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Alekhine Memorial (1956) For a quarter-century after he fled the Soviet Union, Alexander Alekhine was treated as a traitor and an enemy of the people. This attitude softened within a decade of his death, and in 1956 the Soviet Union held an important international event in his memory. Earlier that year, in April, a Soviet delegation, including Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Geller and Petrosian, had marked the tenth anniversary of his death at a ceremony, organised by FIDE, in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris. The Alekhine Memorial was held in Moscow from October 9-November 2, 1956, and featured a star-studded field including World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik and his usual challenger at the time, Vasily Smyslov. They, along with reigning Soviet Champion Mark Taimanov, forged into the lead around the half-way point and stayed one step up on the field the rest of the way. It was Botvinnik who broke the logjam with a spurt of 4.5 points from rounds 10-14, taking a full point lead into the last round. His opponent was an out-of-form Paul Keres, who nevertheless pulled himself together to administer a stunning defeat (Keres vs Botvinnik, 1956). Taimanov settled for a short last-round draw, but Smyslov ground out a win over Gideon Ståhlberg to tie for first place. Moscow, Soviet Union (Russia), 9 October - 2 November 1956 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Botvinnik * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11.0 2 Smyslov ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11.0 3 Taimanov ½ ½ * ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 10.5 4 Gligoric ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 10.0 5 Bronstein ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 9.5 6 Najdorf 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 9.0 7 Keres 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8.5 8 Pachman ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 8.5 9 Unzicker ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 8.0 10 Ståhlberg 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 8.0 11 Szabo 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 6.0 12 Padevsky 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ 5.5 13 Uhlmann 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ ½ 5.5 14 Ciocaltea 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 3.5 15 Sliwa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 ½ 0 * ½ 3.0 16 Golombek 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 2.5 Original collection: Game Collection: Alekhine Memorial International Tournament, 1956, by User: Resignation Trap.  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 61  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Gligoric vs Smyslov   ½-½ 23 1956 Alekhine Memorial E55 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation 2. Unzicker vs N Padevsky   ½-½ 23 1956 Alekhine Memorial B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation 3. Najdorf vs Szabo   ½-½ 45 1956 Alekhine Memorial E64 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System 4. Uhlmann vs Keres   ½-½ 43 1956 Alekhine Memorial D40 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 5. Smyslov vs Botvinnik   ½-½ 46 1956 Alekhine Memorial B39 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Breyer Variation 6. Pachman vs Stahlberg   ½-½ 36 1956 Alekhine Memorial A17 English 7. Golombek vs Uhlmann   ½-½ 21 1956 Alekhine Memorial E89 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox Main line 8. Unzicker vs Szabo ½-½ 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial C71 Ruy Lopez 9. Gligoric vs Pachman   ½-½ 29 1956 Alekhine Memorial D87 Grunfeld, Exchange 10. Stahlberg vs Bronstein   ½-½ 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial D20 Queen's Gambit Accepted 11. Unzicker vs Taimanov ½-½ 18 1956 Alekhine Memorial C70 Ruy Lopez 12. Szabo vs Golombek ½-½ 49 1956 Alekhine Memorial D15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 13. N Padevsky vs Stahlberg   ½-½ 20 1956 Alekhine Memorial D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 14. Smyslov vs Keres   ½-½ 41 1956 Alekhine Memorial A07 King's Indian Attack 15. Pachman vs Botvinnik   ½-½ 20 1956 Alekhine Memorial A36 English 16. Taimanov vs Szabo   ½-½ 24 1956 Alekhine Memorial D54 Queen's Gambit Declined, Anti-Neo-Orthodox Variation 17. Keres vs V Ciocaltea   ½-½ 21 1956 Alekhine Memorial B68 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 9...Be7 18. Botvinnik vs Bronstein   ½-½ 19 1956 Alekhine Memorial D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 19. Uhlmann vs Pachman   ½-½ 25 1956 Alekhine Memorial D43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 20. Stahlberg vs Najdorf ½-½ 35 1956 Alekhine Memorial A37 English, Symmetrical 21. V Ciocaltea vs Golombek   ½-½ 48 1956 Alekhine Memorial B12 Caro-Kann Defense 22. Najdorf vs Gligoric   ½-½ 28 1956 Alekhine Memorial E64 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System 23. Keres vs Bronstein   ½-½ 23 1956 Alekhine Memorial C05 French, Tarrasch 24. Stahlberg vs Taimanov   ½-½ 22 1956 Alekhine Memorial E62 King's Indian, Fianchetto 25. N Padevsky vs Keres ½-½ 36 1956 Alekhine Memorial E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 61    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)     There is no kibitzing for this page, yet.   NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. 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