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Moscow (1971) From November 24 - December 18, 1971 the Alekhine Memorial Tournament was held in the Soviet capital of Moscow, on the fifteen year anniversary of the first Alekhine Memorial. Eighteen of the world's strongest grandmasters, including the world champion, were invited to participate in the round robin event. The participants were (in order of ELO): Boris Spassky (2690), Viktor Korchnoi (2670), Tigran Petrosian (2640), Vasily Smyslov (2620), Mikhail Tal (2620), Vlastimil Hort (2605), Leonid Stein (2605), David Bronstein (2590), Yuri Balashov (2570), Fridrik Olafsson (2570), Vladimir Savon (2570), Wolfgang Uhlmann (2570), Vladimir Tukmakov (2565), Anatoli Karpov (2540), Florin Gheorghiu (2530), Bruno Parma (2530), Robert Byrne (2510), and Levente Lengyel (2485). Twenty year old Anatoli Karpov and three time Soviet champion Leonid Stein tied for first place, each with 11/17. Both players overcame a field that included the current world champion as well as three previous world champions and various world challengers of the current and previous generations. Moscow, Soviet Union (Russia), 24 November - 18 December 1971 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts =1 Karpov * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 11 =1 Stein ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 11 3 Smyslov ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 10½ =4 Tukmakov ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 10 =4 Petrosian ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 10 =6 Tal ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 9½ =6 Spassky ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 9½ =8 Byrne ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 9 =8 Hort 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 9 =8 Bronstein 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 9 11 Korchnoi 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 * 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 8½ =12 Gheorghiu ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 7½ =12 Olafsson ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 7½ =12 Savon 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 1 7½ =15 Uhlmann ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 6½ =15 Balashov ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 * 0 ½ 6½ 17 Parma ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ 6 18 Lengyel 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 4½ Original collection: Game Collection: Moscow 1971 by User: suenteus po 147.  page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 153  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. R Byrne vs Balashov 1-0 29 1971 Moscow B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 2. Stein vs Bronstein 1-0 58 1971 Moscow A30 English, Symmetrical 3. Savon vs Hort   ½-½ 29 1971 Moscow B09 Pirc, Austrian Attack 4. Parma vs Karpov ½-½ 52 1971 Moscow B46 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 5. Korchnoi vs Petrosian 0-1 30 1971 Moscow D43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 6. Smyslov vs Tukmakov   ½-½ 89 1971 Moscow E92 King's Indian 7. Lengyel vs Spassky 0-1 40 1971 Moscow A92 Dutch 8. Gheorghiu vs Uhlmann   ½-½ 27 1971 Moscow C15 French, Winawer 9. F Olafsson vs Tal 1-0 22 1971 Moscow A32 English, Symmetrical Variation 10. Hort vs Parma   ½-½ 24 1971 Moscow A01 Nimzovich-Larsen Attack 11. Karpov vs F Olafsson ½-½ 20 1971 Moscow B44 Sicilian 12. Korchnoi vs Stein ½-½ 48 1971 Moscow D87 Grunfeld, Exchange 13. Bronstein vs Smyslov ½-½ 12 1971 Moscow C67 Ruy Lopez 14. Spassky vs Gheorghiu 1-0 37 1971 Moscow E80 King's Indian, Samisch Variation 15. Tal vs Lengyel 1-0 59 1971 Moscow A17 English 16. Petrosian vs Balashov 1-0 60 1971 Moscow E42 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 c5, 5.Ne2 (Rubinstein) 17. Tukmakov vs Savon   ½-½ 43 1971 Moscow B85 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Classical 18. Uhlmann vs R Byrne   ½-½ 41 1971 Moscow E73 King's Indian 19. Balashov vs Uhlmann 1-0 57 1971 Moscow C09 French, Tarrasch, Open Variation, Main line 20. F Olafsson vs Hort 0-1 26 1971 Moscow D83 Grunfeld, Grunfeld Gambit 21. Lengyel vs Karpov 0-1 41 1971 Moscow E04 Catalan, Open, 5.Nf3 22. Smyslov vs Korchnoi   ½-½ 29 1971 Moscow A15 English 23. Parma vs Tukmakov 0-1 37 1971 Moscow B89 Sicilian 24. Stein vs Petrosian ½-½ 22 1971 Moscow C41 Philidor Defense 25. Gheorghiu vs Tal   ½-½ 18 1971 Moscow A81 Dutch  