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October Revolution 60th Anniversary (1977) Leningrad was host to an international chess tournament to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution. The round robin event was held from June 24th to July 19th, 1977. Eighteen grandmasters, including the current world champion and two former world champions, participated in the top event. They were (in order of ELO): Anatoli Karpov (2690), Mikhail Tal (2620), Zoltán Ribli (2595), Oleg Romanishin (2595), Vasily Smyslov (2595), Jan Smejkal (2575), Yuri Balashov (2565), Alexander Beliavsky (2555), Gennadi Kuzmin (2550), Florin Gheorghiu (2545), Rafael Vaganian (2545), Mark Taimanov (2530), Milorad Knezevic (2500), Ivan Radulov (2500), Lothar Vogt (2495), Alexander Kochyev (2490), Sergio Mariotti (2490), and Guillermo Garcia Gonzáles (2485). The average of the combined ratings of all the participants qualified the tournament as a Category XIII event. As usual, Soviet dominance was on full display in the wake of Fischer's absence and the string of successes Karpov had been earning in the void. However, the world champion was stunned into shared fourth in this event. He was surpassed by previous world champions Tal, who shared first, and Smyslov at clear third, but the ultimate tournament winner was Romanishin in what would be his greatest victory. The uncompromising player scored wins against nearly half the field to finish with +6, beating out Tal on the tiebreaks. The final standings and crosstable are as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts 1 Romanishin * ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 11½ 2 Tal ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 11½ 3 Smyslov ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 10½ 4 Vaganian 0 1 ½ * ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 10 5 Karpov ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 10 6 Taimanov 1 ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 1 9 7 Ribli ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 9 8 Kochyev 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 * ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 9 9 Balashov 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 9 10 Smejkal 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 8 11 Beliavsky ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ * 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 7½ 12 Garcia 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 * 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 7½ 13 Kuzmin ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 7½ 14 Vogt 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ * ½ ½ 0 0 7 15 Gheorghiu 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 7 16 Radulov ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 7 17 Knezevic 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ 7 18 Mariotti 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ½ ½ * 5 Original collection: Game Collection: Leningrad 1977, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 85  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Tal vs Balashov   ½-½ 24 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary C99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd 2. Ribli vs Romanishin   ½-½ 64 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary A28 English 3. A Beliavsky vs Smejkal   ½-½ 27 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary C79 Ruy Lopez, Steinitz Defense Deferred 4. M Knezevic vs Gheorghiu   ½-½ 17 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation 5. I Radulov vs G Garcia Gonzalez ½-½ 150 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary B06 Robatsch 6. L Vogt vs A Kochyev   ½-½ 31 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary B83 Sicilian 7. Smyslov vs Tal   ½-½ 41 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary E17 Queen's Indian 8. Taimanov vs Ribli   ½-½ 17 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary A04 Reti Opening 9. Vaganian vs A Beliavsky   ½-½ 30 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary D31 Queen's Gambit Declined 10. A Kochyev vs Karpov ½-½ 73 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary E18 Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 7.Nc3 11. Gheorghiu vs I Radulov   ½-½ 18 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary D20 Queen's Gambit Accepted 12. G Kuzmin vs Balashov   ½-½ 26 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary C99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd 13. L Vogt vs Vaganian   ½-½ 18 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary C07 French, Tarrasch 14. M Knezevic vs Taimanov ½-½ 19 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 15. Balashov vs Smyslov   ½-½ 26 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary C67 Ruy Lopez 16. I Radulov vs Romanishin   ½-½ 30 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary C03 French, Tarrasch 17. Smejkal vs Ribli   ½-½ 25 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary D74 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.cd Nxd5, 7.O-O 18. G Kuzmin vs Smyslov   ½-½ 16 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary E19 Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 9.Qxc3 19. Taimanov vs I Radulov   ½-½ 27 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary A14 English 20. Gheorghiu vs Tal   ½-½ 18 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary D42 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch, 7.Bd3 21. A Beliavsky vs L Vogt ½-½ 55 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary B81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack 22. Vaganian vs Karpov ½-½ 11 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary E11 Bogo-Indian Defense 23. G Garcia Gonzalez vs Balashov ½-½ 95 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary E55 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation 24. M Knezevic vs Smejkal   ½-½ 20 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation 25. L Vogt vs G Kuzmin   ½-½ 38 1977 October Revolution 60th Anniversary C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense  page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 85    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-24-14    HeMateMe: In the 70s Italy was the sick man of Europe. That spot is now held by Greece, the fragmented Balkan states and Romania-Moldova. Italy is a super power, compared to the aforementioned. Sep-24-14    Absentee: Some of the stuff one reads here on history and politics is enough to give the most sensitive of us a heart attack. Sep-24-14    Karposian: <Absentee> Well said. I don't even bother to comment further on <siggemannen>'s alternative history lectures. <HeMateMe> <In the 70s Italy was the sick man of Europe.