29th USSR Championship — Baku 1961
Eleven months after finishing a distant equal fifth in the year's first Soviet final, in Moscow, Boris Spassky won the second — with a new coach, a steadier game, and his first outright Soviet title, scored at 14½/20, half a point clear of Lev Polugaevsky.
◈Two finals in one year
1961 was the only year the USSR held two national championships: a January final in Moscow, won by Tigran Petrosian, and this second edition in Baku that November and December, part of a shift onto a late-autumn schedule aligned with the international calendar. Spassky had played in the January final and come away disappointed — an equal-fifth finish on 11/19 after losing a decisive last-round game to Leonid Stein, missing out on the Interzonal place he needed.
In the months between the two finals, at 24, Spassky broke with his volatile early coach Alexander Tolush and began working with Igor Bondarevsky, whose calmer, more disciplined approach steadied his play. Baku became the proof it was working: a different, harder-to-rattle Spassky than the one who had tied for first at the 1956 championship and then lost the play-off.
◈A commanding run in Baku
The Baku field was formidable even by Soviet standards: Mikhail Tal, still absorbing the loss of his world title to Mikhail Botvinnik in their May 1961 rematch, played alongside David Bronstein, Vassily Smyslov, Paul Keres and Mark Taimanov. Spassky went through it with ten wins, nine draws and only a single loss — to the mid-table Leonid Shamkovich — to finish on 14½/20, half a point clear of the rising Lev Polugaevsky. Bronstein took third on 12½, with Tal among a group tied for fourth on 12.
It was Spassky's first outright Soviet championship; he would win a second in 1973, after twice sharing first and losing the play-off that followed (1956, 1963). Baku confirmed that Bondarevsky's methods were working — eight years later, in 1969, Spassky became the tenth World Chess Champion.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | 14½/20 | +10 -1 =9 | games → |
| 2 | Polugaevsky, Lev | 14/20 | +10 -2 =8 | games → |
| 3 | Bronstein, David Ionovich | 12½/20 | +6 -1 =13 | games → |
| =4 | Tal, Mihail | 12/20 | +7 -3 =10 | games → |
| =4 | Vasiukov, Evgeni | 12/20 | +7 -3 =10 | games → |
| =6 | Averbakh, Yuri L | 11½/20 | +7 -4 =9 | games → |
| =6 | Taimanov, Mark E | 11½/20 | +7 -4 =9 | games → |
| 8 | Kholmov, Ratmir D | 11/20 | +7 -5 =8 | games → |
| 9 | Smyslov, Vassily V | 11/20 | +6 -4 =10 | games → |
| 10 | Gipslis, Aivars P | 11/20 | +5 -3 =12 | games → |
| 11 | Keres, Paul | 11/20 | +4 -2 =14 | games → |
| 12 | Shamkovich, Leonid Alexandrovic | 10½/20 | +7 -6 =7 | games → |
| 13 | Khasin, Abram Iosifovich | 9½/20 | +5 -6 =9 | games → |
| 14 | Vladimirov, Boris T | 8/20 | +6 -10 =4 | games → |
| 15 | Kots, Yury Isakovich | 8/20 | +5 -9 =6 | games → |
| 16 | Shianovsky, Vladislav I | 8/20 | +3 -7 =10 | games → |
| 17 | Savon, Vladimir A | 7½/20 | +4 -9 =7 | games → |
| 18 | Lein, Anatoly | 7½/20 | +2 -7 =11 | games → |
| 19 | Nezhmetdinov, Rashid | 7/20 | +4 -10 =6 | games → |
| 20 | Gurgenidze, Bukhuti | 6/20 | +3 -11 =6 | games → |
| 21 | Bagirov, Vladimir | 6/20 | +1 -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 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Polugaevsky, Lev | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Bronstein, David Ionovich | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Tal, Mihail | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 5 | Vasiukov, Evgeni | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 6 | Averbakh, Yuri L | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 | Taimanov, Mark E | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 8 | Kholmov, Ratmir D | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Smyslov, Vassily V | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 10 | Gipslis, Aivars P | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 11 | Keres, Paul | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 12 | Shamkovich, Leonid Alexandrovic | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 13 | Khasin, Abram Iosifovich | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 14 | Vladimirov, Boris T | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 15 | Kots, Yury Isakovich | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 16 | Shianovsky, Vladislav I | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 17 | Savon, Vladimir A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 18 | Lein, Anatoly | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 19 | Nezhmetdinov, Rashid | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 20 | Gurgenidze, Bukhuti | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 21 | Bagirov, Vladimir | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.