The 1st USSR Championship was held in Moscow from October 4 - October 22, 1920, and was not the 1st USSR Championship. Instead, it was advertised as the All-Russian Olympiad, though nobody really knew what was going on. In the wake of World War I everything was confusion in what would later become the Soviet Union, and it was not even known with certainty which players were alive or dead, let alone could play. So a kind of casting call was sent out, empty slots filled with local Moscow players, and the following field resulted:
Alexander Alekhine
Benjamin Markovich Blumenfeld
Dawid Daniuszewski
Ivan Golubev
Nikolay Dmitrievich Grigoriev
Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky
Arvid Kubbel
Grigory Levenfish
August Mundt Dmitry Nikolaevich Pavlov Nikolay Pavlov-Pianov
Abram Isaakovich Rabinovich
Ilya Leontievich Rabinovich
Peter Arsenievich Romanovsky
Nikolay Tselikov
Nikolay Zubarev.
Living conditions were not good at the time in the country, and the tournament was no bed of roses either. Levenfish later wrote: "I arrived from Petrograd on the day before the first round and was billeted in an unheated room of a military training hostel. For our meals we were temporarily included amongst the military trainees. The hunger and destruction caused by the intervention and the civil war could be felt at every step, and the food was more than modest."
Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky, who organized the tournament, recalled that seven of the players signed a petition threatening to go on strike if the food was not improved and a cigarette ration included. Alekhine did not sign the protest, but said he would act in solidarity with the strikers ... "as he did not think it right to play against hungry opponents." (It is not known whether he extended his solidarity to sharing his food.)
The tournament started as a three-way race, with Abram Rabinovich having a half-point lead over Alekhine and Romanovsky after eight rounds. However, he faded badly with only 2 points in the last seven games and ended tied for fifth, while Alekhine finished with 6/7 to win the title a point ahead of Romanovsky.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts
1 Alekhine * = = 1 1 1 1 = = = = 1 1 1 1 1 12
2 Romanovsky = * 1 0 = 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 11
3 Levenfish = 0 * 0 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 1 = 1 = 1 10
4 Rabinovich,I 0 1 1 * 0 0 0 = = 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 9½
5 Grigoriev 0 = 0 1 * 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 8½
6 Rabinovich,A 0 0 = 1 0 * 1 = 1 = 0 1 0 1 1 1 8½
7 Kubbel 0 0 0 1 0 0 * = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 8½
8 Blumenfeld = 1 = = 1 = = * 0 = 0 1 0 1 = = 8
9 Ilyin-Zhenevsky = 0 0 = 1 0 0 1 * 1 0 = 1 0 = 1 7
10 Daniuszewski = 0 = 0 1 = = = 0 * = = 0 1 = 1 7
11 Zubarev = 0 0 0 1 1 = 1 1 = * 0 0 0 1 0 6½
12 Pavlov Pianov 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = 1 * 1 = 1 1 6½
13 Tselikov 0 0 = 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 * 0 0 1 5½
14 Mundt 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 = 1 * = 0 4½
15 Pavlov 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 = = = 0 0 1 = * = 4
16 Golubev 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 1 0 0 1 = * 3
Very few of the games are available. For some reason, we are missing about half of Alekhine's games but have all the games of Niklolay Pavlov Pianov. Perhaps his Italian cousin Giuoco Pianov quietly saved them.Here is a conjectural list of pairings, intended to help follow the course of the tournament. While it fits all the known facts, it should not be considered definitive without first hand confirmation.
