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 6 of 8; games 126-150 of 190 |
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Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
126. V Mikenas vs Levenfish |
| ½-½ | 86 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D17 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
127. Petrosian vs Boleslavsky |
 | ½-½ | 37 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D85 Grunfeld |
128. Smyslov vs V Lyublinsky |
  | 1-0 | 33 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C79 Ruy Lopez, Steinitz Defense Deferred |
129. Aronin vs Furman |
 | ½-½ | 31 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C86 Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack |
130. Lilienthal vs A Sokolsky |
 | ½-½ | 23 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E52 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with ...b6 |
131. Kholmov vs Bronstein |
  | 0-1 | 43 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense |
132. V Lyublinsky vs Flohr |
| 1-0 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange |
133. Ragozin vs Geller |
 | 0-1 | 40 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C59 Two Knights |
134. Taimanov vs Keres |
 | 1-0 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D31 Queen's Gambit Declined |
135. Kotov vs Smyslov |
| ½-½ | 54 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical |
136. Levenfish vs G Goldberg |
| 0-1 | 44 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights |
137. N Kopilov vs Lilienthal |
 | 0-1 | 44 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A54 Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3 |
138. Boleslavsky vs V Mikenas |
| 1-0 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C15 French, Winawer |
139. Furman vs Petrosian |
 | 1-0 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E67 King's Indian, Fianchetto |
140. A Sokolsky vs Aronin |
| ½-½ | 54 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A54 Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3 |
141. Bronstein vs Levenfish |
  | 1-0 | 76 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 |
142. Flohr vs Kotov |
 | 0-1 | 33 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A97 Dutch, Ilyin-Genevsky |
143. Geller vs V Lyublinsky |
| 1-0 | 81 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A56 Benoni Defense |
144. Keres vs Ragozin |
 | 1-0 | 38 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A13 English |
145. Lilienthal vs Taimanov |
| ½-½ | 32 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav |
146. V Mikenas vs Furman |
 | 1-0 | 39 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A18 English, Mikenas-Carls |
147. Petrosian vs A Sokolsky |
 | ½-½ | 51 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B10 Caro-Kann |
148. Smyslov vs Kholmov |
  | 1-0 | 47 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 |
149. G Goldberg vs Boleslavsky |
| ½-½ | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A15 English |
150. Aronin vs N Kopilov |
 | 1-0 | 40 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C74 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense |
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page 6 of 8; games 126-150 of 190 |
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