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USSR Championship 1966/67 The 34th Soviet Chess Championship, which doubled as a world championship zonal qualifier, was held in the city of Tbilisi from December 28th, 1966 to February 2nd, 1967. Twenty-one of the Soviet Union's strongest grandmasters and masters competed in the round robin event. The 32-year-old Leonid Stein won the championship, his second straight Soviet crown and his third and final overall. Even more remarkable was that all three of his Soviet championship victories came in just a three year period (of which four tournaments were held). Tragically, this brilliant grandmaster's career was cut short when he died only six years later. (1) Aivars Gipslis, Viktor Korchnoi and Mark Taimanov engaged in a three-way playoff for the final two Interzonal spots later in 1967, with Taimanov being eliminated on tiebreak after the playoff ended with all three players scoring 2-2. (1) Tbilisi, Soviet Union (Georgia), 28 December 1966 - 2 February 1967 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 Pts 1 Stein * 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 13 2 Geller 1 * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 12½ =3 Gipslis ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 12 =3 Korchnoi ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 12 =3 Taimanov 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 12 6 Lein 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 11½ 7 Krogius 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 11 =8 Bronstein 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 10½ =8 Polugaevsky 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 0 1 1 1 1 10½ =10 Savon ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 10 =10 Smyslov ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 * 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 10 =10 Kholmov 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 10 13 Gufeld ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 9½ =14 Vasiukov ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 * 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 9 =14 Gurgenidze 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 9 =14 Osnos ½ 1 0 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 9 17 Suetin ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ 8½ =18 Liberzon 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 * ½ 0 ½ 8 =18 Nei ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ * 1 0 8 20 Nikolaevsky ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 0 * 0 7½ 21 Doroshkievich 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 * 6½ (1) Bernard Cafferty and Mark Taimanov, The Soviet Championships (Cadogan 1998), pp. 120-136. Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1966/67, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 1 of 9; games 1-25 of 210  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Savon vs Bronstein   ½-½ 27 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 E12 Queen's Indian 2. Kholmov vs Gipslis 1-0 84 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 B42 Sicilian, Kan 3. Taimanov vs Korchnoi   ½-½ 30 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 D35 Queen's Gambit Declined 4. Vasiukov vs Smyslov 1-0 57 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 C92 Ruy Lopez, Closed 5. Stein vs N Krogius 1-0 35 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 D41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 6. Y Nikolaevsky vs Suetin   ½-½ 37 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 A10 English 7. Gufeld vs I Nei   ½-½ 17 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 C26 Vienna 8. Polugaevsky vs B Gurgenidze   ½-½ 52 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 D24 Queen's Gambit Accepted 9. V Osnos vs V Liberzon   ½-½ 56 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 E54 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System 10. V Doroshkievich vs A Lein   ½-½ 28 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 D96 Grunfeld, Russian Variation 11. Bronstein vs Gufeld 1-0 34 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 A10 English 12. Gipslis vs Savon   1-0 26 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed 13. Korchnoi vs V Doroshkievich   1-0 30 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 E61 King's Indian 14. A Lein vs Polugaevsky 1-0 36 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 A36 English 15. Smyslov vs V Osnos   ½-½ 73 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 E08 Catalan, Closed 16. V Liberzon vs Stein 0-1 78 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 A64 Benoni, Fianchetto, 11...Re8 17. Suetin vs Taimanov   ½-½ 38 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 B56 Sicilian 18. Geller vs Vasiukov   1-0 69 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 B08 Pirc, Classical 19. B Gurgenidze vs Kholmov   ½-½ 43 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 B15 Caro-Kann 20. N Krogius vs Y Nikolaevsky   1-0 73 1966 USSR Championship 1966/67 D33 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 21. Polugaevsky vs Korchnoi   ½-½ 56 1967 USSR Championship 1966/67 A34 English, Symmetrical 22. Taimanov vs N Krogius   0-1 42 1967 USSR Championship 1966/67 E46 Nimzo-Indian 23. I Nei vs Bronstein 0-1 31 1967 USSR Championship 1966/67 E10 Queen's Pawn Game 24. V Osnos vs Geller 1-0 39 1967 USSR Championship 1966/67 E60 King's Indian Defense 25. Gufeld vs Gipslis 0-1 47 1967 USSR Championship 1966/67 E11 Bogo-Indian Defense  page 1 of 9; games 1-25 of 210    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Dec-30-12    Kikoman: First! The last USSR Championship of the great GM Leonid Stein. Apr-18-17    offramp: It is odd, possibly unique, to see Korchnoi unbeaten in a USSR Ch. 4 wins and 16 (count them) draws. Apr-18-17    HeMateMe: hard people to beat? Apr-11-18    Howard: Petrosian probably could have done likewise, if he'd played. But, since he was WC at the time, he apparently felt there'd be little to prove if he won this tournament. If that's, indeed, what he was thinking, I'd respectfully disagree. His track record for the last three years he was WC was medicore for a WC. Apr-11-18    ewan14: Remember , it was a USSR W.C. zonal tournament Apr-12-18    ewan14: Petrosian's record for his first 3 years was not that brilliant Apr-12-18    perfidious: From Petrosian's angle: why play in a world title qualifier when there was nothing in it for him, whereas his opponents had everything at stake? The conditions seem unequal to me; perhaps they struck him the same way. Apr-12-18    Olavi: A reigning Champion of the World only played six times in the USSR ch: 1951, 1952, 1955, 1976, 1983, 1988. Apr-12-18    Retireborn: To my mind it makes very little sense for a reigning World Champion to play in a zonal tournament. The one time this happened (Botvinnik in 1955) possibly caused enough irritation and embarassment to rule out a repeat. Apr-12-18    Petrosianic: Most Soviet Championships were not Zonals, yet it was still very rare for a World Champion to play in one. Botvinnik played in two, both with undesirable results. He won the first one, but only after a (clasical) playoff match with Taimanov. Had he lost a match, even a short one, it would have looked bad. In 1955, he lost three games (including losses to the two winners, Smyslov and Geller) en route to a tie for 3-6th, and never bothered with it again. Neither did any other world champion until Karpov in 1976. Apr-12-18    Olavi: Botvinnik's comparatively bad result in 1951 was part of the reason why he was left out of the 1952 Olympiad team. 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. 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