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Defending champion |
Challenger | |||||
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 Vasily Smyslov |
Mikhail Botvinnik | |||||
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Born 24 March 1921 36/37 years old |
Born 17 August 1911 46 years old | |||||
| Winner of the 1957 World Chess Championship | Former world champion | |||||
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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.