page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 153    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> Dec-04-12    gauer: Also, some of the notes in the Argentina simuls say that Fischer agreed to play them after the Petrosian match. Seems like Fischer may have needed a vacation (after those 3 matches since the summer) before considering travels from America to Russia to share his World Championship lines that he might've been starting to prepare for. Dec-05-12    Agent Bouncy: I don't know the facts, but I suspect Fischer was not invited. Notice that none of the top three non-Soviets of the time -- Fischer, Larsen, and Portisch -- played. It's likely the Soviets wanted to be pretty sure one of their own would win. Dec-05-12    HeMateMe: Maybe the three non-Soviets thought it was a long, expensive distance to travel for: 1) no appearance fees, 2)prize money in worthless rubles, 3)lousy hotel food, with no room service, and 4) a guaranteed KGB tag, should one go off on the free day to visit some chess playing dissidents or "refusenik jews". Dec-28-13    jerseybob: dx9293: The reason many Soviet players are under-valued vis a vis not only Fischer, but against all Western GMs is because their own repressive government refused to let them travel abroad and gain notice and titles. Fischer's avoidance of Soviet tourneys -for whatever reason-has nothing to do with that. You seem to imply that Stein was stronger than Fischer, yet in the tourneys the two contested together,Fischer was much superior, running away with one(Stockholm '62) and leading the other, Sousse'67, before he withdrew. The weakness of U.S. vs. Soviet Championship fields is again not Fischer's fault; you can only beat who's in front of you. Dec-28-13    perfidious: Even Larsen famously stated thus in an interview: 'Prizes in Soviet tournaments are normally in roubles, which my mortgage company does not accept'. <jerseybob>, at times <dx9293> has a peculiar view of who is really stronger than whom, a curious blind spot for a player who has professed to be 2100 and should, therefore, understand a thing or three about the game and its players. Back in Soviet days, even elite players did not receive invitations if they failed to toe the line-ask Korchnoi why he did not play at the first Piatigorsky Cup after having been invited. You behaved like a good boy and were one of the supernovas, off to this or that foreign tourney outside the Iron Curtain, with all the trimmings. One slip-up, and we need not look beyond one young superstar's temporary fall from grace after this notorious loss: Spassky vs Lombardy, 1960. Dec-28-13    moronovich: <perfidious> the latest example was to me yesterday in Ree´s book "My Chess" (well,sometimes Christmas gifts are not the usual suspects:),where he mentioned that Bronstein once had to promise to the USSR autoroties to win a tournament in Holland. Feb-14-14    whiteshark: <Agent Bouncy> In a tournament report by Wolfgang Uhlmann of the GDR chessmagazine <Schach> Jan 1972, p.3, he wrote that <Larsen> and <Fischer> have been invited, but refused to play. Feb-14-14    dx9293: I don't think Stein was stronger than Fischer, <jerseybob>. My point was the extent to which Fischer's reputation overshadowed all others, who are virtually an afterthought to a lot of fans. Sure, Fischer dominated Stockholm '62 and Palma de Mallorca '70 (as well as Sousse '67), and won all eight of his US Championships competed in. What's the common denominator? <Mixed-strength fields>; not one superclass field in the bunch. That means something to me. It's why I place <several> world champions ahead of Fischer (I'll get flamed for that, but whatever). IMHO Reuben Fine's <tournament> results are more impressive than Fischer's. Just sayin'. Jun-05-15    RookFile: Nice plus score by Byrne in such a strong tournament. Apr-04-16    suenteus po 147: You know it's a tough event when Petrosian scores a loss. Apr-04-16    ughaibu: USSR Championship (1957) is a bit of a mystery to me. How come Petrosian lost four games? Apr-05-16    ewan14: Boris showing he was going to be off form in 1972 ? Apr-05-16    suenteus po 147: <ughaibu> Petrosian was only 27 at the time of that championship. He was also six years away from becoming world champion. I would say he had not yet cultivated his reputation for being immovable. Apr-05-16    tamar: Petrosian took some heat for excessive draws in the 1955 USSR Championship, and might have wanted to show he could keep up with the pace that Tal was setting. Apr-05-16    keypusher: <tamar: Petrosian took some heat for excessive draws in the 1955 USSR Championship, and might have wanted to show he could keep up with the pace that Tal was setting.