1939 USSR Chess Championship

Soviet chess tournament 11th USSR Chess Championship (1939) Leningrad Mikhail Botvinnik 1937 USSR Chess Championship 1940 USSR Chess Championship The 1939 USSR Chess Championship was the 11th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Tha championship was held from 15 April to 16 May 1939 in Leningrad. The tournament was won by Mikhail Botvinnik. Semifinals took place in Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev. Alexander Kotov, later author of the classic book Think Like a Grandmaster, made his debut and finished as runner-up. Peter Romanovsky, a former champion of the 1920s, returned to compete but finishing in last place. Chess was rapidly growing in popularity in the Soviet Union, the final round, which featured the duel between Botvinnik and Kotov, sold out all available tickets.Cafferty, Bernard. (2016). The Soviet Championships. Londres: Everyman Chess. p. 44 thumb|250px|Grigory Levenfish and Mikhail Botvinnik in 1937 thumb|250px|Alexander Kotov in 1939 Table and results + 11th USSR Chess Championship (1939) Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total1URS Mikhail Botvinnik - 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½12½2URS Alexander Kotov 0 - ½ 1 0 ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½11½3URS Sergey Belavenets ½ ½ - ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1114URS Vladimir Makogonov ½ 0 ½ - 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 110½5URS Vitaly Chekhover ½ 1 0 0 - 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 110½6URS Igor Bondarevsky ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 - 0 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1107URS Georgy Lisitsin ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 - 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½98URS Grigory Levenfish ½ 1 0 0 ½ 1 0 - ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 0 1 18½9URS Peter Dubinin 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ - ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½8½10URS Viacheslav Ragozin ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 ½ - 1 0 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 18½11URS Vasily Panov 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 - ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1812URS Ilya Rabinovich 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ - ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1813URS Mikhail Yudovich ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ - ½ 0 0 0 ½7½14URS Ilya Kan 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ - 1 1 ½ 17½15URS Alexander Tolush 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 - 1 0 16½16URS Iosif Pogrebissky 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ 1 1 0 0 - 1 16½17URS Alexander Chistiakov 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 - 0518URS Peter Romanovsky ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 -3½ References Chess Soviet Union Category:USSR Chess Championships Category:1939 in chess Chess