World Chess Championship 1958

A World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov in Moscow from March 4 to May 9, 1958. Botvinnik won. Smyslov had unseated Botvinnik in the 1957 match, so he was entitled to this rematch a year later.

Botvinnik was eager to regain his title and spent the intervening year obsessively preparing. He surprised Smyslov with the Caro–Kann opening, which he was unprepared for. Botvinnik used the Caro-Kann in two of his opening three wins, and he adopted a more cautious style for the rest of the match after getting an early lead.

The two had met in the two previous world championships, 1954 and 1957. Botvinnik had been world champion from 1948 to 1957, when he was unseated by Smyslov. This, by FIDE rules, entitled him to a rematch the next year without qualification. Botvinnik's comeback was seen emblematic of the perceived ideals of the golden age of Soviet chess.

The prize fund was established as 5,000 rubles to the winner.

The match was played as best of 24 games. If it ended 12-12, Smyslov, the holder, would retain the Championship.

Botvinnik regained his title.

Smyslov said of his many battles against Botvinnik;

I have the feeling that all my life I have been playing only against Botvinnik. I am happy to have played almost a hundred games against such a remarkable player. We were both in our prime, and I think that the creative results of our meetings played a far from minor role in the development of chess thinking.