> Don't have my copy of Tal's autobiography handy, but I think he wrote about this championship that Petrosian wanted to demonstrate that he could play attacking chess. He succeeded, Tal added. <suenteus> Maybe not immovable, but definitely stolid. He'd been a leading master since 1952. (+7-0=13 at Stockholm, compared to +13-0=7 for Kotov). Apr-05-16    Howard: One logical reason, in my view, was that Petrosian was simply a bit off form---that's all. Interestingly enough, the book How to Defend in Chess (by the late Colin Crouch) states that Petrosian didn't really adopt his "Iron Tigran" style of play until about the mid-1950's. Before that, he was known to take risks, and sometimes he had to pay for it. Starting around 1955 or so, he decided that since "a loss negates a win" (as Crouch put it), why not try to avoid losses at all costs, while throwing in a win here and there. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history. Apr-05-16    Howard: Here's something to think about---I just discovered this. In 1954, Petrosian drew less than half of his games that year, and he lost several... ....but then in 1955, he didn't lose a single game in the Chessgames database ! Not only that, he drew more than half his games that year. Then, in 1956, he once again drew over half his total games, while losing only a handful. Looks like 1955 was probably when Iron Tigran started refining his style of play ! Apr-05-16    keypusher: < Howard: One logical reason, in my view, was that Petrosian was simply a bit off form---that's all. Interestingly enough, the book How to Defend in Chess (by the late Colin Crouch) states that Petrosian didn't really adopt his "Iron Tigran" style of play until about the mid-1950's. Before that, he was known to take risks, and sometimes he had to pay for it. Starting around 1955 or so, he decided that since "a loss negates a win" (as Crouch put it), why not try to avoid losses at all costs, while throwing in a win here and there. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history.> Dunno about that. He had a pretty strong reputation as a defensive/positional player early on if Bronstein's and Najdorf's books on the 1953 Candidates are anything to go by. He lost four games (out of 28) there, but it wasn't because of risk taking. He just wasn't quite as good as he later became. Apr-05-16    Howard: "Dunno about" your point. Bear in mind that at Zurich, 1953 Petrosian was way off form at the beginning. He not only drew his first four games, but he then lost his next two games. In other words, he was -2 after just six rounds. THEN, he started to find his form, and he did much, much better for the rest of the tournament... ....notwithstanding the fact that he darn well should have lost to Smyslov in the second half of the event, in a very well-known game ! Apr-05-16    keypusher: < Howard: "Dunno about" your point. Bear in mind that at Zurich, 1953 Petrosian was way off form at the beginning. He not only drew his first four games, but he then lost his next two games. In other words, he was -2 after just six rounds. THEN, he started to find his form, and he did much, much better for the rest of the tournament... ....notwithstanding the fact that he darn well should have lost to Smyslov in the second half of the event, in a very well-known game !> Well, I'm not going to fight with anyone about whether Petrosian became a defensive/positional player in 1952 or 1955. But I'm not just talking about how he played, but how Najdorf and Bronstein described him. Apr-06-16    Howard: I'll take your word for it---besides, I have both of those books. Bronstein's, in particular, I've always loved--but then Najdorf's does fill in a few gaps that Bronstein's book left open. May-09-18    offramp: Korchnoi was the only player to score 50%, and he did it in pugnacious fashion: +6 -6 =5. May-09-18    perfidious: Korchnoi and pugnacity in the same sentence? You must be mad! (laughs) Dec-07-18    Howard: Rather interesting is the fact that the top-5 finishers lost only ONE game amongst them... ...and that one loss was by, of all people, Petrosian ! Dec-07-18    JimNorCal: Wow. Tough field. Just read the names of the finishers with 50% or more. search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> 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! 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