Taosim and the Art of Playing Black: Smyslov the Smoothie...

Hello Chess Lovers
It gives me great joy to present this game as an example of playing in accordance with the principles
of Tao and Wu Wei. Smyslov was known for his gift in handling the pieces. I get the impression that Karpov studied this style deeply. In what follows Smyslov plays very much like Capablanca, simple but profound moves where absorbs white's initial thrusts and then gradually dominates switching from "ying" to "yang".

  Gligoric vs Smyslov Amsterdam 1971

Tchigorin Defence
1.d4d5 2.c4Nc6 3.Nc3dc4 4.d5! A very active "yang" move. 4...Ne5 5.Bf4Ng6 so black has absorbed
the initial pressure of having to relocate his knight. 6.Bg3e5!?  Claiming some space.
7.de6 Gligoric opens the game and will want some room for the f1 bishop. 7...Be6 8.Nf3Nf6 9.Nd4Bd7
Again black parrys these attacks on his pieces.He does not seek complications. 10.e3Bb4 One of the virtues
of the Tschigorin is that the black pieces come out to active squares. Smyslov seeks dominion over the e4 square.

11.Bc40-0 12.Qc2c6 13.h3 creating an escape for the g3 bishop. Its important to note how the GMs play useful moves prior to initiating some plan.
13...Qe7 harmonising the rooks. Smyslov's pieces are all protected and serve a function. 14.0-0Bc3!
The first crucial moment of the game. A key defender of e4 is removed. An imbalance is created 15.Qc3Ne4 followed by Ng3 bad for white.

15.bc3Ne4 16.Bh2c5! 17.Nf3Bc6 more control over e4. 18.Bd3f5! in three natural and simple moves
black has assumed control over a vital square and can increase pressure on c3.

19.Rad1Rad8 -Minimal effort and simple useful moves.Facing off on the d-file.
20.Be2Qf6! Compelling white to exchange. White is tied to c3. 21.Rd8Rd8 22.Rc1h6 one of those useful
moves a GM makes when improving the pieces is difficult.
23.Bd3Kh8 another useful, prophylactic move. Kramnik and others learnt from these types of games.
24.Ne1 -white has had enough. So he prepares f2-f3. 24...c4! Now black takes over!
25.Be4 (25.Bc4Rd2 26.Qb1Qh4 27.f3Ng5 28.Bb5Nf3) 25....fe4 26.Qe2b5 27.Bg3Ne7! Black improves his worst piece.The knight will go to d5.Notice how natural and almost effortless these moves seem.
28.Qb2Nd5 29.Qa3a5 30.Kh2h5! with the threat of ...h4. First we saw ..a5 then ...h4.The black pieces are optimized.Smyslov follows Rubinstein by playing wing moves when the pieces are optimal.

31.h4Qf8! Smyslov wants to exchange white's best piece. 32.Qb2Nf6! 33.Kg1Ng4 34.Qe2Qf6!
With a simple plan: Rd7 and then Qd8. 35.f3ef3 36.gf3Ne5 37.e4Nd3! 38.Rc2Ne1 39.Be1Rd3 with pressure on f3 and c3.The principle of the two weaknesses in action.
40.Kg2Qg6 41.Bg3Kh7 !! Zugzwang. The big threat is Qf6 hitting f3 and c3. 42.Rc1Qf6 43.Be1Qf4 0-1
In view of 44.Rc2Rf3
So what can we take from this exhibition of Taoism.
1) In the early stages black simply moved out of the way of white's lunges. The knight moved from c6 to g6, the Bishop moved from e6 to d7 to c6.
2) After the extremely crucial Bb4 black began to exert "yang" energy with minimal effort.
3) After f2-f3 by white black stretched white between two pressure points : c3 and f3.
4) Black exchanged off defenders but had enough pieces to make the final blow.
5) It must be noted that the presence of bishops of opposite colors in the middlegame swung in black's favour.The dark squared bishop of white simply hit empty squares....
I hope this was instructive and enjoyable.
John