| USSR Championship 1961b |
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The 29th Soviet Chess Championship was the second of two championships held in the calendar year 1961. Twenty-one of the Soviet Union's strongest masters and grandmasters participated, many of whom had participated in the previous championship earlier in the year, which had also been counted as a zonal tournament. In particular were Boris Spassky and Vasily Smyslov, who had both barely lost seats to the Stockholm interzonal to be played in 1962. Spassky had had an amazing run until he was derailed by a loss to Lev Polugaevsky, then lost his last two games of the previous championship to finish sixth behind Smyslov. In this championship, with the absence of Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian, Viktor Korchnoi, Leonid Stein, and Efim Geller (who had all respectively finished in the top four, securing their participation at Stockholm), Spassky and Smyslov dominated from the start by leading 3½/4 after the first four rounds. Spassky then defeated Smyslov in their head-to-head encounter in round five, securing his lead for the rest of the tournament. Another significant victory on his road to the crown was his rematch with Polugaevsky, who had put a stop to his previous run. This time Spassky defeated Polugaevsky, which ended up being the decisive game of the tournament, as Polugaevsky went 7/8 in the final rounds, but was not enough to overcome Spassky's superb play. The future world champion won his first of two career Soviet crowns with an impressive 14½/20, having scored wins against half the field. Spassky's success was credited in part to his taking on Igor Bondarevsky as his trainer after his disappointing result at the Moscow championship. Spassky would eventually triumph at the next Soviet zonal and begin his journey to becoming champion of the world. Baku, Soviet Union (Azerbaijan), 16 November - 20 December 1961 (1) S P B V T A T G K S K S K V K S L S N B G Pts
1 Spassky * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 14½
2 Polugaevsky 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 14
3 Bronstein ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 12½
=4 Vasiukov ½ 0 1 * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 12
=4 Tal 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 12
=6 Averbakh ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 0 11½
=6 Taimanov ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 11½
=8 Gipslis 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 11
=8 Keres ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 11
=8 Smyslov 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ * 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 11
=8 Kholmov ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * 0 1 1 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 11
12 Shamkovich 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 * 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 10½
13 Khasin ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 * 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 9½
=14 Vladimirov 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 1 * ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 1 8
=14 Kots 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ * 1 0 0 0 1 1 8
=14 Shiyanovsky 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 0 8
=17 Lein ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ 7½
=17 Savon 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ 7½
19 Nezhmetdinov ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ * 1 0 7
=20 Bagirov 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 6
=20 Gurgenidze 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ * 6
(1) Bernard Cafferty and Mark Taimanov, The Soviet Championships (Cadogan 1998), pp. 112-115.Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1961 b, by User: suenteus po 147.
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| page 6 of 9; games 126-150 of 210 |
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| Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
| 126. Smyslov vs Averbakh |
 | ½-½ | 45 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | A07 King's Indian Attack |
| 127. Spassky vs A Khasin |
| ½-½ | 41 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | E30 Nimzo-Indian, Leningrad |
| 128. B Gurgenidze vs Taimanov |
| 0-1 | 29 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | B31 Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation |
| 129. Savon vs Y Kots |
| 1-0 | 39 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | D29 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical |
| 130. Kholmov vs V Shiyanovsky |
| 0-1 | 27 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | C44 King's Pawn Game |
| 131. Bagirov vs Polugaevsky |
| 0-1 | 58 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | B43 Sicilian, Kan, 5.Nc3 |
| 132. V Shiyanovsky vs Bronstein |
| ½-½ | 20 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights, 3...Bg4 |
| 133. Gipslis vs Savon |
| 1-0 | 30 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | B14 Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack |
| 134. Y Kots vs Keres |
| 0-1 | 54 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | C97 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin |
| 135. Shamkovich vs R Nezhmetdinov |
 | 0-1 | 33 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | E97 King's Indian |
| 136. Vasiukov vs Smyslov |
| ½-½ | 43 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense |
| 137. Taimanov vs Spassky |
| ½-½ | 15 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | E45 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Bronstein (Byrne) Variation |
| 138. Tal vs A Lein |
| ½-½ | 81 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | B14 Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack |
| 139. B Vladimirov vs B Gurgenidze |
| 1-0 | 45 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | E77 King's Indian |
| 140. Averbakh vs Kholmov |
| ½-½ | 73 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | D42 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch, 7.Bd3 |
| 141. A Lein vs Bagirov |
| ½-½ | 42 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | C17 French, Winawer, Advance |
| 142. Bronstein vs Averbakh |
| ½-½ | 30 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | C87 Ruy Lopez |
| 143. Keres vs Gipslis |
| ½-½ | 24 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | A48 King's Indian |
| 144. R Nezhmetdinov vs Tal |
| 1-0 | 29 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen |
| 145. Polugaevsky vs V Shiyanovsky |
| 1-0 | 39 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | E70 King's Indian |
| 146. B Gurgenidze vs Shamkovich |
| 0-1 | 40 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | B95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6 |
| 147. Smyslov vs Y Kots |
| ½-½ | 43 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | A07 King's Indian Attack |
| 148. Spassky vs B Vladimirov |
| 1-0 | 25 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | B94 Sicilian, Najdorf |
| 149. A Khasin vs Taimanov |
| 0-1 | 68 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | B48 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation |
| 150. Kholmov vs Vasiukov |
| 1-0 | 44 | 1961 | USSR Championship 1961b | B42 Sicilian, Kan |
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| page 6 of 9; games 126-150 of 210 |
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