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USSR Championship (1944) The 13th Soviet Chess Championship was held in the capital of Moscow from May 21st to June 17th. Twelve of the Soviet Union's best chess masters qualified from three semifinal tournaments played earlier in the year. Andor Lilienthal, Vladimir Makogonov, Vladas Mikenas, and David Bronstein qualified from Baku. Alexander Kotov, Salomon Flohr, Gavriil Veresov, and Vladimir Alatortsev qualified from Moscow. Alexey Sokolsky, Abram Khavin, Isaac Boleslavsky, and Alexander Tolush qualified from Omsk, and Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Viacheslav Ragozin, Georgy Lisitsin and Grigory Ravinsky were invited to fill the remaining five seats. It was the first USSR championship since the USSR Absolute Championship (1941). Botvinnik finished with eleven wins and twelve and a half points out of sixteen. It was his third consecutive title (counting the absolute championship) and his fourth Soviet crown, out of an eventual total of six. The war had interrupted Botvinnik's chances for a world championship with Alexander Alekhine, and his performance in this and the USSR Championship (1945) were attempts to prove that he remained the rightful challenger. The final standings and crosstable: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 Botvinnik * 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 1 12.5 2 Smyslov 0 * 0 ½ 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 10.5 3 Boleslavsky 0 1 * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 10.0 4 Flohr 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 9.5 5 Mikenas 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 9.0 6 Makogonov ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 0 0 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 9.0 7 Tolush 1 0 0 0 0 1 * ½ 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 8.5 8 Lilienthal 0 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½ * ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 7.5 9 Sokolsky ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 0 ½ * 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 0 7.5 10 Veresov 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 * 1 0 0 0 1 1 ½ 7.5 11 Ragozin ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 * 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 7.0 12 Kotov 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 * 0 ½ 1 1 0 7.0 13 Khavin 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 * 1 1 1 ½ 7.0 14 Lisitsin 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 7.0 15 Bronstein 1 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 ½ * 0 ½ 6.5 16 Alatortsev 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 * 1 5.5 17 Ravinsky 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 * 4.5 This collection would not have been possible without the efforts of <Phony Benoni>. Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1944, by User: suenteus po 147. SOURCE: Die XIII. Schachmeisterschaft der UdSSR 1944: 136 partien / herausgegeben von L. Toth. Kecskemet, Ungarn: Magyar Sakkvilag, 1949.  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 41  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Botvinnik vs Sokolsky   ½-½ 33 1944 USSR Championship E40 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 2. Lisitsin vs Lilienthal   ½-½ 21 1944 USSR Championship A13 English 3. V Makogonov vs Flohr   ½-½ 26 1944 USSR Championship D22 Queen's Gambit Accepted 4. Flohr vs Kotov   ½-½ 40 1944 USSR Championship E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 5. Boleslavsky vs V Mikenas   ½-½ 41 1944 USSR Championship B05 Alekhine's Defense, Modern 6. Lisitsin vs Bronstein   ½-½ 46 1944 USSR Championship E94 King's Indian, Orthodox 7. V Makogonov vs Boleslavsky   ½-½ 40 1944 USSR Championship D81 Grunfeld, Russian Variation 8. Sokolsky vs Lilienthal   ½-½ 22 1944 USSR Championship C51 Evans Gambit 9. V Mikenas vs V Makogonov   ½-½ 26 1944 USSR Championship B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange 10. Lilienthal vs G Ravinsky   ½-½ 41 1944 USSR Championship D16 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 11. Ragozin vs Boleslavsky   ½-½ 48 1944 USSR Championship E67 King's Indian, Fianchetto 12. Alatortsev vs Flohr   ½-½ 18 1944 USSR Championship D22 Queen's Gambit Accepted 13. V Makogonov vs Kotov   ½-½ 64 1944 USSR Championship D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 14. Smyslov vs Alatortsev   ½-½ 26 1944 USSR Championship C11 French 15. G Ravinsky vs Bronstein ½-½ 41 1944 USSR Championship C76 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, Fianchetto Variation 16. Alatortsev vs Boleslavsky   ½-½ 51 1944 USSR Championship A53 Old Indian 17. A Khavin vs G Ravinsky   ½-½ 31 1944 USSR Championship C78 Ruy Lopez 18. Veresov vs Lilienthal   ½-½ 46 1944 USSR Championship E69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line 19. Flohr vs Sokolsky   ½-½ 56 1944 USSR Championship D50 Queen's Gambit Declined 20. Lilienthal vs Flohr   ½-½ 22 1944 USSR Championship A09 Reti Opening 21. G Ravinsky vs Veresov   ½-½ 34 1944 USSR Championship E07 Catalan, Closed 22. Sokolsky vs Smyslov ½-½ 41 1944 USSR Championship B80 Sicilian, Scheveningen 23. Alatortsev