The 1952 Soviet Chess Championship was the 20th edition of the USSR Chess Championship. Held from 29 November to 29 December 1952 in Moscow. The tournament was won by Mikhail Botvinnik. Botvinnik and Mark Taimanov had a play-off match of six games in February 1953, which ended with the victory of Botvinnik 3½-2½, so bringing him his seventh title. The final were preceded by quarter-finals events and four semifinals (at Leningrad, Minsk, Riga and Sochi). For the first time in such events players were forbidden to agree a draw in under 30 moves unless they could get the arbiter's consent.Cafferty, Bernard. (2016). The Soviet Championships. London: Everyman Chess. p. 78
Table and results
+ 20th Soviet Chess Championship (1952) Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Total1 Mikhail Botvinnik - 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 113½2 Mark Taimanov 1 - 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 113½3 Efim Geller 0 1 - 1 1 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½124 Alexander Tolush ½ ½ 0 - 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 111½5 Isaac Boleslavsky ½ 1 0 0 - ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 111½6 Viktor Korchnoi ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ - 0 1 ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 1117 David Bronstein 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 - ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½10½8 Vassily Smyslov ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 ½ - ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 110½9 Oleg Moiseev 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ - 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½10½10 Alexey Suetin 0 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 - 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½9½11 Paul Keres 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 - ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 19½12 Lev Aronin ½ 0 ½ 1 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ - ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½913 Vasily Byvshev ½ 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 ½ - 0 1 0 1 1 1 1914 Vladimir Simagin ½ 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 - 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 18½15 Georgy Ilivitsky 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 - 1 ½ ½ 1 ½8½16 Alexander Konstantinopolsky 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 - 1 ½ ½ ½7½17 Isaac Lipnitsky ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 - 1 ½ 0718 Ilya Kan 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 - 1 16½19 Genrikh Kasparian ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 - ½5½20 Boris Goldenov 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ -5
Play-off match
+ 20th Soviet Chess Championship, Play-off match, Moscow, February 1953 Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Mikhail Botvinnik 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 3½ Mark Taimanov 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 2½
References