10th USSR Championship — Tbilisi 1937
The first Soviet championship held in the Caucasus was won outright by Grigory Levenfish on 12½/19. Botvinnik skipped it to defend his engineering thesis — and then challenged Levenfish to a title match that ended level, so the old master kept his crown.
◈A champion at forty-eight
The tenth championship travelled south to Tbilisi, the first time the event was held in the Caucasus, and it belonged to Grigory Levenfish, by now forty-eight. He finished clear first on 12½/19, a half-point ahead of Vyacheslav Ragozin and Alexander Konstantinopolsky, confirming that his 1934/35 shared title had been no fluke.
The tournament's strongest player was absent: Botvinnik stayed away to defend his doctoral thesis. As he later recalled, I missed the USSR Championship (Tbilisi, 1937) as I was defending my thesis. Ilyin-Genevsky censured me for this, and Krylenko sent a threatening telegram — an illustration of how little the chess authorities distinguished between sport and duty.
◈The title match
Because Botvinnik had not defended his standing on the board, a title match was arranged that autumn to settle who was truly champion. Held in Moscow and Leningrad over October and November 1937, it was to be decided by six wins, draws not counting.
It proved a marathon of a different kind: after thirteen games the two were locked at five wins each with three draws. Under the rules a 5–5 tie left the title with the reigning champion, and so Levenfish retained it — the last great success of his career, and one of the very few times Botvinnik was held in a set match.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Levenfish, Grigory | 12½/19 | +9 -3 =7 | games → |
| 2 | Ragozin, Viacheslav | 12/19 | +7 -2 =10 | games → |
| 3 | Konstantinopolsky, Alexander Markovich | 12/19 | +6 -1 =12 | games → |
| 4 | Makogonov, Vladimir Andreevich | 11½/19 | +8 -4 =7 | games → |
| 5 | Lisitsin, Georgy M | 11/19 | +7 -4 =8 | games → |
| 6 | Belavenets, Sergey Vesevolodovi | 11/19 | +6 -3 =10 | games → |
| 7 | Goglidze, Victor Arsentievich | 11/19 | +5 -2 =12 | games → |
| 8 | Rauzer, Vsevolod | 10½/19 | +7 -5 =7 | games → |
| 9 | Yudovich, Mikhail Mikhailovic | 10/19 | +4 -3 =12 | games → |
| 10 | Alatortsev, Vladimir | 9½/19 | +6 -6 =7 | games → |
| 11 | Bondarevsky, Igor Tsakharovich | 9½/19 | +5 -5 =9 | games → |
| 12 | Rabinovich, Ilya Leontievich | 9½/19 | +4 -4 =11 | games → |
| 13 | Kan, Ilia Abramovich | 9/19 | +4 -5 =10 | games → |
| 14 | Lilienthal, Andor | 8½/19 | +2 -4 =13 | games → |
| 15 | Panov, Vasily N | 8/19 | +6 -9 =4 | games → |
| =16 | Budo, Alexander Semionovi | 7½/19 | +4 -8 =7 | games → |
| =16 | Chekhover, Vitaly A | 7½/19 | +4 -8 =7 | games → |
| 18 | Ilyin Zhenevsky, Alexander | 7½/19 | +3 -7 =9 | games → |
| 19 | Kasparian, Genrikh Moiseevich | 7/19 | +3 -8 =8 | games → |
| 20 | Ebralidze, Archil Silovanovich | 5/19 | +0 -9 =10 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Levenfish, Grigory | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 2 | Ragozin, Viacheslav | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Konstantinopolsky, Alexander Markovich | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 4 | Makogonov, Vladimir Andreevich | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Lisitsin, Georgy M | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 6 | Belavenets, Sergey Vesevolodovi | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 | Goglidze, Victor Arsentievich | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Rauzer, Vsevolod | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 9 | Yudovich, Mikhail Mikhailovic | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
| 10 | Alatortsev, Vladimir | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | Bondarevsky, Igor Tsakharovich | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 12 | Rabinovich, Ilya Leontievich | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 13 | Kan, Ilia Abramovich | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 14 | Lilienthal, Andor | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 15 | Panov, Vasily N | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | |
| 16 | Budo, Alexander Semionovi | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | |
| 17 | Chekhover, Vitaly A | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 18 | Ilyin Zhenevsky, Alexander | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 19 | Kasparian, Genrikh Moiseevich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 20 | Ebralidze, Archil Silovanovich | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.
“I missed the USSR Championship (Tbilisi, 1937) as I was defending my thesis. Ilyin-Genevsky censured me for this, and Krylenko sent a threatening telegram.”