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USSR Championship (1951) The 19th Soviet Chess Championship took place in the capital city of Moscow from November 11 to December 14, 1951. Eighteen of the Soviet Union's strongest players, including the reigning world champion, participated in the round robin event. Fourteen of the players qualified from the semi-final tournaments played earlier in the year. Nikolai Novotelnov, Isaac Lipnitsky, and Mark Taimanov qualified from Baku; Vasily Smyslov, Evgeny Terpugov, Oleg Moiseev, and Nikolai Kopilov qualified from Leningrad; Lev Aronin, Vladimir Simagin, and Salomon Flohr qualified from Lvov; and Tigran Petrosian, Efim Geller, Yuri Averbakh, and Isaac Boleslavsky qualified from Sverdlovsk. Boleslavsky fell ill before the final and was therefore replaced by Igor Bondarevsky, who had placed fifth in the Leningrad semi-final. Four invitations were also sent to Paul Keres as returning Soviet Champion, Mikhail Botvinnik as world champion, David Bronstein as world vice-champion, and Alexander Kotov. The assembled field was the strongest in the history of the USSR championship at that time, which makes it an especially impressive victory for Keres. It was his second consecutive Soviet crown and his third overall. He edged out runners-up Petrosian and Geller by half a point, and finished two full points ahead of world champion Botvinnik, who only managed to finish in fifth place. The final standings and crosstable: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts 1 Keres * ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 12 =2 Petrosian ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 11½ =2 Geller 0 ½ * 0 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 11½ 4 Smyslov 0 0 1 * 1 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 11 5 Botvinnik ½ ½ 0 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 10 =6 Averbakh ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ * 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 9½ =6 Bronstein ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 * 1 ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 9½ =6 Taimanov 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 9½ =9 Flohr ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 9 =9 Aronin 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 * 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 9 11 Kopilov 1 1 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 * 0 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 8½ =12 Kotov 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 8 =12 Bondarevsky ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ * ½ 1 0 1 1 8 14 Simagin 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 1 1 7½ =15 Moiseev 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 * ½ 1 1 6½ =15 Lipnitsky 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ ½ * ½ 1 6½ 17 Novotelnov 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ * ½ 3 18 Terpugov 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 0 ½ * 2½ Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1951, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 2 of 7; games 26-50 of 153  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 26. Bronstein vs O Moiseev   ½-½ 25 1951 USSR Championship E56 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with 7...Nc6 27. Botvinnik vs Taimanov   ½-½ 37 1951 USSR Championship E40 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 28. Flohr vs Bronstein   ½-½ 30 1951 USSR Championship E67 King's Indian, Fianchetto 29. Bondarevsky vs Petrosian 0-1 82 1951 USSR Championship E71 King's Indian, Makagonov System (5.h3) 30. Taimanov vs N Kopilov   1-0 70 1951 USSR Championship D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 31. Botvinnik vs Lipnitsky   1-0 41 1951 USSR Championship E40 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 32. Geller vs Keres 0-1 31 1951 USSR Championship C99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd 33. Kotov vs Simagin   ½-½ 66 1951 USSR Championship A53 Old Indian 34. Aronin vs E Terpugov   ½-½ 36 1951 USSR Championship A26 English 35. Averbakh vs Smyslov 1-0 40 1951 USSR Championship C75 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense 36. O Moiseev vs Novotelnov   1-0 35 1951 USSR Championship E45 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Bronstein (Byrne) Variation 37. E Terpugov vs Geller 0-1 33 1951 USSR Championship A43 Old Benoni 38. Keres vs Bondarevsky ½-½ 33 1951 USSR Championship A07 King's