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 5 of 8; games 101-125 of 190 |
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Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
101. Petrosian vs Bronstein |
 | ½-½ | 23 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical |
102. Flohr vs N Kopilov |
| ½-½ | 54 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A34 English, Symmetrical |
103. Geller vs A Sokolsky |
 | 0-1 | 72 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E26 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch |
104. Keres vs Furman |
 | 0-1 | 48 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C86 Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack |
105. Kotov vs Ragozin |
 | 1-0 | 38 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav |
106. Aronin vs Levenfish |
| 1-0 | 35 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A25 English |
107. Lilienthal vs Boleslavsky |
| ½-½ | 30 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E60 King's Indian Defense |
108. V Mikenas vs G Goldberg |
| 1-0 | 65 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E22 Nimzo-Indian, Spielmann Variation |
109. Smyslov vs Taimanov |
 | ½-½ | 21 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A07 King's Indian Attack |
110. V Lyublinsky vs Kholmov |
| 0-1 | 64 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation |
111. Bronstein vs V Mikenas |
  | 1-0 | 27 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B03 Alekhine's Defense |
112. Taimanov vs Flohr |
| ½-½ | 32 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C77 Ruy Lopez |
113. N Kopilov vs Geller |
 | 0-1 | 30 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E87 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox |
114. A Sokolsky vs Keres |
 | 0-1 | 42 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C55 Two Knights Defense |
115. V Lyublinsky vs Kotov |
| 0-1 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen |
116. Levenfish vs Petrosian |
 | 0-1 | 38 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E68 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Variation, 8.e4 |
117. Furman vs Lilienthal |
 | 1-0 | 36 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E49 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Botvinnik System |
118. Ragozin vs Smyslov |
  | 0-1 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E53 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 |
119. Kholmov vs G Goldberg |
 | ½-½ | 53 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B10 Caro-Kann |
120. Boleslavsky vs Aronin |
 | 1-0 | 32 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B88 Sicilian, Fischer-Sozin Attack |
121. G Goldberg vs Bronstein |
  | 0-1 | 56 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A13 English |
122. Flohr vs Ragozin |
| ½-½ | 28 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E33 Nimzo-Indian, Classical |
123. Geller vs Taimanov |
 | ½-½ | 73 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4 |
124. Keres vs N Kopilov |
| ½-½ | 61 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B10 Caro-Kann |
125. Kotov vs Kholmov |
| ½-½ | 18 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D60 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense |
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page 5 of 8; games 101-125 of 190 |
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