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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 4 of 5; games 76-100 of 120  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 76. Najdorf vs Golombek   1-0 42 1956 Alekhine Memorial E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 77. Szabo vs Pachman   ½-½ 19 1956 Alekhine Memorial D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 78. N Padevsky vs Smyslov 0-1 50 1956 Alekhine Memorial C47 Four Knights 79. Taimanov vs Uhlmann   ½-½ 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial E94 King's Indian, Orthodox 80. Stahlberg vs Gligoric   ½-½ 58 1956 Alekhine Memorial E64 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System 81. Botvinnik vs Stahlberg 1-0 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial A14 English 82. Pachman vs Bronstein   ½-½ 23 1956 Alekhine Memorial A04 Reti Opening 83. Keres vs Taimanov   ½-½ 46 1956 Alekhine Memorial B62 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer 84. Smyslov vs Najdorf ½-½ 39 1956 Alekhine Memorial E66 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav Panno 85. Gligoric vs Szabo   ½-½ 35 1956 Alekhine Memorial E15 Queen's Indian 86. Uhlmann vs Sliwa   ½-½ 52 1956 Alekhine Memorial E07 Catalan, Closed 87. Golombek vs Unzicker 0-1 51 1956 Alekhine Memorial E15 Queen's Indian 88. V Ciocaltea vs N Padevsky   ½-½ 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed 89. Gligoric vs Botvinnik ½-½ 12 1956 Alekhine Memorial C11 French 90. Szabo vs Bronstein 0-1 40 1956 Alekhine Memorial C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense 91. Sliwa vs Keres 0-1 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial A22 English 92. Najdorf vs V Ciocaltea   1-0 65 1956 Alekhine Memorial A15 English 93. N Padevsky vs Pachman   ½-½ 16 1956 Alekhine Memorial D70 Neo-Grunfeld Defense 94. Unzicker vs Smyslov   ½-½ 26 1956 Alekhine Memorial C75 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense 95. Taimanov vs Golombek   1-0 54 1956 Alekhine Memorial E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 96. Stahlberg vs Uhlmann   1-0 37 1956 Alekhine Memorial A03 Bird's Opening 97. Botvinnik vs Szabo 1-0 27 1956 Alekhine Memorial A10 English 98. Bronstein vs N Padevsky   ½-½ 24 1956 Alekhine Memorial D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 99. Keres vs Stahlberg   ½-½ 32 1956 Alekhine Memorial B98 Sicilian, Najdorf 100. Pachman vs Najdorf   ½-½ 16 1956 Alekhine Memorial A05 Reti Opening  page 4 of 5; games 76-100 of 120    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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