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USSR Championship (1958) The 25th Soviet Chess Championship was played in the city of Riga from January 13 to February 14, 1958. Nineteen of the Soviet Union's strongest masters and grandmasters were invited to, or qualified for, the round robin event. This event was also a FIDE zonal. At stake were four seats at the Portoroz Interzonal (1958). While the race for the top four places was hotly contested, it would eventually be Mikhail Tal who emerged as the sole winner. It was his second consecutive Soviet crown, and the second time he won clear first, a feat which had only been accomplished before by Efim Bogoljubov, Mikhail Botvinnik and Paul Keres. The other three interzonal places went to second place Tigran Petrosian, third place David Bronstein, and fourth place Yuri Averbakh. The results were a major disappointment for young Boris Spassky, who had been one of the top contenders until he lost his last two games. Tal's momentum from this championship victory propelled him on to win both at Portoroz and at the Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959). He went on to become the eighth world chess champion after the Tal - Botvinnik World Championship Match (1960). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pts 1 Tal * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 0 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 + 12½ 2 Petrosian ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 + 12 3 Bronstein ½ ½ * ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 11½ 4 Averbakh 0 ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 11 5 Spassky 0 ½ 1 ½ * 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 10½ 6 Polugaevsky ½ ½ 0 0 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 + 10½ 7 Geller 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 * ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 + 10 8 Gurgenidze 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 + 10 9 Korchnoi 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 * 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 + 9½ 10 Boleslavsky 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 9½ 11 Krogius ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 * 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 9½ 12 Taimanov 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 * 1 0 1 1 0 0 + 9 13 Kotov 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 * 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 + 9 14 Suetin ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 * 1 ½ 1 1 0 8 15 Gipslis 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * 1 0 1 ½ 7½ 16 Bannik 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 * 1 ½ + 7 17 Furman 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 0 * 0 ½ 6 18 Tolush 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 ½ 1 * 0 4 19 Borisenko - - 0 0 0 - - - - ½ ½ - - 1 ½ - ½ 1 * 4 Georgy Borisenko dropped out of the tournament after nine rounds, and his remaining games were scored as forfeit wins for his opponents. These are indicated in the crosstable as <+> for the opponent, <-> for Borisenko. Source: The Soviet Chess Championships by Bernard Cafferty and Mark Taimanov (Cadogan, 1998), pp. 96-98. Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1958, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 162  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Taimanov vs Bronstein ½-½ 85 1958 USSR Championship A21 English 2. Bronstein vs Spassky 0-1 30 1958 USSR Championship E54 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System 3. Geller vs Bronstein   ½-½ 30 1958 USSR Championship E97 King's Indian 4. Bronstein vs Krogius 1-0 46 1958 USSR Championship E80 King's Indian, Samisch Variation 5. Kotov vs Bronstein ½-½ 82 1958 USSR Championship E00 Queen's Pawn Game 6. Bronstein vs Tal ½-½ 30 1958 USSR Championship B28 Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation 7. Gipslis vs Bronstein 1-0 54 1958 USSR Championship B43 Sicilian, Kan, 5.Nc3 8. Tolush vs Bronstein 0-1 37 1958 USSR Championship C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 9. Bronstein vs G Borisenko 1-0 53 1958 USSR Championship C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed 10. Petrosian vs Geller   ½-½ 19 1958 USSR Championship D79 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O, Main line 11. Geller vs Krogius 1-0 57 1958 USSR Championship E40 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 12. Boleslavsky vs Geller   ½-½ 33 1958 USSR Championship E54 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System 13. Geller vs A Bannik   1-0 77 1958 USSR Championship D35 Queen's Gambit Declined 14. Suetin vs Geller   ½-½ 80 1958 USSR Championship C81 Ruy Lopez, Open, Howell Attack 15. Geller vs Spassky 1-0 39 1958 USSR Championship C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 16. Geller vs Averbakh   ½-½ 41 1958 USSR Championship C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed 17. Tolush vs Geller 0-1 45 1958 USSR Championship C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 18. Gipslis vs Geller   ½-½ 20 1958 USSR Championship C15 French, Winawer 19. Geller vs B Gurgenidze ½-½ 38 1958 USSR Championship B36 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto 20. Gipslis vs Averbakh ½-½ 53 1958 USSR Championship C80 Ruy Lopez, Open 21. Tolush vs Gipslis 0-1 29 1958 USSR Championship B43 Sicilian, Kan, 5.Nc3 22. Krogius vs Gipslis   ½-½ 22 1958 USSR Championship B43 Sicilian, Kan, 5.Nc3 23. Boleslavsky vs Gipslis   ½-½ 30 1958 USSR Championship B40 Sicilian 24. Gipslis vs Furman   0-1 80 1958 USSR Championship B43 Sicilian, Kan, 5.Nc3 25. G Borisenko vs Gipslis   ½-½ 43 1958 USSR Championship E55 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation  page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 162    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   May-09-15    perfidious: This interzonal qualifier was a curious mix of results: the ever-solid Petrosian finished, as so often, undefeated, pounding on the tailenders and drawing all his other games; Korchnoi scored three victories over the eight contestants to finish ahead of him, but only one against those players who finished beneath him, while Polugaevsky managed two draws from five games at the top of the table while scoring solidly against the rest. The latter may well have gone to Portoroz had he fared better against his fellow contenders. May-10-15    Howard: Maybe I'm wrong, but Spassky's famous last-round loss to Tal, was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the event. Jun-06-16    Howard: RIP, Victor ! Aug-03-17    offramp: There is some background to the tense last round of this tournament at Spassky vs Tal, 1958 (kibitz #32) and the following posts. Sep-16-19    ewan14: Spassky had a meltdown towards the end 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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