| 1931 USSR Chess Championship | |
|---|---|
| Location | Moscow |
| Champion | |
| Mikhail Botvinnik | |
The 1931 USSR Chess Championship was the 7th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 10 October to 11 November in Moscow. The tournament was won by the future world champion Mikhail Botvinnik. The competition had the largest number of players up to that edition and had an extensive set of preliminary qualifiers in which about 500 players took part. [1]
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mikhail Botvinnik | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 13½ |
| 2 | Nikolai Riumin | 0 | - | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11½ |
| 3 | Boris Verlinsky | 0 | 0 | - | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 10 |
| 4 | Vladimir Alatortsev | 0 | ½ | ½ | - | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 5 | Mikhail Yudovich | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 10 |
| 6 | Fedir Bohatyrchuk | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 7 | Ilya Kan | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | - | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 9½ |
| 8 | Vsevolod Rauzer | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | - | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 9 |
| 9 | Isaak Mazel | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 9 |
| 10 | Georgy Lisitsin | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | - | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 8½ |
| 11 | Vladimir Kirillov | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | - | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 8½ |
| 12 | Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | - | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8½ |
| 13 | Nikolai Sorokin | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | - | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 7 |
| 14 | Abram Zamikhovsky | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6½ |
| 15 | Victor Goglidze | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | - | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 16 | Veniamin Sozin | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | ½ | 0 | 5½ |
| 17 | Genrikh Kasparian | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | - | ½ | 5 |
| 18 | Alexander Budo | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | - | 5 |
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as one of the most influential players in chess history. Tal played in an attacking and daring combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability. Vladislav Zubok said of him, "Every game for him was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem".
David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was one of the world's strongest players from the mid-1940s into the mid-1970s, and was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics. He was also a renowned chess writer; his book Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 is widely considered one of the greatest chess books ever written.
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. He also had a mathematics degree (honorary).
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the seventh World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions. Smyslov twice tied for first place at the USSR Chess Championships, and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won is an all-time record. In five European Team Championships, Smyslov won ten gold medals.
Paul Keres was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five occasions. As Estonia was repeatedly invaded and occupied during World War II, Keres was forced by the circumstances to represent the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany (1941–44) in international tournaments.
Leonid Zakharovych Stein was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s, and was among the world's top ten players during that era.
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ко́тов; was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet chess champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific writer on the subject of chess. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation, and wrote most of his books during the Cold War. The importance and breadth of Kotov's work rank him among the all-time greats in this field.
Rashid Gibyatovich Nezhmetdinov was a Soviet chess player, chess writer, International Master and checkers player. Although he never attained the title of Grandmaster, he was a renowned tactician and created several brilliant games. Biographer Alex Pishkin compares him to Chigorin, Réti and Spielmann.
Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky was a Soviet Russian chess player, trainer, and chess author. He held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess. Bondarevsky shared the 1940 Soviet title, and later coached World Champion Boris Spassky.
Pyotr Arsenyevich Romanovsky was a Russian and Soviet chess player and author. He won the Soviet Championship in 1923 and, jointly, 1927.
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi was a Soviet and Swiss chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion.
The 1929 USSR Chess Championship was the 6th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 2–20 September in Odessa. The tournament was won by Boris Verlinsky. The event was held outside Moscow and Leningrad for the first time. 36 players competed in four quarterfinal sections, with the top three in each advancing into two six-player semifinals. The top two from each semifinals were then to play a double round final to determine the champion.
The 1940 Soviet Chess Championship was the 12th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 5 September to 3 October 1940 in Moscow. The tournament was won by Andor Lilienthal and Igor Bondarevsky. Twenty of the Soviet Union's strongest masters competed in the final, six of whom qualified in the semifinals in Kiev earlier that year: Eduard Gerstenfeld, Mark Stolberg, Igor Bondarevsky, Iosif Rudakovsky, Alexander Konstantinopolsky and Peter Dubinin. The remaining invitations went to the Soviet chess elite. Botvinnik did his worst championship, only drawing in 5th/6th position, losing matches to both winners. This championship marked the debut of Paul Keres (4th) and the future world champion Vassily Smyslov (3rd). USSR had expanded its territory in 1939-40, incorporating the Baltic states, which meant that the strong masters Paul Keres from Estonia and Vladimir Petrov from Latvia were able to participate. In 1941, the top six played a competition called Absolute Championship of Soviet Union, ending with Botvinnik's victory.
The 1952 Soviet Chess Championship was the 20th edition of the USSR Chess Championship. Held from 29 November to 29 December 1952 in Moscow. The tournament was won by Mikhail Botvinnik. Botvinnik and Mark Taimanov had a play-off match of six games in February 1953, which ended with the victory of Botvinnik 3½-2½, so bringing him his seventh title. The final were preceded by quarter-finals events and four semifinals. For the first time in such events players were forbidden to agree a draw in under 30 moves unless they could get the arbiter's consent.
The 1967 Soviet Chess Championship was the 35th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 7 December to 26 December 1967 in Tbilisi. The tournament was won by Lev Polugaevsky and Mikhail Tal. For the first time the Soviet Chess Championship was played on a Swiss system organized as a 13 round tournament for 130 players.
The 1977 Soviet Chess Championship was the 45th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 28 November to 22 December 1977 in Leningrad. Boris Gulko and Josif Dorfman shared the title after tying in the play-off. The qualifying tournaments took place in Bălți and Baku.
The 1978 Soviet Chess Championship was the 46th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 1–27 December 1978 in Tbilisi. Mikhail Tal and Vitaly Tseshkovsky shared the title. The qualifying tournaments took place in Daugavpils and Ashkhabad. This edition marked the debut of the future world champion Garry Kasparov in the Soviet championships.
The 1979 Soviet Chess Championship was the 47th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 29 November to 27 December 1979 in Minsk. The tournament was won by Efim Geller. He won it at the age of 54 and was the oldest player ever to have won the Championship, and did so in a field where young players abounded as never before. The qualifying tournaments took place in Bălți and Bishkek.
The 1980 Soviet Chess Championship was the 48th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 25 December 1980 to 21 January 1981 in Vilnius. The title was won by Alexander Beliavsky and Lev Psakhis. Semifinals took place in Dnipropetrovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk and Tallinn; The First League was held at Tashkent.
The 1991 Soviet Chess Championship was the 58th and last edition of USSR Chess Championship. It was held from 1–13 November 1991 in Moscow. The title was won by the Armenian Artashes Minasian.
