Moscow Championship 1942
With the war against Germany at its height and chess stopped in much of the world, the Moscow city championship went ahead. The 21-year-old Vasily Smyslov won it clearly with 12/15, ten wins, four draws and one loss, a point ahead of Isaac Boleslavsky and further clear of Alexander Kotov. It was an early sign of the player who would become World Champion.
Chess amid the war
The 1942 Moscow championship was played while the Soviet Union was fighting Nazi Germany. International chess had almost stopped, but inside the USSR the game went on, and the capital's title, recently held by some of the country's best players, was still played for. Sixteen players met in a fifteen-round round robin, 120 games in all.
The field was strong for a city event, drawing established masters alongside the coming generation: Smyslov, Boleslavsky, Kotov and Andor Lilienthal at the top, with Vasily Panov, Ilya Kan, Georgy Lisitsin and Evgeny Zagoriansky filling out the leading places. Smyslov himself, whose weak eyesight had kept him from military service, was free to play through the war years.
Smyslov runs clear
Smyslov's result was decisive: 10 wins, 4 draws and just one loss for 12 points from 15 games. Boleslavsky pressed him hardest and finished second on 11, with Kotov and Lilienthal sharing third and fourth on 10½. Panov took fifth on 9½ and Kan sixth on 9, leaving Lisitsin and Zagoriansky level on 8.
Smyslov was only 21 and had become a Soviet grandmaster the year before. He won the city championship again in 1943 and 1944, and within a decade he was one of the best players in the world.
Where it led
The young winner's rise did not slow. Smyslov took second behind Mikhail Botvinnik at the 1944 Soviet Championship, won the USSR title outright in 1949, and won the great 1953 Candidates tournament at Zürich. He challenged Botvinnik three times, and in 1957 he defeated him to become the seventh World Chess Champion. Moscow 1942 was one of the first tournaments to show what he could do.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smyslov, Vasily V | 12/15 | +10 -1 =4 | games |
| 2 | Boleslavsky, Isaak | 11/15 | +9 -2 =4 | games |
| =3 | Kotov, Alexander | 10½/15 | +10 -4 =1 | games |
| =3 | Lilienthal, Andor | 10½/15 | +9 -3 =3 | games |
| 5 | Panov, Vasily N | 9½/15 | +8 -4 =3 | games |
| 6 | Kan, Ilia Abramovich | 9/15 | +8 -5 =2 | games |
| =7 | Lisitsin, Georgy M | 8/15 | +6 -5 =4 | games |
| =7 | Zagoriansky, Evgeny | 8/15 | +5 -4 =6 | games |
| =9 | Ragozin, Viacheslav | 7½/15 | +6 -6 =3 | games |
| =9 | Ravinsky, Grigory Ionovich | 7½/15 | +5 -5 =5 | games |
| 11 | Alatortsev, Vladimir | 7/15 | +5 -6 =4 | games |
| 12 | Yudovich, Mikhail Mikhailovic | 5½/15 | +3 -7 =5 | games |
| 13 | Aramanovich, I | 5/15 | +3 -8 =4 | games |
| 14 | Zamikhovsky, Abram Davidovich | 3½/15 | +2 -10 =3 | games |
| 15 | Dus Chotimirsky, Fedor Ivanovich | 3/15 | +3 -12 =0 | games |
| 16 | Shcherbakov, Vitaly Sergeevich | 2½/15 | +2 -12 =1 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smyslov, Vasily V | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Boleslavsky, Isaak | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Kotov, Alexander | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Lilienthal, Andor | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Panov, Vasily N | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Kan, Ilia Abramovich | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Lisitsin, Georgy M | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Zagoriansky, Evgeny | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Ragozin, Viacheslav | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 10 | Ravinsky, Grigory Ionovich | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | Alatortsev, Vladimir | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 12 | Yudovich, Mikhail Mikhailovic | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 13 | Aramanovich, I | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 14 | Zamikhovsky, Abram Davidovich | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Dus Chotimirsky, Fedor Ivanovich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 16 | Shcherbakov, Vitaly Sergeevich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.