The USSR Chess Championship was played from 1921 to 1991. Organized by the USSR Chess Federation, it was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners. It was held as a round-robin tournament with the exception of the 35th and 58th championships, which were of the Swiss system.
55th USSR Championship (1988) Moscow Russia July 25-August 18
The strongest championship since 1973 …
Eight grandmasters qualified for the championship from two First League swiss-style tournaments played the year before. Vassily Ivanchuk (2625), Leonid Yudasin (2505), Mikhail Gurevich (2630), and Viktor Gavrikov (2545) qualified from Lvov, with Alexander Chernin and Vereslav Eingorn (2560) qualifying as reserve players. Ilya Smirin (2500), Alexander Khalifman (2530), Andrei Kharitonov (2550), and Vladimir Malaniuk (2520) qualified from Sverdlovsk, with Vitaly Tseshkovsky and Boris Gelfand qualifying as reserve players. Alexander Beliavsky (2665), Valery Salov (2625), and Jaan Ehlvest (2580) qualified as the top three finishers of the 54th USSR Final. The remaining seats went out as invitations to the world champion, Garry Kasparov (2760), former world champions Anatoli Karpov (2725), Mikhail Tal, and Vasily Smyslov (2550), and world championship candidates Andrei Sokolov (2600), Rafael Vaganian (2595), and Artur Yusupov (2620). Games were conducted in Moscow’s new International Hotel, where one thousand seats were set up for spectators, with Mikhail Botvinnik serving as the head arbiter. Tal was only able to play his first game of the tournament against Vaganian, where he was forced to draw quickly due to illness. When Yusupov was asked to play his round two game at Tal’s sick bed in his hotel room, he refused and so it was determined that Tal should be replaced. Verelav Eingorn was pulled from the reserve list and played in Tal’s place, forcing Vaganian to replay his first round draw. Tal’s lone game is included in this collection for completeness and historical accuracy. The tournament itself was both a showcase of established Soviet chess brilliance, but also a debut for new talents and the next generation of players. Nevertheless, Kasparov and Karpov both emerged triumphant, tied for first having gone undefeated with 11½/17. While a play-off match was the normal course to determine a sole winner …both Karpov and Kasparov refused to play an extraneous match against one another.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Kasparov * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 …11½
2 Karpov ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 …11½
3 Yusupov ½ 0 * 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 …10
4 Salov 0 ½ 0 * ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½… 10
5 Eingorn ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½… 9½
6 Ivanchuk 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 …9½
7 Yudasin 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ …9
8 Beliavsky ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 …8½
9 Ehlvest ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½… 8
10 Smyslov ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½… 8
11 Gavrikov ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½… 8
12 Sokolov ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½… 8
13 Vaganian ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½… 8
14 Khalifman ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ …7½
15 Smirin 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ …7
16 Gurevich 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½… 7
17 Malaniuk ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ …6
18 Kharitonov 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ *… 6
Tal – – – – – – – – – – – – ½ – – – – –
Captain(s) of the Soviet lead us to victory!
Artist: Efimov B. [1933]
[Event “55th USSR Championship”]
[Site “Moscow URS”]
[Date “1988.08.??”]
[EventDate “1988.??.??”]
[Round “7”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[White “Anatoly Karpov”]
[Black “Garry Kasparov”]
[ECO “E32”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “59”]
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation. Keres Defense
Rd7 Karpov (2725) – Kasparov(2760) 1/2 -1/2
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 b6 7. e3 Bb7 8. b3 d5 9. Nf3 Nbd7 10. Be2 dxc4 11. bxc4 c5 12. O-O Rc8 13. Bb2 cxd4 14. exd4 b5 15. c5 a6 16. a4 Nd5 17. Qd2 b4 18. a5 Qc7 19. Rfc1 Qf4 20. Bf1 Rfd8 21. Qxf4 Nxf4 22. Ra4 Nd5 23. Nd2 Rc7 24. Raa1 Nb8 25. Nc4 Bc6 26. Nd6 Ra7 27. f3 Ne7 28. Rc4 Nd5 29. Rcc1 Ne7 30. Rc4 1/2-1/2
KARPOV 12th World Champion : Won the 44th U.S.S.R. Championship in Moscow 1976 and the 50th Championship in Moscow 1983.
His tournament successes include over 160 first-place finishes.
Played five matches against Kasparov for the World Title from 1984 to 1990 ..
[Event “55th USSR Championship”]
[Site “Moscow URS”]
[Date “1988.08.??”]
[EventDate “1988.??.??”]
[Round “13”]
[Result “1-0”]
[White “Anatoly Karpov”]
[Black “Viktor Gavrikov”]
[ECO “E16”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “79”]
Rd13 Karpov (2725) – Gavrikov (2545) 1-0
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. d4 e6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 c5 6. d5 exd5 7. Nh4 b5 8. O-O bxc4 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Nf5 O-O 11. Nxe7+ Qxe7 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Nxd5 Bxd5 15. Qxd5 Nc6 16. Qxc4 Qxb2 17. e3 Rab8 18. Qxc5 Rb6 19. Rad1 Nb8 20. Bd5 Qb5 21. Qc7 Qa6 22. Rc1 Qa5 23. Rfd1 Rb5 24. Qd6 Qb6 25. Qe7 Qg6 26. Be4 Qe6 27. Bh7+ Kxh7 28. Qxf8 Qxa2 29. Qd6 a6 30. Qd3+ f5 31. Rb1 Qe6 32. Rxb5 axb5 33. Qxb5 Nc6 34. Rd5 Kg6 35. Qc5 Qe4 36. Rd6+ Kh7 37. Qd5 Qb1+ 38. Qd1 Qe4 39. Qd3 Qg4 40. Rd5 1-0
KASPAROV 13th World Champion : C0-Winner of the 49th USSR Championship, 12½/17 (+10−2=5) ties with Lev Psakhis 12½/17 (+9−1=7) in Frunze, 1981.
From 1986 until his retirement in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world No. 1 for 225 out of 228 months…
holds the record for most consecutive professional tournament victories, placing first or equal first in 15 individual tournaments from 1981 to 1990
.
[Event “55th USSR Championship”]
[Site “Moscow URS”]
[Date “1988.08.??”]
[EventDate “1988.??.??”]
[Round “13”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Leonid Yudasin”]
[Black “Garry Kasparov”]
[ECO “B82”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “60”]
Rd13 Yudasin (2505) -Kasparov (2760) 0-1
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. f4 a6 7. Be3 b5 8. Qf3 Bb7 9. Bd3 Nbd7 10. a3 Rc8 11. O-O Be7 12. Rae1 O-O 13. Qh3 Nc5 14. Bf2 Nfd7 15. Kh1 Bf6 16. Rd1 Re8 17. Bg1 g6 18. Nde2 Bg7 19. f5 Qe7 20. Bd4 Nf6 21. Qg3 e5 22. fxg6 hxg6 23. Be3 Nfxe4 24. Bxe4 Nxe4 25. Nxe4 Bxe4 26. Nc3 Bb7 27. h4 Rc4 28. Bg5 Qe6 29. Rd2 Rg4 30. Qd3 f6 0-1
An archival jewel: a vintage 15-minute long Soviet TV report on the 55th USSR Chess Championship, July/August 1988. Among the top players: Karpov, Kasparov, Yusupov, Salov, Beliavsky, Ehlvest, Ivanchuk, Gavrikov, Sokolov and Vaganian. https://t.co/hSf7U3smYt pic.twitter.com/3ifgkComxe
— Olimpiu G. Urcan (@olimpiuurcan) December 14, 2018
