Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

USSR Championship 1961b The 29th Soviet Chess Championship was the second of two championships held in the calendar year 1961. Twenty-one of the Soviet Union's strongest masters and grandmasters participated, many of whom had participated in the previous championship earlier in the year, which had also been counted as a zonal tournament. In particular were Boris Spassky and Vasily Smyslov, who had both barely lost seats to the Stockholm interzonal to be played in 1962. Spassky had had an amazing run until he was derailed by a loss to Lev Polugaevsky, then lost his last two games of the previous championship to finish sixth behind Smyslov. In this championship, with the absence of Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian, Viktor Korchnoi, Leonid Stein, and Efim Geller (who had all respectively finished in the top four, securing their participation at Stockholm), Spassky and Smyslov dominated from the start by leading 3½/4 after the first four rounds. Spassky then defeated Smyslov in their head-to-head encounter in round five, securing his lead for the rest of the tournament. Another significant victory on his road to the crown was his rematch with Polugaevsky, who had put a stop to his previous run. This time Spassky defeated Polugaevsky, which ended up being the decisive game of the tournament, as Polugaevsky went 7/8 in the final rounds, but was not enough to overcome Spassky's superb play. The future world champion won his first of two career Soviet crowns with an impressive 14½/20, having scored wins against half the field. Spassky's success was credited in part to his taking on Igor Bondarevsky as his trainer after his disappointing result at the Moscow championship. Spassky would eventually triumph at the next Soviet zonal and begin his journey to becoming champion of the world. Baku, Soviet Union (Azerbaijan), 16 November - 20 December 1961 (1) S P B V T A T G K S K S K V K S L S N B G Pts 1 Spassky * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 14½ 2 Polugaevsky 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 14 3 Bronstein ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 12½ =4 Vasiukov ½ 0 1 * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 12 =4 Tal 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 12 =6 Averbakh ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 0 11½ =6 Taimanov ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 11½ =8 Gipslis 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 11 =8 Keres ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 11 =8 Smyslov 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ * 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 11 =8 Kholmov ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * 0 1 1 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 11 12 Shamkovich 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 * 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 10½ 13 Khasin ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 * 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 9½ =14 Vladimirov 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 1 * ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 1 8 =14 Kots 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ * 1 0 0 0 1 1 8 =14 Shiyanovsky 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 0 8 =17 Lein ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ 7½ =17 Savon 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ 7½ 19 Nezhmetdinov ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ * 1 0 7 =20 Bagirov 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 6 =20 Gurgenidze 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ * 6 (1) Bernard Cafferty and Mark Taimanov, The Soviet Championships (Cadogan 1998), pp. 112-115. Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1961 b, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 1 of 9; games 1-25 of 210  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Bagirov vs Shamkovich   0-1 39 1961 USSR Championship 1961b C48 Four Knights 2. Gipslis vs B Gurgenidze   1-0 28 1961 USSR Championship 1961b B77 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack 3. Keres vs A Lein   ½-½ 41 1961 USSR Championship 1961b C10 French 4. Savon vs R Nezhmetdinov   ½-½ 32 1961 USSR Championship 1961b A21 English 5. Smyslov vs Polugaevsky 1-0 42 1961 USSR Championship 1961b C26 Vienna 6. Y Kots vs Spassky 0-1 24 1961 USSR Championship 1961b C87 Ruy Lopez 7. Averbakh vs Taimanov   ½-½ 30 1961 USSR Championship 1961b E14 Queen's Indian 8. V Shiyanovsky vs B Vladimirov   ½-½ 42 1961 USSR Championship 1961b B44 Sicilian 9. Kholmov vs Bronstein   ½-½ 20 1961 USSR Championship 1961b C42 Petrov Defense 10. Vasiukov vs A Khasin   ½-½ 19 1961 USSR Championship 1961b C82 Ruy Lopez, Open 11. Tal vs Bagirov ½-½ 41 1961 USSR Championship 1961b B12 Caro-Kann Defense 12. Spassky vs Gipslis 1-0 30 1961 USSR Championship 1961b A07 King's Indian Attack 13. R Nezhmetdinov vs Keres   ½-½ 21 1961 USSR Championship 1961b B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights, 3...Bg4 14. Polugaevsky vs Kholmov   ½-½ 42 1961 USSR Championship 1961b E42 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 c5, 5.Ne2 (Rubinstein) 15. Shamkovich vs V Shiyanovsky   ½-½ 52 1961 USSR Championship 1961b C74 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense 16. A Lein vs Smyslov   0-1 41 1961 USSR Championship 1961b C85 Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation Doubly Deferred (DERLD) 17. Taimanov vs Vasiukov   ½-½ 49 1961 USSR Championship 1961b E92 King's Indian 18. B Gurgenidze vs Savon   ½-½ 58 1961 USSR Championship 1961b B10 Caro-Kann 19. B Vladimirov vs Averbakh 0-1 20 1961 USSR Championship 1961b E30 Nimzo-Indian, Leningrad 20. A Khasin vs Y Kots   1-0 32 1961 USSR Championship 1961b B89 Sicilian 21. Bronstein vs Polugaevsky   ½-½ 21 1961 USSR Championship 1961b E15 Queen's Indian 22. Gipslis vs A Khasin   ½-½ 27 1961 USSR Championship 1961b C18 French, Winawer 23. Keres vs B Gurgenidze   ½-½ 48 1961 USSR Championship 1961b A48 King's Indian 24. Smyslov vs R Nezhmetdinov 1-0 30 1961 USSR Championship 1961b A41 Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6) 25. Averbakh vs Shamkovich   ½-½ 28 1961 USSR Championship 1961b B90 Sicilian, Najdorf  page 1 of 9; games 1-25 of 210    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. 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. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific tournament only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café. Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration. Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes! Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us Copyright 2001-2023, Chessgames Services LLC