Leonid Stein, Boris Spassky, and Ratmir Kholmov all finished level on 12/19 atop a 20-player field stacked with ten grandmasters, and the 31st Soviet title was settled only by a triangular play-off in Moscow that January — Stein came out on top with 2½/4, edging Spassky's 2 and Kholmov's 1½ to win his first Soviet crown.
A three-way deadlock
The final, preceded by semifinals at Almaty, Kharkov, Moscow, and Sverdlovsk, produced no outright winner. Stein, Spassky, and Kholmov all scored 12/19 — Stein with six wins against a single loss, Spassky undefeated at +5 −0 =14, Kholmov also +6 −1 =12 — leaving all three level a half point clear of a tightly bunched group on 11½: Alexey Suetin, David Bronstein, and Efim Geller.
With no tiebreak system settling the title itself, the USSR Chess Federation sent the three leaders to a separate mini-tournament to decide the champion.
The Moscow play-off
The three met in Moscow from 7 to 17 January 1964 in a six-game round robin, each pair playing twice as the third player took a bye each round. Stein opened by beating Spassky in round one, then held his form through the rest of the mini-match to finish 2½/4, ahead of Spassky's 2 and Kholmov's 1½.
It was the first of three Soviet titles Stein would win in the 1960s, at Leningrad 1963, Tallinn 1965, and Tbilisi 1966. For Kholmov, the near-miss was as close as he ever came: he is remembered as arguably the strongest player of his era — spanning the 1940s through the 1960s — never to hold the Soviet championship title.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Kholmov, Ratmir D | 12/19 | +6 -1 =12 | games |
| =1 | Stein, Leonid | 12/19 | +6 -1 =12 | games |
| =1 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | 12/19 | +5 -0 =14 | games |
| =4 | Suetin, Alexey S | 11½/19 | +8 -4 =7 | games |
| =4 | Bronstein, David Ionovich | 11½/19 | +7 -3 =9 | games |
| =4 | Geller, Efim P | 11½/19 | +5 -1 =13 | games |
| =7 | Gufeld, Eduard | 11/19 | +6 -3 =10 | games |
| =7 | Polugaevsky, Lev | 11/19 | +5 -2 =12 | games |
| 9 | Gipslis, Aivars P | 10½/19 | +5 -3 =11 | games |
| 10 | Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich | 10/19 | +4 -3 =12 | games |
| 11 | Bagirov, Vladimir | 9½/19 | +4 -4 =11 | games |
| =12 | Nei, Iivo | 9/19 | +4 -5 =10 | games |
| =12 | Averbakh, Yuri L | 9/19 | +3 -4 =12 | games |
| =14 | Taimanov, Mark E | 8½/19 | +4 -6 =9 | games |
| =14 | Furman, Semen Abramovich | 8½/19 | +3 -5 =11 | games |
| 16 | Klovans, Janis | 7½/19 | +4 -8 =7 | games |
| 17 | Zakharov, Alexander V | 7/19 | +3 -8 =8 | games |
| =18 | Novopashin, Arkady | 6½/19 | +3 -9 =7 | games |
| =18 | Bondarevsky, Igor Tsakharovich | 6½/19 | +2 -8 =9 | games |
| 20 | Osnos, Viatcheslav | 5/19 | +2 -11 =6 | 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 | Kholmov, Ratmir D | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 2 | Stein, Leonid | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 3 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Suetin, Alexey S | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Bronstein, David Ionovich | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Geller, Efim P | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Gufeld, Eduard | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 8 | Polugaevsky, Lev | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Gipslis, Aivars P | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 10 | Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | Bagirov, Vladimir | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 12 | Nei, Iivo | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | |
| 13 | Averbakh, Yuri L | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 14 | Taimanov, Mark E | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 15 | Furman, Semen Abramovich | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 16 | Klovans, Janis | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | |
| 17 | Zakharov, Alexander V | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | |
| 18 | Novopashin, Arkady | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 19 | Bondarevsky, Igor Tsakharovich | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 20 | Osnos, Viatcheslav | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.