vs Ragozin   ½-½ 65 1944 USSR Championship A90 Dutch 24. Botvinnik vs V Makogonov   ½-½ 41 1944 USSR Championship C48 Four Knights 25. Lisitsin vs Kotov   ½-½ 69 1944 USSR Championship A08 King's Indian Attack  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 41    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Jun-12-14    ughaibu: Anyone know why Ravinsky was invited? Jul-01-14    zydeco: <ughaibu> Ravinsky was apparently well-respected as a trainer and theorist. No idea why he was invited specifically......but somebody obviously felt he deserved a spot as a wild card. Jul-01-14    ughaibu: Okay, thanks. I don't remember another occasion when an invitee didn't seem clearly indicated, though I guess in this tournament, Lisitsin too might raise some eyebrows. Jul-01-14    zydeco: Looking at the crosstables of a couple of the other USSR championships, Boris Ratner is another inexplicable invitee (for the 1945 championship). I can't figure out who the hell Ratner is.....although he did marginally better than Ravinsky. Jul-02-14    ughaibu: I've looked through a few more, starting from this championship, and the only oddities I've noticed are Ravinsky, in 1944, and in 1945, Ratner pointed out by you and also Koblents. I think Koblents can be explained, as he was Latvian champion that year and Latvia would have just become part of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately Ratner's page isn't wildly informative, but it does state that he was Ukrainian. However, the Ukranian championship of 1945 was won by Bannik, so that doesn't seem to help. And in any case, Ravinsky was Russian, so no further light there either. Jul-02-14    jessicafischerqueen: <zydeco, ughaibu> Part of the mystery might be related to an over-representation from the <Moscow Semifinal 1944>: http://al20102007.narod.ru/ch_urs/1... You'll note that 7 of the 8 top finishers made it in to the championship, including <Lisitsin> in 7th and <Ravinsky> in 8th. Compare this representation to that from the other two semifinals. <Baku 1944> http://al20102007.narod.ru/ch_urs/1... <Omsk 1944> http://al20102007.narod.ru/ch_urs/1... Curious eh? Jul-02-14    ughaibu: That looks reasonable. I guess there were transport and accommodation difficulties around that time. Jul-02-14    jessicafischerqueen: <ughaibu> Yes, good point. The <Baku 1944> semifinal, for example, was played literally in the footsteps of the retreating Germans. <David Bronstein's> route from <Baku> to the USSR Championship (1944) was somewhat adventurous in terms of "travel and accomodation": <"By February 1944 the Germans had been driven back to the Dneiper River, and <<<Bronstein>>> joined the USSR Championship Semifinal in Baku. His 4th place finish qualified him for the final and drew the interest of Boris Vainstein, who quickly became an avid promoter of Bronstein's chess career. Vainstein was an influential member of the Communist Party, and he managed to have Bronstein relocated to Moscow from his job rebuilding a steel factory in the ruins of Stalingrad. Bronstein managed only 15th place at the USSR Championship (1944), but he was hardly disgraced, since he won his game against the incumbent "Absolute Soviet champion": Bronstein vs Botvinnik, 1944."> David Bronstein Jul-02-14    perfidious: <One> draw for Tolush in sixteen games, and one big win, against no less than Botvinnik, Tolush's only career victory against the future world champion. Aug-27-16    ughaibu: 13th: "his second consecutive win (counting the absolute championship)" 14th: "his second consecutive title" Either the 14th was his third consecutive title or the 13th was not his second consecutive title. Sep-05-19    jessicafischerqueen: <perfidious> <<One> draw for Tolush in sixteen games, and one big win, against no less than Botvinnik, Tolush's only career victory against the future world champion.> Tolush vs Botvinnik, 1944 According to <Tal>, <Tolush> was a fearsome blitz player, in no small part due to his habit of shouting "ON, KAZIMIROVICH!" after each move. Jan-16-20    AlexPomor: <jessicafischerqueen> <According to <Tal>, <Tolush> was a fearsome blitz player, in no small part due to his habit of shouting "ON, KAZIMIROVICH!" after each move.> According to <Botvinnik>: "Go ahead, Kazimiryich!" (not "Kazimirovich" - in russian it sounds too official) - when he pushed his passed pawn. In russian: "Âïåðåä, Êàçèìèðû÷!" "Cannon fodder resists!" - when the Tolush's position was winning, but his rival didn't resign. In russian: "Ïóøå÷íîå ìÿñî ñîïðîòèâëÿåòñÿ!" "Last Amen to pies" - when his rival resigned. In russian: "Àìèíü ïèðîæêàì". "Zing-Zilyevich is catched up!" - when he resigned. In russian: "Äçûíü-Äçèëåâè÷ ñõâà÷åí!" "The infantry is divided from the tanks!" - when he forced rival's Queen was passive in a game. In russian: "Ïåõîòà îòðåçàåòñÿ îò òàíêîâ". Mar-18-21    keypusher: <It was [Botvinnik's] third consecutive title (counting the absolute championship) > That can't be right, unless the 12th USSR Championship is excluded. USSR Championship (1940) The Absolute Championship didn't deprive the 12th Championship of its status, did it? USSR Absolute Championship (1941) 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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