USSR Championship (1949) |
The 17th USSR chess championship took place in the Soviet capital of Moscow from October 16th to November 20th, 1949. Twenty of the Soviet Union's best grandmasters and masters qualified or received invitations to participate in the round robin event. Twelve players qualified from semi-final tournaments held earlier in the year: Igor Bondarevsky, Mark Taimanov, and Grigory Levenfish qualified from Leningrad; Vladas Mikenas, Alexey Sokolsky, and Semyon Furman qualified from Vilnius; Lev Aronin, Grigory Goldberg, and Victor Liublinsky qualified from Moscow; and Efim Geller, Tigran Petrosian, and Ratmir Kholmov qualified from Tbilisi. Bondarevsky could not attend the final, so he was replaced by Leningrad fourth place Nikolai Kopilov. The eight remaining players were invited to fill out the field were: David Bronstein and Alexander Kotov as returning champions from the 16th championship; previous Soviet champions Andre Lilienthal and Paul Keres; and four previous final participants Isaac Boleslavsky, Salomon Flohr, Viacheslav Ragozin, and Vasily Smyslov. This tournament saw two of Mikhail Botvinnik 's greatest rivals finish shared first with thirteen points out of nineteen rounds. It was Bronstein's second consecutive Soviet crown, and his last. He would face Botvinnik two years later for the world crown, coming closer than anyone else to being world champion without succeeding. While this championship was Smyslov's first and last Soviet crown, he too would go on to face Botvinnik, but unlike his fellow shared first, he would defeat Botvinnik in their second of three encounters, earning the highest of all chess honors: the champion of the world. The final standings and crosstable:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Pts
=1 Smyslov * 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 13
=1 Bronstein 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 13
=3 Geller ½ ½ * ½ 1 1 1 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 12½
=3 Taimanov ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 12½
=5 Furman 1 ½ 0 1 * 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 11½
=5 Boleslavsky ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 11½
=5 Kotov ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 11½
8 Keres ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 0 ½ 11
=9 Aronin 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 10
=9 Kholmov 0 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 10
11 Flohr 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 9
12 Sokolsky ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ * ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 8½
=13 Lilienthal 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ * ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 8
=13 Mikenas ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 8
=13 Kopilov ½ 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 8
16 Petrosian 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ * 0 1 1 0 7½
17 Ragozin 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 1 * ½ ½ 1 6½
=18 Levenfish 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * 1 0 6
=18 Liublinsky 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ 6
=18 Goldberg 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 0 1 ½ * 6 This collection would not have been possible without the efforts of <Phony Benoni>.Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1949, by User: suenteus po 147.
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page 2 of 8; games 26-50 of 190 |
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Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
26. Smyslov vs V Mikenas |
 | ½-½ | 27 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B03 Alekhine's Defense |
27. Flohr vs Petrosian |
  | 1-0 | 43 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A54 Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3 |
28. Taimanov vs Boleslavsky |
| ½-½ | 31 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 |
29. N Kopilov vs Furman |
 | 1-0 | 42 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A24 English, Bremen System with ...g6 |
30. A Sokolsky vs Kholmov |
 | 1-0 | 24 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B10 Caro-Kann |
31. Bronstein vs Kotov |
 | ½-½ | 24 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch |
32. V Mikenas vs Flohr |
 | ½-½ | 13 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A22 English |
33. Petrosian vs Geller |
  | 0-1 | 27 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E94 King's Indian, Orthodox |
34. Levenfish vs V Lyublinsky |
 | 1-0 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A56 Benoni Defense |
35. Kholmov vs Lilienthal |
 | 1-0 | 47 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E16 Queen's Indian |
36. Boleslavsky vs Ragozin |
| 1-0 | 49 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C74 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense |
37. G Goldberg vs Smyslov |
 | 0-1 | 46 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A25 English |
38. Furman vs Taimanov |
| 1-0 | 52 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav |
39. A Sokolsky vs N Kopilov |
| 0-1 | 55 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B68 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 9...Be7 |
40. Aronin vs Keres |
| ½-½ | 33 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C81 Ruy Lopez, Open, Howell Attack |
41. Smyslov vs Bronstein |
  | 1-0 | 93 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A54 Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3 |
42. Flohr vs G Goldberg |
 | ½-½ | 48 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A90 Dutch |
43. Geller vs V Mikenas |
| ½-½ | 29 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C08 French, Tarrasch, Open, 4.ed ed |
44. Keres vs Petrosian |
  | 1-0 | 39 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E60 King's Indian Defense |
45. Kotov vs Levenfish |
 | 1-0 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
46. Ragozin vs Furman |
 | 1-0 | 78 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C77 Ruy Lopez |
47. Taimanov vs A Sokolsky |
 | 1-0 | 40 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E09 Catalan, Closed |
48. V Lyublinsky vs Boleslavsky |
| 0-1 | 79 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B60 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer |
49. N Kopilov vs Kholmov |
| 0-1 | 53 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed |
50. Lilienthal vs Aronin |
| ½-½ | 39 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E72 King's Indian |
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page 2 of 8; games 26-50 of 190 |
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