A World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov in Moscow from March 5 to April 27, 1957.

Botvinnik had been World Champion since 1948, while Smyslov earned the right to challenge by winning the 1956 Candidates tournament.

Smyslov won the match and became the seventh World Chess Champion.

Ilivitsky won a 6-game match against Pachman (1–0 with 5 draws) to qualify as first reserve for the Candidates.

As the loser of the last championship match, Smyslov was seeded directly into the tournament and joined by the top nine from the Interzonal.