5th USSR Championship — Moscow 1927
Staged in one of Moscow's grandest halls, the fifth championship ended in a dead heat — Fedir Bohatyrchuk and Peter Romanovsky sharing the title on 14½/20 — while far down the table a sixteen-year-old named Mikhail Botvinnik made his championship debut.
◈Chess moves to the Hall of Columns
By 1927 chess had become a Soviet cultural priority, and the sign of it was the venue: the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions, one of the most eminent halls in the country. Twenty-one players contested a full round-robin over a month.
At the finish Fedir Bohatyrchuk and Peter Romanovsky stood level on 14½/20. No tie-break match could be arranged, so both were declared champions — a second title for Romanovsky, a first for Bohatyrchuk. Fedor Duz-Khotimirsky and Abram Model shared third on 13.
◈A sixteen-year-old named Botvinnik
The tournament's most consequential result was well below the leaders. Mikhail Botvinnik, just sixteen, tied for fifth–sixth place on 12½ in his first national championship and earned the Soviet master title. He would win six Soviet championships and, in 1948, the world title — the founder of the Soviet school's long dominance.
Bohatyrchuk's story ran the other way. During the Second World War he emigrated, eventually to Canada, and Soviet authorities declared him a 'non-person': all of his tournament results, including this shared championship, were erased from the official record. Restoring his name to the crosstable is part of keeping the history honest.
◈Final Standings
The standings below are the historical final result. Only 85 of the 210 games played survive in our source; the remaining 125 are lost and appear as · in the cross table.
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Bohatirchuk, Fedor Parfenovich | 14½/20 | +10 -1 =9 | games → |
| =1 | Romanovsky, Peter Arsenievich | 14½/20 | +12 -3 =5 | games → |
| =3 | Dus Chotimirsky, Fedor Ivanovich | 13/20 | +10 -4 =6 | games → |
| =3 | Model, Abram Y | 13/20 | +12 -6 =2 | games → |
| =5 | Makogonov, Vladimir Andreevich | 12½/20 | +9 -4 =7 | games → |
| =5 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | 12½/20 | +9 -4 =7 | games → |
| 7 | Nenarokov, Vladimir Ivanovich | 11/20 | +7 -5 =8 | games → |
| 8 | Grigoriev, Nikolay Dmitrievich | 10½/20 | +7 -6 =7 | games → |
| 9 | Ilyin Zhenevsky, Alexander | 10/20 | +7 -7 =6 | games → |
| =10 | Rabinovich, Ilya Leontievich | 9½/20 | +4 -5 =11 | games → |
| =10 | Freiman, Sergey Nikolaevich | 9½/20 | +8 -9 =3 | games → |
| =10 | Pavlov Pianov, Nikolay | 9½/20 | +5 -6 =9 | games → |
| 13 | Sergeev, Alexander S | 9/20 | +5 -7 =8 | games → |
| 14 | Perfiliev, Alexander S | 8½/20 | +7 -10 =3 | games → |
| =15 | Selezniev, Alexey Sergeevich | 8/20 | +4 -8 =8 | games → |
| =15 | Rokhlin, Yakov Gerasimovic | 8/20 | +4 -8 =8 | games → |
| =15 | Vilner, Yakov S | 8/20 | +7 -11 =2 | games → |
| =18 | Rauzer, Vsevolod | 7½/20 | +5 -10 =5 | games → |
| =18 | Kaspersky, Anton Antonovich | 7½/20 | +3 -8 =9 | games → |
| 20 | Smorodsky, Andrey Alexandrovic | 7/20 | +3 -9 =8 | games → |
| 21 | Kholodkevich, Khrisogon Lustinovi | 6½/20 | +4 -11 =5 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bohatirchuk, Fedor Parfenovich | 0 | · | 1 | 1 | 1 | · | ½ | · | · | ½ | 1 | · | · | 1 | · | 1 | ½ | · | · | · | |
| 2 | Romanovsky, Peter Arsenievich | 1 | 0 | · | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | · | 1 | 1 | 1 | · | · | 1 | · | |
| 3 | Dus Chotimirsky, Fedor Ivanovich | · | 1 | · | · | · | 1 | · | 0 | · | · | 0 | · | · | · | ½ | · | 1 | · | · | · | |
| 4 | Model, Abram Y | 0 | · | · | 0 | 1 | · | · | · | · | 1 | 1 | 1 | · | · | · | 1 | · | · | · | · | |
| 5 | Makogonov, Vladimir Andreevich | 0 | ½ | · | 1 | 0 | · | · | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | · | 0 | · | · | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | 0 | ½ | · | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | · | · | · | · | 0 | · | · | · | 1 | |
| 7 | Nenarokov, Vladimir Ivanovich | · | 0 | 0 | · | · | ½ | 1 | 1 | · | · | ½ | 1 | · | · | · | 0 | · | · | · | · | |
| 8 | Grigoriev, Nikolay Dmitrievich | ½ | 1 | · | · | · | 0 | 0 | · | · | 0 | ½ | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | |
| 9 | Ilyin Zhenevsky, Alexander | · | 0 | 1 | · | 0 | 0 | 0 | · | ½ | 1 | · | · | · | 0 | 1 | · | · | · | 1 | · | |
| 10 | Rabinovich, Ilya Leontievich | · | 1 | · | · | ½ | 0 | · | · | ½ | · | ½ | · | 0 | 1 | · | 0 | 0 | · | · | · | |
| 11 | Freiman, Sergey Nikolaevich | ½ | 0 | · | 0 | 1 | 1 | · | 1 | 0 | · | 0 | · | · | · | 0 | 1 | · | · | · | · | |
| 12 | Pavlov Pianov, Nikolay | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | · | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 13 | Sergeev, Alexander S | · | 0 | · | 0 | · | · | 0 | · | · | · | · | 1 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | |
| 14 | Perfiliev, Alexander S | · | · | · | · | 1 | · | · | · | · | 1 | · | 1 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | |
| 15 | Selezniev, Alexey Sergeevich | 0 | 0 | · | · | · | · | · | · | 1 | 0 | · | 0 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | |
| 16 | Rokhlin, Yakov Gerasimovic | · | 0 | ½ | · | · | · | · | · | 0 | · | 1 | 0 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | |
| 17 | Vilner, Yakov S | 0 | 0 | · | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | · | · | 1 | 0 | 0 | · | · | · | · | · | · | 1 | · | |
| 18 | Rauzer, Vsevolod | ½ | · | 0 | · | 0 | · | · | · | · | 1 | · | 1 | · | · | · | · | · | 1 | · | · | |
| 19 | Kaspersky, Anton Antonovich | · | · | · | · | 0 | · | · | · | · | · | · | ½ | · | · | · | · | · | 0 | · | · | |
| 20 | Smorodsky, Andrey Alexandrovic | · | 0 | · | · | 0 | · | · | · | 0 | · | · | ½ | · | · | · | · | 0 | · | · | · | |
| 21 | Kholodkevich, Khrisogon Lustinovi | · | · | · | · | 0 | 0 | · | · | · | · | · | ½ | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player. · = game played but lost (not preserved in our source).