11th USSR Championship — Leningrad 1939
Back at the board after his Tbilisi absence, Mikhail Botvinnik reclaimed the championship without losing a game, scoring 12½/17 in Leningrad ahead of the young Alexander Kotov — the form that would soon make him the West's chief Soviet rival.
◈A dominant return
Having ceded the title to Levenfish in 1937 without meeting him in the championship itself, Botvinnik answered emphatically in 1939. He won the eleventh championship on 12½/17, and did it undefeated — eight wins and nine draws across seventeen rounds — a point clear of the field.
The runner-up was a newcomer who would become a fixture of the Soviet elite: Alexander Kotov, on 11½, in the first of many strong championship results. Their one-two finish signalled the arrival of the generation that would carry Soviet chess through the coming decade.
◈On the eve of the war
Botvinnik was now unmistakably the country's leading player, and his thoughts were already turning outward. Within months he would finish level with Salo Flohr and ahead of much of the world's elite, and he began lobbying — through the Soviet apparatus — for a match with world champion Alexander Alekhine.
The Second World War would postpone those ambitions for years, but the 1939 championship confirmed the player who, in 1948, would finally win the world title and open the era of Soviet dominance of the crown.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | 12½/17 | +8 -0 =9 | games → |
| 2 | Kotov, Alexander | 11½/17 | +9 -3 =5 | games → |
| 3 | Chekhover, Vitaly A | 10½/17 | +7 -3 =7 | games → |
| 4 | Makogonov, Vladimir Andreevich | 10½/17 | +5 -1 =11 | games → |
| 5 | Belavenets, Sergey Vesevolodovi | 10/16 | +5 -1 =10 | games → |
| 6 | Bondarevsky, Igor Tsakharovich | 9/16 | +5 -3 =8 | games → |
| 7 | Lisitsin, Georgy M | 9/17 | +4 -3 =10 | games → |
| 8 | Ragozin, Viacheslav | 8½/17 | +6 -6 =5 | games → |
| 9 | Dubinin, Peter Vasilievich | 8½/17 | +3 -3 =11 | games → |
| 10 | Rabinovich, Ilya Leontievich | 8/17 | +4 -5 =8 | games → |
| 11 | Panov, Vasily N | 8/17 | +3 -4 =10 | games → |
| 12 | Levenfish, Grigory | 7½/16 | +5 -6 =5 | games → |
| 13 | Kan, Ilia Abramovich | 7½/17 | +4 -6 =7 | games → |
| 14 | Yudovich, Mikhail Mikhailovic | 7½/17 | +3 -5 =9 | games → |
| 15 | Pogrebissky, Iosif | 6½/17 | +5 -9 =3 | games → |
| 16 | Tolush, Alexander V | 6½/17 | +4 -8 =5 | games → |
| 17 | Chistiakov, Alexander Nikolaevi | 5/17 | +2 -9 =6 | games → |
| 18 | Romanovsky, Peter Arsenievich | 3½/14 | +1 -8 =5 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 2 | Kotov, Alexander | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 3 | Chekhover, Vitaly A | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Makogonov, Vladimir Andreevich | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 5 | Belavenets, Sergey Vesevolodovi | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ||
| 6 | Bondarevsky, Igor Tsakharovich | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | Lisitsin, Georgy M | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 8 | Ragozin, Viacheslav | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Dubinin, Peter Vasilievich | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 10 | Rabinovich, Ilya Leontievich | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 11 | Panov, Vasily N | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 12 | Levenfish, Grigory | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 13 | Kan, Ilia Abramovich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 14 | Yudovich, Mikhail Mikhailovic | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | |
| 15 | Pogrebissky, Iosif | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 16 | Tolush, Alexander V | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 17 | Chistiakov, Alexander Nikolaevi | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 18 | Romanovsky, Peter Arsenievich | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.