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USSR Championship (1962) The 30th Soviet Chess Championship was held in the city of Yerevan (Erevan) from November 21st to December 20th, 1962. Twenty of the Soviet Union's strongest grandmasters and masters participated in the round robin event. Seven qualified from semi-final tournaments held earlier in the year: Igor Zaitsev and Vladislav Shiyanovsky qualified from Dnepropetrpvsk (with Shiyanovsky's seat incidently being won in a playoff among three masters who had finished tied for second); German Khodos and Yury Kots qualified from Novosibirsk; and Lev Aronin, Vladas Mikenas, and Leonid Stein qualified from Riga. The remaining thirteen seats went out as invitations, including to the previous year's Soviet champion Boris Spassky, recently deposed world champion and two time Soviet champion Mikhail Tal, winner of the 27th Soviet championship Viktor Korchnoi, winner of the 23rd Soviet championship Mark Taimanov, and perennial Soviet championship participant Ratmir Kholmov. While not as strong as some USSR championships of the past, due to the absence of grandmasters such as Mikhail Botvinnik, Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian, Efim Geller, David Bronstein, Paul Keres, and Lev Polugaevsky, the field assembled was a powerful mix of veterans and up and coming talents. Korchnoi dominated the field with wins against half the participants, starting with 12/14 and coasting to the finish. He had a full-point lead going into the last round, when runners-up Tal and Taimanov made it seem closer by winning their games. Korchnoi's fierce attacking style insured that this second Soviet crown would not be his last, as he would go on to win twice more at Kiev in 1964/65 and Riga in 1970 for a career total of four USSR championship victories. Yerevan, Soviet Union (Armenia), 21 November - 21 December 1962 (1) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 Korchnoi * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 14.0 2 Tal 0 * 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 13.5 3 Taimanov ½ 0 * ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 13.5 4 Kholmov ½ 0 ½ * 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 13.0 5 Spassky 0 ½ 1 1 * 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 12.5 6 Stein 0 ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 11.5 7 Aronin ½ 1 0 0 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 10.5 8 Bannik 0 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½ * 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 10.5 9 Kots ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 10.0 10 Mikenas 1 1 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 9.0 11 Krogius 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 8.5 12 Shiyanovsky ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 8.0 13 Zaitsev, A. 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 * ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 8.0 14 Suetin 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 8.0 15 Novopashin 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 8.0 16 Khodos ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ * 1 0 ½ 1 7.0 17 Mnatsakanian ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 0 * 0 ½ 0 6.5 18 Korelov ½ 0 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 * 0 ½ 6.5 19 Zaitsev, I. 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * 0 6.0 20 Savon 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 * 5.5 (1) Bernard Cafferty and Mark Taimanov, The Soviet Championships (Cadogan 1998), pp. 116-119. Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1962, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 2 of 4; games 26-50 of 81  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 26. A Zaitsev vs Suetin ½-½ 64 1962 USSR Championship A69 Benoni, Four Pawns Attack, Main line 27. Aronin vs A Korelov   ½-½ 20 1962 USSR Championship C48 Four Knights 28. Y Kots vs I A Zaitsev   ½-½ 24 1962 USSR Championship C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 29. G Khodos vs A Bannik   ½-½ 46 1962 USSR Championship E53 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 30. I A Zaitsev vs V Shiyanovsky   ½-½ 17 1962 USSR Championship C47 Four Knights 31. Kholmov vs Y Kots   ½-½ 32 1962 USSR Championship B77 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack 32. A Korelov vs A Zaitsev   ½-½ 42 1962 USSR Championship D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 33. Suetin vs N Krogius   ½-½ 23 1962 USSR Championship B45 Sicilian, Taimanov 34. Spassky vs G Khodos ½-½ 43 1962 USSR Championship B08 Pirc, Classical 35. A Bannik vs Aronin   ½-½ 38 1962 USSR Championship B32 Sicilian 36. E Mnatsakanian vs V Mikenas   ½-½ 41 1962 USSR Championship B32 Sicilian 37. A Zaitsev vs A Bannik   ½-½ 18 1962 USSR Championship D35 Queen's Gambit Declined 38. Savon vs A Novopashin   ½-½ 105 1962 USSR Championship D27 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical 39. Taimanov vs E Mnatsakanian   ½-½ 41 1962 USSR Championship A60 Benoni Defense 40. Y Kots vs Suetin   ½-½ 20 1962 USSR Championship B65 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...Be7 Defense, 9...Nxd4 41. A Bannik vs N Krogius   ½-½ 23 1962 USSR Championship B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 42. A Korelov vs Y Kots   ½-½ 30 1962 USSR Championship E55 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation 43. Spassky vs A Zaitsev ½-½ 20 1962 USSR Championship A46 Queen's Pawn Game 44. Kholmov vs Korchnoi   ½-½ 31 1962 USSR Championship C77 Ruy Lopez 45. A Novopashin vs I A Zaitsev   ½-½ 29 1962 USSR Championship B76 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack 46. Stein vs Taimanov   ½-½ 76 1962 USSR Championship B49 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 47. A Zaitsev vs Tal ½-½ 50 1962 USSR Championship A67 Benoni, Taimanov Variation 48. N Krogius vs Spassky   ½-½ 40 1962 USSR Championship B44 Sicilian 49. Spassky vs Y Kots   ½-½ 24 1962 USSR Championship D28 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical 50. Kholmov vs A Novopashin   ½-½ 41 1962 USSR Championship C85 Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation Doubly Deferred (DERLD)  page 2 of 4; games 26-50 of 81    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Dec-30-12    perfidious: <Korchnoi, despite dominating the field with wins against half the participants, only managed to edge out Tal and Taimanov by half a point for first place.> The above comment is misleading, as Korchnoi made 12/14 for a large lead and finished with four draws and the loss to Mikenas in the sixteenth round. His lead was a full point entering the last round and the runners-up only managed to narrow the gap by winning. Dec-30-12    Phony Benoni: <perfidious> Is it better now? Dec-30-12    perfidious: <Phony Benoni> Nice work, and a much better way of conveying the way things went in this event. Feb-07-13    notyetagm: The famous game from this tournament: Korchnoi vs Tal, 1962 Oct-01-16    Fusilli: I wonder if Savon is the only player to both win the USSR championship (USSR Championship (1971)) and finish in last place in the USSR championship final (here). Jan-10-17    zydeco: <Fusilli> Mark Taimanov finished last in 1948 and won it in 1956. There may be others as well. Oct-05-19    Olavi: <zydeco: <Fusilli>> Beliavsky even did it in consecutive years, 1973 and 1974. Oct-06-19    ewan14: Incredibly disappointing for Korchnoi he was out of form in the zonals in 1963 and 1964. He could have challenged ( and beaten ) Petrosian Feb-14-20    King.Arthur.Brazil: For me, It is very sad that the in the historical event description "the absence of grandmasters such as Mikhail Botvinnik, Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian, Efim Geller, David Bronstein, Paul Keres, and Lev Polugaevsky...", was forgoten the remarkable name of the world chess champion Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov. I hope that the Chessgames manager correct it later. NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. 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