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The 2nd USSR Championship was held in Petrograd on July 6-24, 1923, and was not the 2nd USSR Championship. It wasn't the 1st either. Though the initial treaty forming the Soviet Union had been signed at the end of 1922, these thirteen players were vying for the title Champion of the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, or Russia): Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk;
Fyodor Ivanovich Dus Chotimirsky;
Nikolay Dmitrievich Grigoriev;
Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky;
Arvid Kubbel;
Sergey Fedorovich Lebedev;
Grigory Levenfish;
Vladimir Nenarokov;
Ilya Leontievich Rabinovich;
Peter Arsenievich Romanovsky;
Konstantin Alekseyevich Vygodchikov;
Yakov S Vilner;
Nikolay Zubarev. However, I am not going to get technical about it. Everyone these days calls it the 2nd USSR Championship, and I'm not about to rewrite history. Two of the favorites met in round one, with Levenfish outduelling Romanovsky. However, the latter went on a tear with 10 points in his remaining 11 games, and in the end nobody could keep up.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
1 Romanovsky * 0 = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 10.0
2 Levenfish 1 * 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 = = = 1 9.0
3 Nenarokov = 1 * 0 0 0 = 1 1 1 = 1 1 7.5
4 Bohatirchuk 0 = 1 * = 0 1 0 = 1 1 1 1 7.5
5 Dus Chotimirsky 0 0 1 = * = 1 = 1 0 1 1 1 7.5
6 Kubbel 0 0 1 1 = * 0 1 0 1 1 0 = 6.0
7 Ilyin-Zhenevsky = 0 = 0 0 1 * 1 = 0 = = 1 5.5
8 Rabinovich 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 * 1 1 1 1 0 5.5
9 Grigoriev 0 0 0 = 0 1 = 0 * 1 = 1 = 5.0
10 Zubarev 0 = 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 * 1 = 0 4.0
11 Vigodchikov 0 = = 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 * 1 = 3.5
12 Vilner 0 = 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 = 0 * 1 3.5
13 Lebedev 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 = 1 = 0 * 3.5
This finish from Romanovsky-Kubbel in round 6 (the entire game is not available) proved crucial to Romanovsky's victory:
click for larger viewBlack played 42...h2??, which lost to 43.Ba6+! Ka8 44.Bb5! Kb7 45.Bc6+! Kxc6 46.a8Q+ Kxb6 47.Qb8+, and the pawn on h2 comes off. Instead, Black could win with 42...c2! (threatening to promote with check should White try the above line) 43.Kd2 c1Q+ 44.Kxc1 h2, and once again the threat to promote with check wins. As in several of the early USSR Championships, many of the games from this tournament are missing. The following reconstruction of round-by-round pairings has been prepared from this incomplete evidence. Though it accounts for most of the known information, it should not be considered definitive without firsthand confirmation. Games which are included in the collection are indicated by an asterisk <*>. Round 1: Vigodchikov-Bye; Romanovsky 0 Levenfish*; Bohatirchuk 1 Lebedev*; Grigoriev 0 Dus Chotimirsky*; Kubbel 1 Rabinovich*: Zubarev 0 Nenarokov*: Vilner 1/2 Illyn-Zhenevsky Round 2: Bye-Ilyin-Zhenevsky; Nenarokov 1 