Indian Attack 39. Bronstein vs Botvinnik 0-1 50 1951 USSR Championship D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 40. Petrosian vs Kotov 1-0 52 1951 USSR Championship E68 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Variation, 8.e4 41. Novotelnov vs Flohr 1-0 40 1951 USSR Championship D29 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical 42. Lipnitsky vs Taimanov   0-1 29 1951 USSR Championship B88 Sicilian, Fischer-Sozin Attack 43. N Kopilov vs Aronin   0-1 78 1951 USSR Championship B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 44. Simagin vs Averbakh   ½-½ 49 1951 USSR Championship D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 45. Smyslov vs O Moiseev   ½-½ 41 1951 USSR Championship A07 King's Indian Attack 46. Geller vs N Kopilov 1-0 46 1951 USSR Championship D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 47. Bondarevsky vs E Terpugov   1-0 41 1951 USSR Championship D07 Queen's Gambit Declined, Chigorin Defense 48. Taimanov vs Aronin   ½-½ 29 1951 USSR Championship E61 King's Indian 49. O Moiseev vs Simagin 0-1 30 1951 USSR Championship E70 King's Indian 50. Averbakh vs Petrosian   ½-½ 29 1951 USSR Championship B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights, 3...Bg4  page 2 of 7; games 26-50 of 153    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   TIP: You can make the above ads go away by registering a free account! Aug-18-13    GrahamClayton: This was Kopylov's only participation in a USSR Championship final tournament. Although he finished 11th, he did have the satisfaction of defeating tournament winner Keres, =2nd place finisher Geller and the current World Champion Botvinnik. Jul-01-14    FSR: Funny to see Keres, Petrosian, and Geller bunched together at the top of the cross-table. Eleven years later at Curacao they were bunched together almost exactly the same way - except there it was Petrosian who finished half a point above the other two. Dec-25-14    Sokrates: A magnificent victory by Keres, who didn't have sunny days under the Soviet regime. I think this was his renaissance after having been in a deep cellar of depression in the second half of the 1940s. We shall never learn what Paul Keres could have achieved if he was not forced to live in the Soviet. Well, the same could be said for many others. Only a few, primarily Botvinnik, Petrosian and Karpov were favoured by the regime. Jun-26-15    zydeco: The tournament was also a zonal for the 1951-54 Candidates cycle. Botvinnik, Bronstein, Keres, and Smyslov were already seeded into the Candidates tournament. Geller, Petrosian, Taimanov, and Averbakh qualified for the Interzonal. The Soviet Union had a fifth spot - which would have gone to Lev Aronin if he had won his last-round game (Aronin vs Smyslov, 1951) - but instead of organizing a tiebreak between Flohr and Aronin, they 'socially promoted' Kotov, who wasn't even close to qualifying but was a member of the Sports Committee -- and justified his rather corrupt qualification by making a record score at the Interzonal. It's a really sad story for Aronin -- who apparently never got over the setback. This tournament is right up there as one of Keres' greatest achievements. He played smooth, attractive chess, overcame a couple of early defeats, went 4.5/5 down the stretch, and cold-bloodedly won a tough last-round game against Taimanov. He was pretty clearly the best player in the world in 1951 -- and made such an impression that the Soviet grandmasters orchestrated a remarkable coup: they dumped Botvinnik, the reigning world champion, from board one on the 1952 Olympiad team, with the rationale that his recent results hadn't been anywhere close to Keres'. It's interesting to think about Geller and Petrosian playing as a pair. They don't seem to have much in common stylistically or temperamentally -- but rose up through the ranks at exactly the same time. Kopilov was definitely the tournament wild card. Good games from this tournament: Bronstein vs Kotov, 1951 Smyslov vs Bronstein, 1951 Botvinnik vs Geller, 1951 Smyslov vs Keres, 1951 Geller vs Keres, 1951 Keres vs Taimanov, 1951 Kotov vs Geller, 1951 Petrosian vs Smyslov, 1951 E Terpugov vs Petrosian, 1951 N Kopilov vs Bondarevsky, 1951 Nov-04-17    ughaibu: GrahamClayton: Kopilov also played, at least, in the USSR Championship (1949). Sep-11-18    ughaibu: Did Botvinnik complain that he was robbed by the drawing conspiracy of Petrosian, Geller and Averbakh? Sep-11-18    perfidious: <zydeco....