> Where does this come from? I'm sorry <HMM> but that is complete nonsense. You probably confuse Italy with the UK. <Throughout the 1970s United Kingdom was sometimes called the 'sick man of Europe' by critics of its government at home, because of industrial strife and poor economic performance compared to other European countries culminating with the Winter of Discontent of 1978–1979.> (From Wikipedia) Sep-24-14    HeMateMe: Surely you can't believe the historically strong U.K. was in worse shape than the politically fragmented Italy? a completely stalemated, ineffective government, corruption up to the very highest office, runaway inflation, high unemployment...Italy in the 70s was only good if you were born there, and didn't know that other people lived differently, in other countries. I realize that the U.K. was stagnant in the '70s due to the power of the labor unions and its socialist government, but they could never have been worse off than Italy. Sep-25-14    Karposian: <HeMateMe> <I realize that the U.K. was stagnant in the '70s due to the power of the labor unions and its socialist government, but they could never have been worse off than Italy.> You are right about the fact that Italy struggled with major political and social turmoil in the 70s. In addition to the things you mention they also had problems with political extremism, both from the far left and the far right. My point was though, that despite these problems the term 'the sick man of Europe' was not at all used to describe Italy. I think that term has little to do with political and social problems. It is used to describe a country going through major economic difficulties. And strictly economically speaking, Italy actually fared better in the 70s than many other major European countries. They were definitely not 'the sick man of Europe' in that way. Sep-25-14    HSOL: Being too young to know firsthand about the late 70s, from what I've read and seen I've always considered the UK being in a worse state than Italy despite Italy throughout it's history being politically unstable. (Of course it might have to do with my sources having higher expectations on UK than Italy) May-07-15    paavoh: Smyslov had a solid showing without any losses in this respectable company. His four wins against the tail-enders mostly was not enough to win it all. Nov-29-16    Howard: Just noticed that the just-deceased Taimanov was the only person to beat Romanishin. Nov-29-16    WannaBe: Gonzales, too... Nov-30-16    Howard: Think you mean Garcia, but you're quite right! My mistake---Romanishin actually lost two games, not just one. Jul-08-19    Paint My Dragon: A blitz tournament held in conjunction with this event was won spectacularly by Tal, who dropped only a half point [reported in Shakhmaty (Riga) No. 20, 1977]: <1977 Jun. 60th Anniversary Russian Revolution. Blitz. Leningrad URS> – M Tal 13.5/14, B Vladimirov 9.5, S Mariotti 8.5, O Dementiev, I Ivanov 8, G Chepukaitis, J Smejkal, V Ivanov 7, V Antoshin 6.5 … (15 players) Oct-29-19    ewan14: Karpov only 5th ! Jan-10-20    thegoodanarchist: A mere 15 years after this tourny, the USSR was toast. Too bad so many USA young people want to rekindle socialism. It is a dead end! Even if you win, you lose! Jan-11-20    Fusilli: The roster of players is entirely from the Soviet Union or countries in the Soviet block, except for Mariotti. Was (is) he a communist? Since the tournament was to commemorate the Bolshevik Revolution, I wonder. Jan-11-20    Retireborn: <Fusili> The communist party was strong in Italy in those years; however it was (despite its name) well to the right of the British Labour party. Jan-11-20    areknames: < The roster of players is entirely from the Soviet Union or countries in the Soviet block, except for Mariotti.> Knezevic was from Yugoslavia, a country with a less centralized system than other Communist countries and certainly not part of the Soviet bloc ever since the split between Tito and Stalin. <Was (is) he a communist?> No idea, I only met him once as a kid when I managed to draw against him in a simul and we didn't discuss politics ;) He did however play in a number of very strong tournaments in those years so why not in Leningrad, notwithstanding the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution? Oct-17-20    pazzed paun: It is rarely mentioned that Italy was the only country to steal nuclear secret technology and fissionable material from Russia to make iItalys first nuclear bomb! Oct-17-20    Omnipotent00001: Oh really Oct-20-20    pazzed paun: Informally it was called the pizza bomb Apr-26-21    Mario Ostilio: @Paint my Dragon I would be very interested in having the crosstable of the blitz tournament. Would it be possible for you to provide it to me (via email, for ex.), please? If it's possible we can communicate privately. I would be really grateful. Thank you very much Sep-13-21    kingscrusher: What a fantastic performance for Mikhail Tal ahead of Anatoly Karpov and other grandmasters :) Tal was officially ranked 6th= in world according to: https://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo19... Sep-13-21    Tabanus: Blitz crosstable: https://twitter.com/dgriffinchess/s... Dec-29-23    Caissanist: Interesting that, although Genrikh Chepukaitis is sometimes held up as an outstanding example of a player who was much stronger at blitz than classical chess, in this blitz tournament he finished a point behind Oleg Dementiev . Dec-29-23    perfidious: Finishing with an even score in that field is hardly a poor result; maybe this was the exception that proved the rule. In time, I actually got to face two of the players who finished ahead of Chepukaitis (Tal and Igor Ivanov) at blitz. Dec-31-23    Caissanist: Chepukaitis had nothing to be ashamed of but perhaps Dementiev, whoever he was, had even more to be proud of. search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. 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