Vilner; Rabinovich 1 Zubarev*; Dus Chotimirsky 1/2 Kubbel*; Lebedev 1/2 Grigoriev; Levenfish 1/2 Bohatirchuk*; Vigodchikov 0 Romanovsky* Round 3: Romanovsky-Bye; Bohatirchuk 1 Vigodchikov*: Grigoriev 0 Levenfish; Kubbel 1/2 Lebedev; Zubarev 1 Dus Chotimirsky*; Vilner 0 Rabinovich; 18 Ilyin-Zhenevsky 1/2 Nenarokov Round 4: Bye-Nenarokov; Rabinovich 0 Ilyin-Zhenevsky; Dus Chotimirsky 1 Vilner; Lebedev 1 Zubarev; Levenfish 1 Kubbel; Vigodchikov 1/2 Grigoriev; Romanovsky 1 Bohatirchuk* Round 5: Bohatirchuk-Bye; Grigoriev 0 Romanovsky*; Kubbel 1 Vigodchikov*; Zubarev 1/2 Levenfish; Vilner 1 Lebedev; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 0 Dus Chotimirsky; Nenarokov 1 Rabinovich* Round 6: Bye-Rabinovich; Dus Chotimirsky 1 Nenarokov; Lebedev 0 Ilyin-Zhenevsky; Levenfish 1/2 Vilner; Vigodchikov 0 Zubarev*; Romanovsky 1 Kubbel; Bohatirchuk 1/2 Grigoriev Round 7: Grigoriev-Bye; Kubbel 1 Bohatirchuk*; Zubarev 0 Romanovsky; Vilner 0 Vigodchikov; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 0 Levenfish; Nenarokov 1 Lebedev*; Rabinovich 1/2 Dus Chotimirsky Round 8: Bye-Dus Chotimirsky; Lebedev 1 Rabinovich; Levenfish 0 Nenarokov*; Vigodchikov 1/2 Ilyin-Zhenevsky; Romanovsky 1 Vilner*;
Bohatirchuk 1 Zubarev; Grigoriev 1 Kubbel
Round 9: Kubbel-Bye; Zubarev 0 Grigoriev; Vilner 0 Bohatirchuk; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 1/2 Romanovsky; Nenarokov 1/2 Vigodchikov; Rabinovich 0 Levenfish*; Dus Chotimirsky 1 Lebedev Round 10: Bye-Lebedev; Levenfish 1 Dus Chotimirsky*; Vigodchikov 0 Rabinovich; Romanovsky 1/2 Nenarokov*; Bohatirchuk 1 Ilyin-Zhenevsky*; Grigoriev 1 Vilner*; Kubbel 1 Zubarev Round 11: Zubarev-Bye; Vilner 1 Kubbel; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 1/2 Grigoriev; Nenarokov 0 Bohatirchuk; Rabinovich 0 Romanovsky*: Dus Chotimirsky 1 Vigodchikov; Lebedev 0 Levenfish Round 12: Bye-Levenfish; Vigodchikov 1/2 Lebedev; Romanovsky 1 Dus Chotimirsky*; Bohatirchuk 0 Rabinovich; Grigoriev 0 Nenarokov; Kubbel 0 Ilyin-Zhenevsky; Zubarev 1/2 Vilner Round 13: Vilner-Bye; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 0 Zubarev; Nenarokov 0 Kubbel*; Rabinovich 1 Grigoriev; Dus Chotimirsky 1/2 Bohatirchuk;
77 Lebedev 0 Romanovsky*; Levenfish 1/2 Vigodchikov
User: resignation trap uncovered this group picture: http://www.chesspro.ru/pict/rc23-0.... Here are the IDs: Sitting (from left to right): Vygodchikov, Nenarokov, Zubarev, Bohatirchuk, Ilyin-Zhenevsky, Romanovsky, Vilner, Levenfish, Ilya Rabinovich, S. Weinstein. Standing in the 1st row: Igor Lebedev, Krylov, N. Grigoriev, Shesterikov, Verlinsky, Arvid Kubbel, Sorokin, Travin, Iglitsky, Burmistrov. Standing in the 2nd row: Lastovets, Dus Chotimirsky, Komarov, Sergeev, Sozin, Lerner, Kutuzov, Segal. Most of the players not from the championship came from the concurrent Hauptturnier, won by Sergeev (5/6) ahead of Verlinsky (4.5), Sozin (4), Komarov (2.5), Sorokin (2.5), Travin (1.5), Shesterikov (1). Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1923, by User: Phony Benoni.
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Kibitzing
