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USSR Championship 1968/69 The 36th USSR Championship was held in Alma-Ata (now called Almaty), Kazakhstan. (1) Twenty of the Soviet Union's best grandmasters and masters were invited to, and qualified for, the event. The tournament was a second straight victory for Polugaevsky, who had won the 126 player Swiss-style championship the year before alongside Mikhail Tal. Although Tal was present again, it was Alexander Zaitsev who tied with Polugaevsky after the initial event. A six game playoff to determine first place was held after the championship's completion, and Polugaevsky won clear first with 3½ points over Zaitsev's 2½ points. This win would be Polugaevsky's final Soviet championship title. Alma-Ata, Soviet Union (Kazakhstan), 30 December 1968 - 1 February 1969 (2) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Pts =1 Zaitsev, A * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 12½ =1 Polugaevsky ½ * 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 12½ 3 Lutikov 0 0 * 0 0 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 11½ =4 Liberzon ½ 0 1 * 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 11 =4 Tseshkovsky 0 ½ 1 1 * 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 11 =6 Vasiukov ½ ½ 1 0 0 * 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 10½ =6 Klovans 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 * 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 10½ =6 Podgaets ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 10½ =6 Tal ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 10½ =6 Kholmov ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 10½ =11 Averbakh 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 10 =11 Lein ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 * 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 10 =11 Osnos ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 10 14 Sakharov ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 * 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 9 =15 Bagirov ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 8½ =15 Gurgenidze ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 8½ =15 Zaitsev, I ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 1 8½ 18 Platonov 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 6½ 19 Cherepkov ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 0 4½ 20 Nikitin 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 * 3½ First place playoff: 1 Polugaevsky ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 3½ 2 Zaitsev ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 2½ (1) Wikipedia article: Almaty. (2) Bernard Cafferty and Mark Taimanov, The Soviet Championships (Cadogan 1998), pp. 141-143. Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1968/69, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 196  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Bagirov vs Vasiukov   ½-½ 16 1968 USSR Championship 1968/69 A41 Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6) 2. Tal vs I A Zaitsev 1-0 49 1968 USSR Championship 1968/69 C93 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Smyslov Defense 3. A Zaitsev vs Tseshkovsky 1-0 42 1968 USSR Championship 1968/69 A46 Queen's Pawn Game 4. Y M Nikitin vs B Gurgenidze   ½-½ 20 1968 USSR Championship 1968/69 A30 English, Symmetrical 5. Averbakh vs V Osnos   ½-½ 41 1968 USSR Championship 1968/69 A47 Queen's Indian 6. A Cherepkov vs M Podgaets ½-½ 78 1968 USSR Championship 1968/69 B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange 7. A Lein vs Y Sakharov   1-0 72 1968 USSR Championship 1968/69 B25 Sicilian, Closed 8. Klovans vs V Liberzon   ½-½ 41 1968 USSR Championship 1968/69 C67 Ruy Lopez 9. I Platonov vs Lutikov   0-1 54 1968 USSR Championship 1968/69 B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening 10. Kholmov vs Polugaevsky   ½-½ 40 1968 USSR Championship 1968/69 E11 Bogo-Indian Defense 11. M Podgaets vs Bagirov   ½-½ 42 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 D22 Queen's Gambit Accepted 12. Vasiukov vs I Platonov 1-0 56 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 B53 Sicilian 13. A Zaitsev vs Tal   ½-½ 23 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 E61 King's Indian 14. Y Sakharov vs A Cherepkov 1-0 37 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 A17 English 15. V Osnos vs Y M Nikitin   1-0 43 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 E69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line 16. Tseshkovsky vs B Gurgenidze   0-1 33 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 B10 Caro-Kann 17. Lutikov vs Klovans   1-0 40 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed 18. V Liberzon vs Averbakh 0-1 43 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 19. I A Zaitsev vs Kholmov   ½-½ 15 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 C42 Petrov Defense 20. Polugaevsky vs A Lein   ½-½ 23 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 D34 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 21. Bagirov vs Y Sakharov   0-1 37 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 E30 Nimzo-Indian, Leningrad 22. I Platonov vs M Podgaets   ½-½ 15 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 B18 Caro-Kann, Classical 23. Tal vs Tseshkovsky 1-0 28 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 A25 English 24. Kholmov vs A Zaitsev   ½-½ 35 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 D91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5 25. Y M Nikitin vs V Liberzon   ½-½ 53 1969 USSR Championship 1968/69 E96 King's Indian, Orthodox, 7...Nbd7, Main line  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 196    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Dec-13-14    Talis: The Championship took place December 30- February 01, so game dates should be 1969.01.?? Jul-27-17    Eagle41257: It's another Nikitin who played in this USSR championship. Yuri Mikhailovich Nikitin (1941 - January 26, 2009) - Soviet and Kazakh chess player, master of sports of the USSR (1964). Participant of the USSR championships in 1967 and 1968/1969. Champion of the Kazakh SSR (1968, 1969). Jul-28-17    Eagle41257: Yuri Nikitin was the representative of the republuc which organized the championship, i.e. Kazakhstan. It's according to Russian sources. See also: https://www.365chess.com/players/Yu... Jul-29-17    Eagle41257: Sonas says the same thing: http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/... 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. 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