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 3 of 8; games 51-75 of 190 |
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Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
51. Bronstein vs Flohr |
 | ½-½ | 19 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D22 Queen's Gambit Accepted |
52. G Goldberg vs Geller |
| 0-1 | 50 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A16 English |
53. V Mikenas vs Keres |
 | 0-1 | 21 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E20 Nimzo-Indian |
54. Boleslavsky vs Kotov |
 | ½-½ | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B85 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Classical |
55. Levenfish vs Smyslov |
 | 1-0 | 34 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D98 Grunfeld, Russian |
56. Petrosian vs Lilienthal |
  | 1-0 | 44 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C49 Four Knights |
57. A Sokolsky vs Ragozin |
 | ½-½ | 103 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A90 Dutch |
58. N Kopilov vs Taimanov |
| 0-1 | 52 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
59. Kholmov vs Aronin |
| ½-½ | 20 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical |
60. Furman vs V Lyublinsky |
| 1-0 | 34 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch |
61. Geller vs Bronstein |
 | ½-½ | 43 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav |
62. Flohr vs Levenfish |
| 1-0 | 73 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A12 English with b3 |
63. Keres vs G Goldberg |
| ½-½ | 61 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E00 Queen's Pawn Game |
64. Kotov vs Furman |
 | 1-0 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A34 English, Symmetrical |
65. Lilienthal vs V Mikenas |
| ½-½ | 43 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D52 Queen's Gambit Declined |
66. Aronin vs Petrosian |
| ½-½ | 18 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights, 3...Bg4 |
67. Ragozin vs N Kopilov |
 | 0-1 | 58 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E00 Queen's Pawn Game |
68. Smyslov vs Boleslavsky |
| ½-½ | 44 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D97 Grunfeld, Russian |
69. Taimanov vs Kholmov |
| ½-½ | 36 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D95 Grunfeld |
70. V Lyublinsky vs A Sokolsky |
| ½-½ | 39 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B12 Caro-Kann Defense |
71. Bronstein vs Keres |
  | 1-0 | 35 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C97 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin |
72. Boleslavsky vs Flohr |
| ½-½ | 18 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed |
73. Levenfish vs Geller |
 | 0-1 | 51 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D48 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran |
74. G Goldberg vs Lilienthal |
| ½-½ | 40 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D79 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O, Main line |
75. V Mikenas vs Aronin |
 | 0-1 | 56 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E90 King's Indian |
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page 3 of 8; games 51-75 of 190 |
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