THE SOVIET CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
1920-1991
Results and Crosstables
A record of the strongest National Championship in the history of... history, whose winners included 8 World Champions (plus a 9th Champion who tried but never won it!), 4 unsuccessful World Championship Challengers, and 13 players who made it as far as the Candidates Level.
| # | Year | Winner/s | Location | Top Score |
Z | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1920 | Alekhine, Alexander | Moscow | 12-3 | - | Called "Russian Chess Olympiad" at the time |
| 2 | 1923 | Romanovsky, Peter | Petrograd | 10-2 | - | - |
| 3 | 1924 | Bogoljubow, Efim | Moscow | 15-2 | - | - |
| - | 1924 | Bogoljubow-Romanovsky Match | Leningrad | +5-1=6 | - | - |
| 4 | 1925 | Bogoljubow, Efim | Leningrad | 14-5 | - | - |
| 5 | 1927 | Bohatirchuk, Fedor Romanovsky, Peter |
Moscow | 14½-5½ | - | Botvinnik's debut |
| 6 | 1929 | Verlinsky, Boris | Odessa | 7½-1½ | - | - |
| 7 | 1931 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | Moscow | 13½-3½ | - | - |
| 8 | 1933 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | Leningrad | 14-5 | - | - |
| 9 | 1934/5 | Levenfish, Grigory Rabinovich, Ilya |
Leningrad | 12-7 | - | - |
| 10 | 1937 | Levenfish, Grigory | Tbilisi | 12½-6½ | - | - |
| 11 | 1939 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | Leningrad | 12½-4½ | - | - |
| 12 | 1940 | Lilienthal, Andre Bondarevsky, Igor |
Moscow | 13½-5½ | - | - |
| - | 1941 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | Leningrad | 13½-6½ | - | "Absolute" Championship |
| 13 | 1944 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | Moscow | 12½-3½ | - | - |
| 14 | 1945 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | Moscow | 15-2 | - | - |
| 15 | 1947 | Keres, Paul | Leningrad | 14-5 | - | - |
| 16 | 1948 | Bronstein, David Kotov, Alexander |
Moscow | 12-6 | - | - |
| 17 | 1949 | Smyslov, Vassily Bronstein, David |
Moscow | 13-6 | - | - |
| 18 | 1950 | Keres, Paul | Moscow | 11½-5½ | - | - |
| 19 | 1951 | Keres, Paul | Moscow | 12-5 | Z | - |
| 20 | 1952 | Botvinnik, Mikhail Taimanov, Mark |
Moscow | 13½-5½ | - | Won by reigning World Champion |
| 21 | 1953 | Averbakh, Yuri | Kiev | 14½-4½ | - | - |
| 22 | 1955 | Geller, Efim Smyslov, Vassily |
Moscow | 12-7 | Z | - |
| 23 | 1956 | Taimanov, Mark Averbakh, Yuri Spassky, Boris |
Leningrad | 11½-5½ | - | - |
| 24 | 1957 | Tal, Mikhail | Moscow | 14-7 | - | - |
| 25 | 1958 | Tal, Mikhail | Riga | 12½-5½ | Z | - |
| 26 | 1959 | Petrosian, Tigran | Tbilisi | 13½-5½ | - | - |
| 27 | 1960 | Korchnoi, Viktor | Leningrad | 14-5 | - | - |
| 28 | 1961 | Petrosian, Tigran | Moscow | 13½-5½ | Z | - |
| 29 | 1961 |
Spassky, Boris | Baku | 14½-5½ | - | - |
| 30 | 1962 | Korchnoi, Viktor | Yerevan | 14-5 | - | - |
| 31 | 1963 | Stein, Leonid Spassky, Boris Kholmov, Ratmir |
Leningrad | 12-7 | - | - |
| 32 | 1964/5 | Korchnoi, Viktor | Kiev | 15-4 | - | - |
| 33 | 1965 | Stein, Leonid | Tallinn | 14-5 | - | - |
| 34 | 1966/7 | Stein, Leonid | Tbilisi | 13-7 | Z | - |
| 35 | 1967 | Polugaevsky, Lev Tal, Mikhail |
Kharkow | 10-3 | - | 126 player Swiss |
| 36 | 1968/9 | Polugaevsky, Lev Zaitsev, Alexander |
Alma Ata | 12½-6½ | - | - |
| 37 | 1969 | Petrosian, Tigran Polugaevsky, Lev |
