The reigning world champion Mikhail Botvinnik shared first place with the young Mark Taimanov on 13½/19, then won the play-off match the following winter, 3½–2½, to claim what proved the last Soviet Championship of his career.
A dead heat at the top
The twentieth championship ended level. Botvinnik, world champion since 1948, and Mark Taimanov, a rising Leningrad master, each finished on 13½/19, a point and a half ahead of Efim Geller in third. With the two tied for first, the title went to a play-off, and they met over six games early in 1953.
Botvinnik won the match 3½–2½ to take the championship — the last Soviet title of his career, and one earned only after the hardest possible test from an opponent some fifteen years his junior. Behind the leaders came a characteristically deep field: Geller on 12, Isaac Boleslavsky and Alexander Tolush on 11½, and the twenty-one-year-old Viktor Korchnoi sixth on 11.
Taimanov's near-miss, and a new rule
For Taimanov, twenty-six years old, pushing the world champion all the way to a tie was the result of a lifetime; he would remain a fixture of the Soviet elite for the next two decades. That he fell just short in the play-off did nothing to diminish a tournament run that put him level with Botvinnik across nineteen rounds.
The 1952 championship is also remembered for a procedural first. For the first time in such an event, players were forbidden to agree a draw in under thirty moves without the arbiter's consent — an early attempt to curb the short draws that could otherwise blunt a long round-robin.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Taimanov, Mark E | 13½/19 | +11 -3 =5 | games |
| =1 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | 13½/19 | +9 -1 =9 | games |
| 3 | Geller, Efim P | 12/19 | +8 -3 =8 | games |
| =4 | Boleslavsky, Isaak | 11½/19 | +8 -4 =7 | games |
| =4 | Tolush, Alexander V | 11½/19 | +8 -4 =7 | games |
| 6 | Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich | 11/19 | +8 -5 =6 | games |
| =7 | Moiseev, Oleg Leonidovich | 10½/19 | +6 -4 =9 | games |
| =7 | Smyslov, Vasily V | 10½/19 | +6 -4 =9 | games |
| =7 | Bronstein, David Ionovich | 10½/19 | +5 -3 =11 | games |
| =10 | Suetin, Alexey S | 9½/19 | +6 -6 =7 | games |
| =10 | Keres, Paul | 9½/19 | +5 -5 =9 | games |
| =12 | Byvshev, Vasily Mikhailovich | 9/19 | +8 -9 =2 | games |
| =12 | Aronin, Lev Solomonovich | 9/19 | +3 -4 =12 | games |
| =14 | Ilivitzki, Georgi A | 8½/19 | +4 -6 =9 | games |
| =14 | Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich | 8½/19 | +4 -6 =9 | games |
| 16 | Konstantinopolsky, Alexander Markovich | 7½/19 | +4 -8 =7 | games |
| 17 | Lipnitsky, Isaak | 7/19 | +3 -8 =8 | games |
| 18 | Kan, Ilia Abramovich | 6½/19 | +2 -8 =9 | games |
| 19 | Kasparian, Genrikh Moiseevich | 5½/19 | +1 -9 =9 | games |
| 20 | Goldenov, Boris Petrovich | 5/19 | +1 -10 =8 | 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 | Taimanov, Mark E | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 3 | Geller, Efim P | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 4 | Boleslavsky, Isaak | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Tolush, Alexander V | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Moiseev, Oleg Leonidovich | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 8 | Smyslov, Vasily V | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Bronstein, David Ionovich | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
| 10 | Suetin, Alexey S | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 11 | Keres, Paul | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 12 | Byvshev, Vasily Mikhailovich | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 13 | Aronin, Lev Solomonovich | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 14 | Ilivitzki, Georgi A | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 15 | Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 16 | Konstantinopolsky, Alexander Markovich | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 17 | Lipnitsky, Isaak | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | |
| 18 | Kan, Ilia Abramovich | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 19 | Kasparian, Genrikh Moiseevich | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
| 20 | Goldenov, Boris Petrovich | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.