Round 1 (Monday, 10/4/1920): Grigoriev 0 Alekhine*; Pavlov 0 A. Rabinovich; Pavlov Pianov 1 Tselikov*; llyn-Zhenevsky 0 Kubbel*;
Golubev 1/2 Blumenfeld; Romanovsky 1 Levenfish*; I. Rabinovich, 1 Zubarev; Daniuszewski 1 Mundt
Round 2 (Tuesday, October 5): Alekhine 1 Mundt; Zubarev 1/2 Daniuszewski; Levenfish 0 I. Rabinovich; Blumenfeld 1 Romanovsky; Kubbel 1 Golubev; Tselikov 0 Ilyin-Zhenevsky; A. Rabinovich 1 Pavlov Pianov*; Grigoriev 1 Pavlov
Round 3 (Thursday, October 7): Pavlov 0 Alekhine; Pavlov Pianov 0 Grigoriev*; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 0 A. Rabinovich*; Golubev 0 Tselikov; Romanovsky 1 Kubbel; I. Rabinovich 1/2 Blumenfeld; Daniuszewski 1/2 Levenfish; Mundt 1 Zubarev
Round 4 (Friday, October 8): Alekhine 1/2 Zubarev; Levenfish 1 Mundt; Blumenfeld 1/2 Daniuszewski; Kubbel 1 I. Rabinovich*; Tselikov 0 Romanovsky*; A. Rabinovich 1 Golubev; Grigoriev 0 Ilyin-Zhenevsky; Pavlov 0 Pavlov Pianov*
Round 5 (Sunday, October 10): Pavlov Pianov 0 Alekhine*; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 1/2 Pavlov; Golubev 0 Grigoriev; Romanovsky 1 A. Rabinovich*; I. Rabinovich 1 Tselikov; Daniuszewski 1/2 Kubbel; Mundt 0 Blumenfeld; Zubarev 0 Levenfish
Round 6 (Monday, October 11): Alekhine 1/2 Levenfish*; Blumenfeld 0 Zubarev; 43 Kubbel 1 Mundt; Tselikov 1 Daniuszewski; A. Rabinovich 1 I. Rabinovich; Grigoriev 1/2 Romanovsky; Pavlov 1/2 Golubev; Pavlov Pianov 1/2 Ilyin-Zhenevsky*
Round 7 (Tuesday, October 12): Ilyin-Zhenevsky 1/2 Alekhine*; Golubev 0 Pavlov Pianov*; Romanovsky 1 Pavlov; I. Rabinovich 0 Grigoriev; Daniuszewski 1/2 A. Rabinovich; Mundt 1 Tselikov; Zubarev 1/2 Kubbel; Levenfish 1/2 Blumenfeld
Round 8 (Thursday, October 14): Alekhine 1/2 Blumenfeld; Kubbel 0 Levenfish; Tselikov 1 Zubarev; A. Rabinovich 1 Mundt; Grigoriev 0 Daniuszewski; Pavlov 0 I. Rabinovich; Pavlov Pianov 1 Romanovsky; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 1 Golubev
Round 9 (Friday, October 15): Golubev 0 Alekhine; Romanovsky 1 Ilyin-Zhenevsky; I. Rabinovich 1 Pavlov Pianov*; Daniuszewski 1/2 Pavlov; Mundt 0 Grigoriev; Zubarev 1 A. Rabinovich; Levenfish 1/2 Tselikov; Blumenfeld 1/2 Kubbel
Round 10 (Sunday, October 17): Alekhine 1 Kubbel*; Tselikov 1 Blumenfeld; A. Rabinovich 1/2 Levenfish*; Grigoriev 0 Zubarev; Pavlov 1/2 Mundt; Pavlov Pianov 1/2 Daniuszewski*; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 1/2 I. Rabinovich; Golubev 0 Romanovsky
Round 11 (Monday, October 18): Romanovsky 1/2 Alekhine; I. Rabinovich 1 Golubev; Daniuszewski 0 Ilyin-Zhenevsky*; Mundt 1/2 Pavlov Pianov*; Zubarev 1 Pavlov; Levenfish 1 Grigoriev; Blumenfeld 1/2 A. Rabinovich; Kubbel 1 Tselikov*
Round 12 (Tuesday, October 19): Alekhine 1 Tselikov; A. Rabinovich 1 Kubbel; Grigoriev 0 Blumenfeld; Pavlov 1/2 Levenfish;
Pavlov Pianov 1 Zubarev*; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 0 Mundt; Golubev 0 Daniuszewski; Romanovsky 0 I. Rabinovich
Round 13 (Thursday, October 21): I. Rabinovich 0 Alekhine*; Daniuszewski 0 Romanovsky; Mundt 0 Golubev; Zubarev 1 Ilyin-Zhenevsky; Levenfish 1 Pavlov Pianov*; Blumenfeld 1/2 Pavlov; Kubbel 0 Grigoriev*; Tselikov 1 A. Rabinovich*
Round 14 (Friday, October 22): Alekhine 1 A. Rabinovich; Grigoriev 1 Tselikov; Pavlov 0 Kubbel*; Pavlov Pianov 0 Blumenfeld*; Ilyin-Zhenevsky 0 Levenfish; Golubev 1 Zubarev; Romanovsky 1 Mundt*; I. Rabinovich 1 Daniuszewski
Round 15 (Sunday, October 24): Daniuszewski 1/2 Alekhine*; Mundt 1/2 I. Rabinovich; 115 Zubarev 0 Romanovsky*; Levenfish 1 Golubev; Blumenfeld 0 Ilyin-Zhenevsky; Kubbel 1 Pavlov Pianov*; Tselikov 0 Pavlov; A. Rabinovich 0 Grigoriev
Sources:
The Soviet Championships, by Bernard Cafferty and Mark Taimanov, pp. 12-13.
Alexander Alekhine (Chess Stars series), vol. 1, 1902-1922, edited by Alexander Khalifman.
Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1920, by User: Phony Benoni.
Kibitzing