(Keres) was pretty clearly the best player in the world in 1951 -- and made such an impression that the Soviet grandmasters orchestrated a remarkable coup: they dumped Botvinnik, the reigning world champion, from board one on the 1952 Olympiad team, with the rationale that his recent results hadn't been anywhere close to Keres'....> Matter of fact, Botvinnik was dropped from the Soviet side in 1952 altogether. Sep-12-18    ewan14: Did he not play because he was not to be on board 1 ? Sep-12-18    ughaibu: Ewan14: No, he was voted off the team by the other players. Sep-12-18    Retireborn: Botvinnik did play in the next six Olympiads though (as well as the 1961 and 1965 Euros.) Sep-12-18    perfidious: In <Botvinnik's Best Games 1947-70>, at the finish of a game played against one of those who made up the '52 Soviet team, (paraphrasing) 'This game had definite significance for me....a secret ballot in which only one vote was cast for the World Champion. Naturally, I wished to prove that I did not play worse than our "Olympic men".' I have occasionally wondered who cast the one vote in favour of Botvinnik's participation. My first thought: Keres. Sep-12-18    Retireborn: <perfidious> What game was that, do you know? I assume it's from the 20th USSR ch shortly after Helsinki, where he scored +3=2-0 against the team members. Sep-12-18    Sally Simpson: I do not have the book on hand but according to Wiki (I know not always a reliable source...) Botvinnik says: "..these games (plural) had a definite significance for me..." so he was talking about all three victories. Wiki also states the players voted for the board positions and Botvinnik was not happy with board 2 - Keres was voted board one. I do recall Bronstein saying somewhere it was the board order vote that Botvinnik did not like and he [Bronstein] was voted on as board 4 adding jokingly he thought Botvinnik should have protested over that! Sep-12-18    Sally Simpson: see above. link to 1952 USSR Championship USSR Championship (1952) found a mention of what I said above. http://www.avlerchess.com/chess-mis... SAIDY: The Soviet olympic team for Helsinki in 1952 was very curious -- the world champion was omitted. Is it true that your other players voted him off the team? So democratic! BRONSTEIN: No. First, we voted for the team line-up, and we placed Botvinnik second, after Keres. I was placed fourth. Botvinnik protested, and declined to take part. Why didn't he protest that I was placed fourth? Saidy slipped in [Was it to signify that Keres was forced to lose to Botvinnik in 1948 for the crown > -- AS] as an after thought. I edited it out as it was misleading. I read the above from somewhere else, it had no mention of Keres. Sep-12-18    perfidious: <Retireborn>, I am doing all this from memory--my copy of Botvinnik's games is in mothballs and I have not read it in years--hence the gaps in my post. Do not recall which game it was. Sep-12-18    Retireborn: Thanks to both. Sep-12-18    Sally Simpson: Hi Perfidious: "I have occasionally wondered who cast the one vote in favour of Botvinnik's participation. My first thought: Keres." It still may the case that a vote was taken by the players to oust Botvinnik. I speculate that the players where told one of them voted for Botvinnik, but not told which one. (infact none of them did.) So the Soviet Olympiad team were all denying to each other it was not one of them (and all were telling the truth.) but all are thinking 'one of us is lying.' So no one in the team trusted anyone, which is just how the USSR liked it. Sep-13-18    Howard: Petrosian lost only two games, despite the fact that (according to How to Defend in Chess) his playing style had not evolved into the avoid-losses-at-all-costs stage yet. NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community! If you already have an account, you should login now. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts. No personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No posting personal information of members. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator. NOTE: Keep all discussion on the topic of this page. This forum is for this specific tournament and nothing else. If you want to discuss chess in general, or this site, you might try the Kibitzer's Café. Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes! home | about | login | logout | F.A.Q. | your profile | preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | new kibitzing | chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | privacy notice | contact us Copyright 2001-2018, Chessgames Services LLC