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Alekhine Memorial (1956) For a quarter-century after he fled the Soviet Union, Alexander Alekhine was treated as a traitor and an enemy of the people. This attitude softened within a decade of his death, and in 1956 the Soviet Union held an important international event in his memory. Earlier that year, in April, a Soviet delegation, including Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Geller and Petrosian, had marked the tenth anniversary of his death at a ceremony, organised by FIDE, in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris. The Alekhine Memorial was held in Moscow from October 9-November 2, 1956, and featured a star-studded field including World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik and his usual challenger at the time, Vasily Smyslov. They, along with reigning Soviet Champion Mark Taimanov, forged into the lead around the half-way point and stayed one step up on the field the rest of the way. It was Botvinnik who broke the logjam with a spurt of 4.5 points from rounds 10-14, taking a full point lead into the last round. His opponent was an out-of-form Paul Keres, who nevertheless pulled himself together to administer a stunning defeat (Keres vs Botvinnik, 1956). Taimanov settled for a short last-round draw, but Smyslov ground out a win over Gideon Ståhlberg to tie for first place. Moscow, Soviet Union (Russia), 9 October - 2 November 1956 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Botvinnik * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11.0 2 Smyslov ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11.0 3 Taimanov ½ ½ * ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 10.5 4 Gligoric ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 10.0 5 Bronstein ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 9.5 6 Najdorf 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 9.0 7 Keres 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8.5 8 Pachman ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 8.5 9 Unzicker ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 8.0 10 Ståhlberg 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 8.0 11 Szabo 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 6.0 12 Padevsky 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ 5.5 13 Uhlmann 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ ½ 5.5 14 Ciocaltea 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 3.5 15 Sliwa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 ½ 0 * ½ 3.0 16 Golombek 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 2.5 Original collection: Game Collection: Alekhine Memorial International Tournament, 1956, by User: Resignation Trap.  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 37  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Botvinnik vs Golombek 1-0 45 1956 Alekhine Memorial B14 Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack 2. Stahlberg vs V Ciocaltea   1-0 45 1956 Alekhine Memorial E63 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Panno Variation 3. Taimanov vs Bronstein 1-0 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial E73 King's Indian 4. Najdorf vs Unzicker   1-0 64 1956 Alekhine Memorial A30 English, Symmetrical 5. Bronstein vs Sliwa 1-0 29 1956 Alekhine Memorial C75 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense 6. Szabo vs Keres 1-0 77 1956 Alekhine Memorial A23 English, Bremen System, Keres Variation 7. Botvinnik vs V Ciocaltea 1-0 36 1956 Alekhine Memorial C75 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense 8. Taimanov vs Najdorf 1-0 39 1956 Alekhine Memorial A16 English 9. Keres vs Golombek   1-0 45 1956 Alekhine Memorial B18 Caro-Kann, Classical 10. Najdorf vs Sliwa   1-0 27 1956 Alekhine Memorial D41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 11. Bronstein vs Gligoric 1-0 79 1956 Alekhine Memorial C97 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 12. Sliwa vs Unzicker   1-0 86 1956 Alekhine Memorial A16 English 13. Gligoric vs N Padevsky 1-0 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial D06 Queen's Gambit Declined 14. Bronstein vs Uhlmann 1-0 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial C05 French, Tarrasch 15. Unzicker vs Stahlberg 1-0 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial B64 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack 16. Taimanov vs Sliwa 1-0 28 1956 Alekhine Memorial E58 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with 8...Bxc3 17. Uhlmann vs N Padevsky 1-0 46 1956 Alekhine Memorial E66 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav Panno 18. Smyslov vs V Ciocaltea 1-0 42 1956 Alekhine Memorial B58 Sicilian 19. Sliwa vs Szabo   1-0 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial A10 English 20. Gligoric vs Unzicker 1-0 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial E55 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation 21. Botvinnik vs Najdorf 1-0 73 1956 Alekhine Memorial E42 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 c5, 5.Ne2 (Rubinstein) 22. Bronstein vs Golombek 1-0 35 1956 Alekhine Memorial E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 23. Najdorf vs Uhlmann 1-0 37 1956 Alekhine Memorial E98 King's Indian, Orthodox, Taimanov, 9.Ne1 24. Gligoric vs Sliwa 1-0 43 1956 Alekhine Memorial C76 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, Fianchetto Variation 25. Unzicker vs Keres 1-0 39 1956 Alekhine Memorial C99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 37    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)     There is no kibitzing for this page, yet.   NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. 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