Moscow | 14-8 | Z | - |
| 38 | 1970 | Korchnoi, Viktor | Riga | 16-5 | - | - |
| 39 | 1971 | Savon, Vladimir | Leningrad | 15-6 | - | - |
| 40 | 1972 | Tal, Mikhail | Baku | 15-6 | Z | - |
| 41 | 1973 | Spassky, Boris | Moscow | 11½-5½ | - | - |
| 42 | 1974 | Beliavsky, Alexander Tal, Mikhail |
Leningrad | 9½-5½ | - | - |
| 43 | 1975 | Petrosian, Tigran | Yerevan | 10-5 | - | - |
| 44 | 1976 | Karpov, Anatoly | Moscow | 12-5 | - | Won by reigning World Champion |
| 45 | 1977 | Gulko, Boris Dorfman, Iosif |
Leningrad | 9½-5½ | - | Title shared after 6-game playoff match drawn |
| 46 | 1978 | Tal, Mikhail Tseshovsky, Vitaly |
Tbilisi | 11-6 | - | - |
| 47 | 1979 | Geller, Efim | Minsk | 11½-5½ | - | - |
| 48 | 1980/1 | Psakhis, Lev Beliavsky, Alexander |
Vilnius | 10½-6½ | - | - |
| 49 | 1981 | Psakhis, Lev Kasparov, Garry |
Frunze | 12½-4½ | - | - |
| 50 | 1983 | Karpov, Anatoly | Moscow | 9½-5½ | - | Won by reigning World Champion |
| 51 | 1984 | Sokolov, Andrei | Lvov | 12½-4½ | - | - |
| 52 | 1985 | Gavrikov, Viktor Gurevich, Mikhail Chernin, Alexander |
Riga | 11-8 | Z | Title shared after playoff drawn |
| 53 | 1986 | Cseshkovsky, Vitaly | Kiev | 11-6 | Y | - |
| 54 | 1987 | Beliavsky, Alexander Salov, Valery |
Minsk | 11-6 | Z | - |
| 55 | 1988 | Kasparov, Garry Karpov, Anatoly |
Moscow | 11½-5½ | - | Won by reigning World Champion |
| 56 | 1989 | Vaganian, Rafael | Odessa | 9-6 | - | - |
| 57 | 1990 | Beliavsky, Alexander Yudasin, Leonid Bareev, Evgeny Vyzhmanian, Alexey |
Leningrad | 8½-4½ | - | - |
| 58 | 1991 | Minasian, Artashes Magerramov, Elmar |
Moscow | 8½-2½ | - | Swiss, Minasian awarded title on tiebreak |
If a tie for first, all winners are listed. Winner's name in bold indicates that he beat the other winner/s in a playoff for the title.
| Player | Titles Won | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mikhail Botvinnik | 6 | ||
| Mikhail Tal | 6 | ||
| Boris Spassky | 4 | ||
| Tigran Petrosian | 4 | ||
| Viktor Korchnoi | 4 | ||
| Alexander Belyavsky | 4 | ||
| Efim Bogoljubow | 3 | ||
| Paul Keres | 3 | ||
| Leonid Stein | 3 | ||
| Lev Polugaevsky | 3 | ||
| Anatoly Karpov | 3 | ||
| Pyotr Romanovsky | 2 | ||
| Grigory Levenfish | 2 | ||
| David Bronstein | 2 | ||
| Vassily Smyslov | 2 | ||
| Mark Taimanov | 2 | ||
| Yuri Averbakh | 2 | ||
| Efim Geller | 2 | ||
| Vitaly Tseshkovsky | 2 | ||
| Lev Psakhis | 2 | ||
| Garry Kasparov | 2 | ||
| Alexander Alekhine | 1 | ||
| Fedor Bohatirchuk | 1 | ||
| Boris Verlinsky | 1 | ||
| Ilya Rabinovich | 1 | ||
| Andre Lilienthal | 1 | ||
| Igor Bondarevsky | 1 | ||
| Alexander Kotov | 1 | ||
| Ratmir Kholmov | 1 | ||
| Alexander Zaitsev | 1 | ||
| Vladimir Savon | 1 | ||
| Boris Gulko | 1 | ||
| Josef Dorfman | 1 | ||
| Andre Sokolov | 1 | ||
| Viktor Gavrikov | 1 | ||
| Mikhail Gurevich | 1 | ||
| Alexander Chernin | 1 | ||
| Valery Salov | 1 | ||
| Rafael Vaganian | 1 | ||
| Leonid Yudasin | 1 | ||
| Leonid Bareev | 1 | ||
| Evgeny Vyzhmanian | 1 | ||
| Artashes Minasian | 1 | ||
| Elmar Magerramov | 1 |
Soviet Championship Statistics,
All-Time Best Scoring Percentages
contributed by Giuseppe Gabelli
Most Appearances, All-Time
Most Championship Victories
Soviet Championship Trivia
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