| USSR Championship (1949) |
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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 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 39 |
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| Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
| 1. Geller vs Keres |
 | 0-1 | 38 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C78 Ruy Lopez |
| 2. Petrosian vs Smyslov |
 | 0-1 | 46 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen |
| 3. A Sokolsky vs N Kopilov |
| 0-1 | 55 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B68 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 9...Be7 |
| 4. G Goldberg vs Smyslov |
| 0-1 | 46 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A25 English |
| 5. Petrosian vs Geller |
| 0-1 | 27 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E94 King's Indian, Orthodox |
| 6. N Kopilov vs Kholmov |
| 0-1 | 53 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed |
| 7. V Lyublinsky vs Boleslavsky |
| 0-1 | 79 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B60 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer |
| 8. G Goldberg vs Geller |
| 0-1 | 50 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A16 English |
| 9. V Mikenas vs Keres |
| 0-1 | 21 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E20 Nimzo-Indian |
| 10. N Kopilov vs Taimanov |
| 0-1 | 52 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
| 11. Ragozin vs N Kopilov |
| 0-1 | 58 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E00 Queen's Pawn Game |
| 12. V Mikenas vs Aronin |
| 0-1 | 56 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E90 King's Indian |
| 13. Levenfish vs Geller |
| 0-1 | 51 | 1949 | USSR Championship | D48 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran |
| 14. V Lyublinsky vs Taimanov |
| 0-1 | 26 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack |
| 15. Furman vs Geller |
| 0-1 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E67 King's Indian, Fianchetto |
| 16. Keres vs Furman |
| 0-1 | 48 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C86 Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack |
| 17. Geller vs A Sokolsky |
| 0-1 | 72 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E26 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch |
| 18. V Lyublinsky vs Kholmov |
| 0-1 | 64 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation |
| 19. A Sokolsky vs Keres |
| 0-1 | 42 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C55 Two Knights Defense |
| 20. V Lyublinsky vs Kotov |
| 0-1 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen |
| 21. Levenfish vs Petrosian |
| 0-1 | 38 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E68 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Variation, 8.e4 |
| 22. N Kopilov vs Geller |
| 0-1 | 30 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E87 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox |
| 23. Ragozin vs Smyslov |
| 0-1 | 41 | 1949 | USSR Championship | E53 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 |
| 24. G Goldberg vs Bronstein |
| 0-1 | 56 | 1949 | USSR Championship | A13 English |
| 25. Kholmov vs Bronstein |
| 0-1 | 43 | 1949 | USSR Championship | C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense |
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| page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 39 |
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