Twelve of the Soviet Union's best chess masters qualified for the round robin event from three semi-final tournaments played earlier in the year. It was the first USSR championship since the absolute championship in 1941. The Second World War had shut down competition, but with the end of the war looming on the horizon and Soviet belief in victory, the return of professional chess in the Soviet Union was a move to rebuild the ranks of Soviet players and an opportunity for dominance greater than before the war.
The war had done nothing to dull the skills of Botvinnik who finished the event with eleven wins and twelve and a half points out of sixteen at the final. It was his second consecutive win, counting the absolute championship, and his fourth Soviet championship. The war had interrupted Botvinnik's attempt to play a world championship with Alekhine, so he was competing to prove himself the rightful challenger.
Botvinnik went into the country with Ragozin two weeks before the start and they played many training games with the radio blasting because they were afraid the tournament hall might be noisy and wanted to accustom themselves to disturbances. Botvinnik later said it was an unnecessary precaution because it turned out that the spectators were well behaved.
Vyacheslav Ragozin's wide range of achievements, breadth of expertise and specialized knowledge had not escaped the attention of Botvinnik who recognized that Ragozin would make an ideal sparring partner. Ragozin's style had always been risky, particularly with regard to the sacrifice of pawns for the initiative. Botvinnik was attempting to put together a repertoire of solid, reliable openings so it was important that they were tested. Ragozin's contribution was a significant factor in Botvinnik's success.
It was a close race all the way and anyone was liable to be defeated by anyone else. For example, Botvinnik lost two games to players who did not finish anywhere near the top, Tolush and Bronstein.
At the beginning Botvinnik found it hard to get into stride. In his game against last place finisher Ravinsky he got a winning position twice but subsequent mistakes meant he had to play a marathon 126 moves involving two adjournments before securing the point.
One surprise of the tournament was Vassily Smyslov’s quick start. Smyslov scored a surprising 6.5 out of 7. It wasn’t all due to his skill however. Luck played a part. Against Vladimir Makogonov and Alexander Kotov they both threw away probable wins. After his phenomenal start Smyslov was to suffer some major disappointments. After his eighth round defeat by Botvinnik in a difficult game, Smyslov seemed to run out of gas.
The success scored by 24-year old Isaac Boleslavsky was something of a surprise. He was known to be a good tournament player, a deep and original analyst, but he had a certain lack of stamina that always seemed to plague him. In this tournament he played with great patience and persistence.
One player who had been expected to finish well was Salo Flohr, but it was evident immediately after the start that he was showing no fighting spirit. As was to become his hallmark, when offered a draw, he could not refuse it. Flohr only lost two games but nine draws caused his results to suffer. Botvinnik wrote that an indication of listlessness showed in their adjourned game. After five hours of analysis Botvinnik determined that their game was a draw but when they resumed play, Flohr immediately played a losing continuation.
Almost every player came up with one or two opening novelties and palyed several good games. The tournament was important for two reasons. First, it showed the extremely high level of play of the top Soviet players and second, it demonstrated the tremendous popularity of chess in the Soviet Union.
The first point was to be proven not long after the event. There was a proposal of a radio match between the United States and Russia being floated around. When it finally took place the Soviet team stunned the Americans by overwhelmingly defeating them.
The final standings and crosstable:
13th USSR Championship, Moscow 1944 1. Botvinnik, Mikhail x 1 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 12½- 3½
2. Smyslov, Vassily 0 x 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 10½- 5½
3. Boleslavsky, Isaac 0 1 x ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 10 - 6
4. Flohr, Salo 0 ½ ½ x ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 9½- 6½
5. Makogonov, Vladimir ½ 0 ½ ½ x ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 9 - 7
6. Mikenas, Vladimir 0 0 ½ ½ ½ x 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 9 - 7
7. Tolush, Alexander 1 0 0 0 1 0 x 1 ½ 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 8½- 7½
8. Veresov, Gavriil 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 x ½ 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 ½ 7½- 8½
9. Lilienthal, Andre 0 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ x ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ 7½- 8½
10. Sokolsky, Alexey ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ x ½ 1 0 1 1 1 0 7½- 8½
11. Kotov, Alexander 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ x ½ 1 0 1 1 0 7 - 9
12. Lisitsyn, Georgy 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 ½ 0 ½ x ½ 0 ½ 1 1 7 - 9
13. Ragozin, Viacheslav ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 ½ x 1 0 ½ 1 7 - 9
14. Khasin, Abram 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 x 1 1 ½ 7 - 9
15. Bronstein, David 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 0 x 0 ½ 6½- 9½
16. Alatortsev, Vladimir 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 x 1 5½-10½
17. Ravinsky, Grigory 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 x 4½-11½
The following game is one of those games you will often find played by those who finish lower down in the tournament crosstables. It’s one that will never make the books because it’s not brilliantly played, but it’s typical.
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