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USSR Championship 1961a The 28th USSR Championship was played in Moscow from January 11 - February 11, 1961. It was the first of two championships that year, as the January-February scheduling was changed to November-December. The tournament also served as the Soviet Zonal, qualifying four players for the Stockholm Interzonal (1962). The players hoping for an all expenses paid trip to Sweden included: Yuri Averbakh Anatolij Bannik Isaac Boleslavsky Georgy Konstantinovich Borisenko David Bronstein Alexander Cherepkov Semyon Abramovich Furman Efim Geller Eduard Gufeld Abram Khasin Viktor Korchnoi Anatoly S Lutikov Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian Lev Polugaevsky Vladimir Simagin Vasily Smyslov Boris Spassky Leonid Stein Mark Taimanov Vitaly Georgievich Tarasov. The most prominent newcomer was Leonid Stein, whose sixth round win over Petrosian marked him as a player to be watched. It also irked Petrosian to the extent that he unleashed his claws and scored 9 points in his next 11 games, taking a 1.5 point lead with two rounds to go and coasting from there. Korchnoi came second with a furious finish, winning his last four games. Geller and Stein took the final two qualifying spots; the former was at or near the top most of the way, while the newcomer won a crucial last-round game against Spassky for the final slot. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 Petrosian * 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 13.5 2 Korchnoi 0 * ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 13.0 3 Stein 1 ½ * 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 12.0 4 Geller ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 12.0 5 Smyslov 0 1 ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 11.0 6 Spassky ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * 1 0 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 11.0 7 Averbakh ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 10.5 8 Polugaevsky 0 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 10.5 9 Simagin ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 1 1 * ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 ½ ½ 10.0 10 Taimanov 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 10.0 11 Furman 0 0 1 1 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 9.5 12 Bronstein ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ * 1 0 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 9.0 13 Boleslavsky ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 9.0 14 Gufeld 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ * 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 8.0 15 Cherepkov 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * 1 1 1 0 ½ 7.5 16 Lutikov 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 7.5 17 Tarasov ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ * 0 0 ½ 7.0 18 Borisenko ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 * ½ 0 6.5 19 Khasin 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 1 ½ * ½ 6.5 20 Bannik ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ * 6.0 The Most Brilliant Game Prize was awarded for Simagin vs Stein, 1961 from Round 5, which is well worth checking out. Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1961a, by User: Phony Benoni.  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 190  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Bronstein vs Geller 1-0 20 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E27 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch Variation 2. Taimanov vs Korchnoi 0-1 41 1961 USSR Championship 1961a D94 Grunfeld 3. Simagin vs Petrosian ½-½ 93 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 4. Polugaevsky vs Stein 1-0 40 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E82 King's Indian, Samisch, double Fianchetto Variation 5. Spassky vs Smyslov ½-½ 42 1961 USSR Championship 1961a C49 Four Knights 6. G Borisenko vs A Bannik 0-1 37 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E73 King's Indian 7. V Tarasov vs Lutikov   ½-½ 37 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E62 King's Indian, Fianchetto 8. Gufeld vs Boleslavsky   ½-½ 41 1961 USSR Championship 1961a B44 Sicilian 9. Averbakh vs Furman 1-0 32 1961 USSR Championship 1961a C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 10. A Khasin vs A Cherepkov   1-0 72 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E24 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch 11. Furman vs Bronstein   ½-½ 22 1961 USSR Championship 1961a D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 12. Geller vs A Khasin ½-½ 55 1961 USSR Championship 1961a B45 Sicilian, Taimanov 13. Korchnoi vs G Borisenko 1-0 71 1961 USSR Championship 1961a D28 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical 14. Boleslavsky vs Petrosian   ½-½ 18 1961 USSR Championship 1961a B94 Sicilian, Najdorf 15. Smyslov vs Polugaevsky ½-½ 29 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E14 Queen's Indian 16. A Cherepkov vs Spassky ½-½ 37 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E59 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line 17. Stein vs Taimanov   ½-½ 20 1961 USSR Championship 1961a B28 Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation 18. A Bannik vs V Tarasov   ½-½ 35 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E43 Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation 19. Lutikov vs Simagin 1-0 39 1961 USSR Championship 1961a B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights, 3...Bg4 20. Gufeld vs Averbakh   ½-½ 28 1961 USSR Championship 1961a B77 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack 21. Bronstein vs Gufeld 0-1 41 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E85 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox Variation 22. Spassky vs Geller ½-½ 81 1961 USSR Championship 1961a A46 Queen's Pawn Game 23. Petrosian vs Lutikov 1-0 53 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E92 King's Indian 24. Polugaevsky vs A Cherepkov   ½-½ 41 1961 USSR Championship 1961a E14 Queen's Indian 25. Simagin vs A Bannik ½-½ 73 1961 USSR Championship 1961a B39 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Breyer Variation  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 190    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Feb-07-13    notyetagm: Famous game from this tournament: Stein crushing Petrosian's Winawer in a mere 26 moves! Stein vs Petrosian, 1961 Jun-27-13    ewan14: Infamous game ? ! Spassky's loss to Lev. P while going for an '' immortal '' king march Apr-06-15    A.T PhoneHome: <notyetagm> <ewan14> Also famous/interesting games from this USSR Championship: Bronstein vs Geller, 1961 Taimanov vs Smyslov, 1961 Petrosian vs Lutikov, 1961 Bronstein vs Gufeld, 1961 Geller vs Polugaevsky, 1961 Simagin vs Stein, 1961 Averbakh vs Spassky, 1961 Petrosian vs Smyslov, 1961 Spassky vs Bronstein, 1961 Lutikov vs Stein, 1961 Cherepkov vs Petrosian, 1961 Spassky vs Polugaevsky, 1961 Furman vs Petrosian, 1961 Petrosian vs Gufeld, 1961 Bronstein vs Simagin, 1961 Stein vs Geller, 1961 Spassky vs Simagin, 1961 Geller vs Smyslov, 1961 Spassky vs Lutikov, 1961 G Borisenko vs V Tarasov, 1961 Polugaevsky vs Petrosian, 1961 Petrosian vs Taimanov, 1961 Stein vs Bronstein, 1961 Boleslavsky vs Furman, 1961 Stein vs Spassky, 1961 I know it's a big list but one must consider this tournament page has 190 games. And word "interesting" has more ambiguity than word "famous" so... I hope you enjoy! P.S. My attempt at humour: Hard-fought drawing game - A Bannik vs Petrosian, 1961 May-22-15    Karne: When Petrosian (who had maintained a perfect record for quite some time) was beaten in a sedulously grotesque manner by a sedated Leonid Stein, the chess world exploded in surprise! Dec-19-16    ughaibu: Small typo in the introduction: "nor" should be 'or'. Jan-31-20    perfidious: 'Sedulously grotesque'? Really? 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. 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