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USSR Championship (1952) The 20th Soviet chess championship took place in Moscow from November 29th to December 29th 1952. The field was composed of twenty players: Six were invited, including the world champion Mikhail Botvinnik and the five Soviet grandmasters from the Olympiad, Isaac Boleslavsky, David Bronstein, Efim Geller, Paul Keres, and Vasily Smyslov. The other fourteen players qualifed from semi-final play. Mark Taimanov took an early lead of two points over the field, due in part to a win against Botvinnik, the heavy favorite, in the third round. Taimanov remained with a clear lead until the final round when Geller defeated him, allowing Botvinnik his chance to tie by defeating Alexey Suetin. A playoff match was held to determine an outright winner, so a concert hall was scheduled for the six game encounter, held from January 25th to February 5th, 1953. Botvinnik beat Taimanov +2 -1 =3 to win his sixth and last Soviet Championship. The final standings and crosstable: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Pts =1 Botvinnik * 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 13½ =1 Taimanov 1 * 0 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 13½ 3 Geller 0 1 * 1 1 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 12 =4 Boleslavsky ½ 1 0 * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 11½ =4 Tolush ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 11½ 6 Korchnoi ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 0 0 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 1 11 =7 Bronstein 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 10½ =7 Moiseev 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 10½ =7 Smyslov ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ * 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 10½ =10 Keres 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 9½ =10 Suetin 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ 9½ =12 Aronin ½ 0 ½ 1 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 9 =12 Byvshev ½ 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 ½ * 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 9 =14 Ilivitsky 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 * 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 8½ =14 Simagin ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 8½ 16 Konstantinopolsky 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 1 0 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ 7½ 17 Lipnitsky ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 0 7 18 Kan 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 1 6½ 19 Kasparian ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 5½ 20 Goldenov 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ * 5 1st place playoff: 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Botvinnik 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 3½ 2 Taimanov 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 2½ Original collection: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1952, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 196  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Botvinnik vs Konstantinopolsky 1-0 73 1952 USSR Championship B01 Scandinavian 2. Bronstein vs Kan   ½-½ 25 1952 USSR Championship D51 Queen's Gambit Declined 3. Aronin vs Geller   ½-½ 15 1952 USSR Championship C07 French, Tarrasch 4. Keres vs Kasparian   ½-½ 19 1952 USSR Championship B18 Caro-Kann, Classical 5. Smyslov vs Korchnoi 0-1 51 1952 USSR Championship A31 English, Symmetrical, Benoni Formation 6. Simagin vs G Ilivitsky   0-1 37 1952 USSR Championship D87 Grunfeld, Exchange 7. B Goldenov vs Suetin   ½-½ 16 1952 USSR Championship D80 Grunfeld 8. Taimanov vs O L Moiseev   ½-½ 20 1952 USSR Championship D67 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line 9. Lipnitsky vs Boleslavsky 0-1 46 1952 USSR Championship E68 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Variation, 8.e4 10. Tolush vs Byvshev 1-0 36 1952 USSR Championship E28 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch Variation 11. Botvinnik vs B Goldenov 1-0 35 1952 USSR Championship A13 English 12. G Ilivitsky vs Bronstein   ½-½ 33 1952 USSR Championship A53 Old Indian 13. Geller vs Simagin 1-0 50 1952 USSR Championship E90 King's Indian 14. Kan vs Keres 0-1 49 1952 USSR Championship A47 Queen's Indian 15. Konstantinopolsky vs Korchnoi 1-0 29 1952 USSR Championship D03 Torre Attack (Tartakower Variation) 16. Suetin vs Tolush   ½-½ 21 1952 USSR Championship C61 Ruy Lopez, Bird's Defense 17. Byvshev vs Taimanov 0-1 44 1952 USSR Championship B65 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...Be7 Defense, 9...Nxd4 18. Boleslavsky vs Smyslov 1-0 42 1952 USSR Championship D18 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Dutch 19. Kasparian vs Lipnitsky   ½-½ 67 1952 USSR Championship A04 Reti Opening 20. O L Moiseev vs Aronin   ½-½ 24 1952 USSR Championship D78 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O c6 21. Tolush vs Botvinnik   ½-½ 40 1952 USSR Championship C05 French, Tarrasch 22. Bronstein vs Geller   ½-½ 33 1952 USSR Championship C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed 23. Keres vs G Ilivitsky   ½-½ 21 1952 USSR Championship A15 English 24. Korchnoi vs Boleslavsky ½-½ 16 1952 USSR Championship B63 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack 25. Simagin vs O L Moiseev   0-1 48 1952 USSR Championship A13 English  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 196    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   May-26-13    ughaibu: The outstanding result in this tournament was Byshev's. His eight wins was only bettered by Botvinnik with nine and Taimanov with eleven. And one of his only two(!) draws was with the winner Botvinnik. On the other hand, he lost more than anyone but the two tailenders. Here are three amusing unkibitzed games; a win, a draw and a loss: Byvshev vs Boleslavsky, 1952 Aronin vs Byvshev, 1952 Tolush vs Byvshev, 1952 Jul-30-14    RookFile: When you look up and see guys like Keres and Smyslov in the middle of the pack, it makes you realize how ridiculously strong these Soviet championships were. Jul-30-14    kia0708: yes, the Soviet Union was a power house in chess probably no other country will ever match their dominance Jan-23-15    Fanques Fair: What a result for Taimanov ! He managed to have not less than 4 (!!!) points more than third place ! Botvinik went marveously well also, winning with an astonishing result ... But Taimanov inflicted one of his only 2 losses. Jan-23-15    perfidious: Both, actually: the only defeat of Botvinnik in the regular event and a win in the playoff. Mar-12-15    keypusher: <Fanques Fair: What a result for Taimanov ! He managed to have not less than 4 (!!!) points more than third place !> The six extra playoff games helped. As you can see from the crosstable, in the tournament Botvinnik and Taimanov actually finished a more modest (but still impressive!) 1 1/2 points ahead of third place Geller. Sep-28-19    me to play: < A playoff match was held to determine an outright winner, so a concert hall was scheduled for the six game encounter, held from January 25th to February 5th, 1953. Botvinnik beat Taimanov +2 -1 =3 to win his sixth and last Soviet Championship.> Wow, a 6 game play-off match just to break the tie for this 1952 USSR championship! Now, we only get 12 for the World Championship. Oh well. Oct-11-19    Ryan Razo: Could easily be otherwise a super tournament in itself Oct-11-19    hemy: The book of Michail Judovich "20 первенство СССР по шахматам" (The 20th USSR Chess Championship): https://www.dropbox.com/s/vfcjgdxuq... 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. 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