gold. Dad: Vlad I tell you that is capitalist lie, you stay here. I'm the champion of the world finally and I could get you out but what if I lose to the Patriarch in the rematch?
Then I have nothing and Misha make your life living hell. Oh I forget there's no hell, that's only for capitalists that think they get punished when they die. Besides love is capitalist myth to keep their workers in line. Stupid bourgeois emotion. Vlad: Okay I stay in the Workers Paradise, maybe they let me bring girl here so she can see how good we got it. Dad: Son I knew you'd see the light, the Motherland is path to everything good. Vladimir Ilyich showed us all the way long ago. |
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| Jan-28-12 | | Shams: I'm surprised this story isn't better known. First I've heard of it. |
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| Jan-28-12 | | King Death: <Shams> Actually I never heard it either until now. |
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Jan-28-12
| | FSR: According to the version Soltis quotes, Selimanov killed himself because he was disgraced by finishing fourth at the World Junior Championship. http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainme... |
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Jan-28-12
| | FSR: For my impressions of Lombardy's new book, see William James Lombardy. |
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Dec-01-13
| | FSR: Selimanov finished 4th with an 8-3 score, doubtless a disappointment. It probably didn't help that he arrived a day late because of a delay in securing a Canadian visa, and had to play the top three finishers in the first three rounds. He lost in Round 1 to Lombardy, and in Round 2 to Gerusel, then drew Jongsma in Round 3. He scored 7.5/8 against the rest of the field. |
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Nov-16-15
| | FSR: Sosonko discusses the Selimanov tragedy in the current issue of New in Chess (2015 #7) without reaching a conclusion as to why Selimanov killed himself. |
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Nov-24-21
 | | monopole2313: One of the photos in http://soloscacchi.altervista.org/?...
may be of Vladimir Selimanov. Check out the tombstone near the end of the article. |
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Nov-24-21
 | | Stonehenge: Yes, Smyslov, Selimanov and Nadezhda Smyslova. |
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Kibitzing
