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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 2 of 3; games 26-50 of 61  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 26. Taimanov vs Gligoric   ½-½ 32 1956 Alekhine Memorial E64 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System 27. Szabo vs V Ciocaltea   ½-½ 63 1956 Alekhine Memorial E67 King's Indian, Fianchetto 28. Pachman vs Smyslov ½-½ 38 1956 Alekhine Memorial E19 Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 9.Qxc3 29. Unzicker vs Botvinnik ½-½ 20 1956 Alekhine Memorial B07 Pirc 30. Smyslov vs Bronstein   ½-½ 17 1956 Alekhine Memorial E14 Queen's Indian 31. Golombek vs N Padevsky   ½-½ 27 1956 Alekhine Memorial E02 Catalan, Open, 5.Qa4 32. Keres vs Najdorf ½-½ 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial B68 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 9...Be7 33. Uhlmann vs Unzicker   ½-½ 33 1956 Alekhine Memorial E46 Nimzo-Indian 34. Stahlberg vs Szabo   ½-½ 17 1956 Alekhine Memorial D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 35. Botvinnik vs Taimanov   ½-½ 24 1956 Alekhine Memorial A16 English 36. Bronstein vs V Ciocaltea   ½-½ 43 1956 Alekhine Memorial B53 Sicilian 37. Taimanov vs Uhlmann   ½-½ 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial E94 King's Indian, Orthodox 38. Stahlberg vs Gligoric   ½-½ 58 1956 Alekhine Memorial E64 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System 39. Szabo vs Pachman   ½-½ 19 1956 Alekhine Memorial D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 40. Gligoric vs Szabo   ½-½ 35 1956 Alekhine Memorial E15 Queen's Indian 41. Pachman vs Bronstein   ½-½ 23 1956 Alekhine Memorial A04 Reti Opening 42. Uhlmann vs Sliwa   ½-½ 52 1956 Alekhine Memorial E07 Catalan, Closed 43. V Ciocaltea vs N Padevsky   ½-½ 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed 44. Smyslov vs Najdorf ½-½ 39 1956 Alekhine Memorial E66 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav Panno 45. Keres vs Taimanov   ½-½ 46 1956 Alekhine Memorial B62 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer 46. Gligoric vs Botvinnik ½-½ 12 1956 Alekhine Memorial C11 French 47. Unzicker vs Smyslov   ½-½ 26 1956 Alekhine Memorial C75 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense 48. N Padevsky vs Pachman   ½-½ 16 1956 Alekhine Memorial D70 Neo-Grunfeld Defense 49. Smyslov vs Taimanov   ½-½ 21 1956 Alekhine Memorial E62 King's Indian, Fianchetto 50. Golombek vs Sliwa   ½-½ 40 1956 Alekhine Memorial D22 Queen's Gambit Accepted  page 2 of 3; games 26-50 of 61    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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