(295) Michael Basman grabbing Vassily Smyslov at the 1968 Olympiad

 I had known International Master, Michael Basman since the mid 1970s, played him quite a few times and even stayed at his home. Yet it was only on June 10th 2023 I was to encounter the remarkable story of what happened at the 1968 Chess Olympiad during his game with ex-World Champion, Vassily Smyslov. 

  • That was some eight months after Basman' s death and I, for no specific reason, elected to consult his obituary piece at the English Chess Forum. It mentions how Michael had grabbed Smyslov by the lapels and bawled at him to ask whether he wanted a draw!

    Re: IM Michael Basman

    Post by NickFaulks » Mon Oct 31, 2022 3:13 pm

    Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑
    Mon Oct 31, 2022 2:17 pm
    Any chance of getting a paywall free version?
    Thus is the Smyslov excerpt.

    "In 1967 he was the star of the England team that won bronze in the World Student Championship and the following year played for the English team at the Chess Olympiad in Lugano. During one match he offered Vasily Smyslov from the Soviet Union a draw. When there was no reply he grabbed Smyslov fiercely by the coat and repeated the offer. “No,” came the reply meekly."

    Smyslov went on to win that game.

    er... well, not QUITE the decorum anticipated from a man representing his country...:D


    Only some 30 mins later an e mail from The Article arrived with a piece by Ray Keene headed -

    From Cambridge to Lugano: playing Spassky in 1969

    - and which included the very same story!

    At Point (41) here -

    Living the Dream: A Coincidence Diary: The Narrative, plus Epilogues and Appendices (james-plasketts-coincidence-diary.blogspot.com)

    - I have supplied a link to this Entry, where again we are to see, in a manner of speaking, the manifestation of the grinning ghost of another man with an interest in spirituality and coincidence. 

    And I note at the ECF thread in homage to Mike -

    I´m sure my friend Michael Basman would appreciate a little bit of whimsy on his Obituary thread! :D

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