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USSR Championship (1974) The 42nd Soviet Chess Championship was a category XII event played in Leningrad from November 30 to December 23, 1974. Sixteen of the Soviet Union's strongest grandmasters and masters competed, including (in order of Elo): Mikhail Tal (2635), Lev Polugaevsky (2630), Gennadi Kuzmin (2600), Mark Taimanov (2580), Vladimir Savon (2575), Evgeni Vasiukov (2560), Vitaly Tseshkovsky (2545), Yuri Balashov (2540), Rafael Vaganian (2540), Karen Grigorian (2520), Mark Dvoretsky (2495), Oleg Romanishin (2470), Alexander Beliavsky (2460), Viktor Kupreichik (2460), Boris Gulko (2435), and Lev Alburt (2420). The 21 year old Beliavsky won his first Soviet crown and Tal won his fifth as they tied for first place at 9.5/15, after Beliavsky defeated Tal in the penultimate round to draw level with him, with both drawing their last round games. Leningrad, Soviet Union (Russia), 30 November - 23 December 1974 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 =1 Beliavsky * 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 9½ =1 Tal 0 * 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 9½ =3 Polugaevsky 1 1 * ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 9 =3 Vaganian 0 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 9 =5 Romanishin ½ ½ 1 1 * ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 8½ =5 Dvoretsky ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8½ =5 Alburt 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 8½ 8 Balashov ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 8 9 Kuzmin 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7½ =10 Vasiukov 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ * 1 1 ½ ½ 0 0 7 =10 Tseshkovsky 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 0 1 7 12 Savon ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 0 6½ =13 Grigorian ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ * 1 ½ 0 6 =13 Taimanov ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 * 1 ½ 6 =13 Gulko ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 0 * 1 6 16 Kupreichik 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 ½ 0 * 3½ Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1974, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 1 of 5; games 1-25 of 120  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Balashov vs Alburt ½-½ 32 1974 USSR Championship B02 Alekhine's Defense 2. G Kuzmin vs Gulko 1-0 32 1974 USSR Championship E12 Queen's Indian 3. Taimanov vs Kupreichik ½-½ 52 1974 USSR Championship A04 Reti Opening 4. Tal vs Polugaevsky 0-1 61 1974 USSR Championship E55 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation 5. Romanishin vs Beliavsky   ½-½ 45 1974 USSR Championship A36 English 6. Savon vs Vaganian   ½-½ 23 1974 USSR Championship A29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto 7. Vasiukov vs Tseshkovsky   1-0 40 1974 USSR Championship B09 Pirc, Austrian Attack 8. M Dvoretzky vs K Grigorian   ½-½ 42 1974 USSR Championship B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 9. Alburt vs Romanishin   ½-½ 54 1974 USSR Championship A13 English 10. Polugaevsky vs Balashov   ½-½ 27 1974 USSR Championship A17 English 11. Gulko vs Vaganian 0-1 65 1974 USSR Championship B05 Alekhine's Defense, Modern 12. Kupreichik vs Savon   1-0 64 1974 USSR Championship C10 French 13. Beliavsky vs Taimanov ½-½ 33 1974 USSR Championship E40 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 14. Tseshkovsky vs Tal 0-1 43 1974 USSR Championship C82 Ruy Lopez, Open 15. G Kuzmin vs M Dvoretzky   ½-½ 22 1974 USSR Championship A44 Old Benoni Defense 16. K Grigorian vs Vasiukov   ½-½ 52 1974 USSR Championship D16 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 17. Taimanov vs Alburt   ½-½ 23 1974 USSR Championship A04 Reti Opening 18. Balashov vs Tseshkovsky   ½-½ 24 1974 USSR Championship B09 Pirc, Austrian Attack 19. M Dvoretzky vs Gulko 1-0 40 1974 USSR Championship A16 English 20. Vaganian vs Kupreichik 1-0 22 1974 USSR Championship A45 Queen's Pawn Game 21. Romanishin vs Polugaevsky 1-0 41 1974 USSR Championship A15 English 22. Tal vs K Grigorian   ½-½ 23 1974 USSR Championship B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 23. Savon vs Beliavsky ½-½ 19 1974 USSR Championship B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 24. Vasiukov vs G Kuzmin ½-½ 25 1974 USSR Championship C16 French, Winawer 25. Alburt vs Savon   ½-½ 71 1974 USSR Championship A45 Queen's Pawn Game  page 1 of 5; games 1-25 of 120    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Aug-25-14    ughaibu: A USSR championship with only one world champion competing. I guess there were a handful, in the 20s, without any. Nov-06-14    Caissanist: The majority of the 1980s events didn't have any either. Nov-06-14    alexmagnus: "Without any champions" - do future champions count? Anyway, here all Soviet championships without (past or future) world champions: 1923, 1924, 1925, 1934/5, 1937, 1948, 1965, 1980/1, 1984, 1985, (1986), (1987), 1989, (1990). The three bracketed championships had no classical world champions, but the future FIDE champion Khalifman was there. Nov-08-14    Caissanist: I guess technically you're right, but there's something about the words "world champion Alexander Khalifman" that kind of inspire a smirk and an eyeroll in me. YMMV, I guess. Nov-08-14    perfidious: <Caissanist> Same as Kasimdzhanov, Ponomariov et al. Noting the above, small wonder--sometimes seems as though all Karpov and Kasparov did was battle each other for the crown during the eighties. One of the toughest Soviet title bouts came in 1988 when both super GMs participated. Oct-09-17    Howard: Probably the reason why WC's (past and present) didn't take part in the Soviet Championship is because they had little to prove by doing so. They'd already proved their mettle against the world's best players--so, there probably would not have been much point in playing in their own country's championship. Aug-28-19    Chesgambit: Alexander Beliavsky high performance Feb-27-20    An Englishman: Good Evening: Meanwhile, Polugaevsky is grumbling, "I beat Beliavsky *and* Tal, and they finished *ahead* of me??!!" Feb-27-20    perfidious: Let him whinge--Polugaevsky only scored +1 against the rest of the field--not that making a plus score in a Soviet championship was a bad result. Feb-27-20    Petrosianic: Polugaevsky played in 20 Soviet Championships, and had a winning score in every one. Nobody else ever matched that. Feb-27-20    MissScarlett: True, nobody ever won 20 Soviet championships. Feb-27-20    N0B0DY: <<N0B0DY> ever won 20 Soviet championships.> True! 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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