40th USSR Championship — Baku 1972

An undefeated return to the top
16 November – 19 December 1972 · Baku, Soviet Union
Tal won with 15/21
Event Index 231 GAMES

Mikhail Tal went through the entire 40th Soviet Championship without losing a game, winning nine and drawing twelve of his twenty-one games for 15/21 — two full points clear of runner-up Vladimir Tukmakov — to claim his fourth Soviet title and his first won outright in fourteen years.

An undefeated champion

Tal's 15/21 — nine wins and twelve draws, with no losses — stood two full points clear of the field in a 22-player round robin, an unusually wide margin for the Soviet championship. It was his fourth Soviet crown, after his back-to-back titles in 1957 and 1958 and his shared first with Lev Polugaevsky in 1967, and his first won outright in fourteen years.

Vladimir Tukmakov took clear second on 13, and behind him three players tied for third on 12½: Gennadi Kuzmin, Mikhail Mukhin, and Vladimir Savon.

A zonal with places to play for

The championship doubled as a World Championship zonal. Tal and Tukmakov qualified directly for the interzonal, while the three players level on 12½ — Kuzmin, Mukhin, and Savon — met in a separate play-off for the remaining interzonal berth.

Final standings

15/21
Tal won with 15/21
# Player Score Record
1 Tal, Mikhail 15/21 +9 -0 =12 games
2 Tukmakov, Vladimir B 13/21 +8 -3 =10 games
=3 Kuzmin, Gennadi P 12½/21 +6 -2 =13 games
=3 Mukhin, Mikhail A 12½/21 +6 -2 =13 games
=3 Savon, Vladimir A 12½/21 +6 -2 =13 games
=6 Vasiukov, Evgeni 11½/21 +8 -6 =7 games
=6 Balashov, Yuri S 11½/21 +6 -4 =11 games
=8 Furman, Semen Abramovich 11/21 +6 -5 =10 games
=8 Bagirov, Vladimir 11/21 +4 -3 =14 games
=10 Kholmov, Ratmir D 10½/21 +5 -5 =11 games
=10 Lein, Anatoly 10½/21 +5 -5 =11 games
12 Razuvaev, Yuri S 10/21 +3 -4 =14 games
=13 Bronstein, David Ionovich 9½/21 +5 -7 =9 games
=13 Dzindzichashvili, Roman 9½/21 +4 -6 =11 games
=13 Shamkovich, Leonid Alexandrovich 9½/21 +4 -6 =11 games
=13 Kapengut, Albert Z 9½/21 +2 -4 =15 games
=17 Grigorian, Karen Ashotovich 9/21 +4 -7 =10 games
=17 Rashkovsky, Nukhim N 9/21 +3 -6 =12 games
=17 Zilberstein, Valery I 9/21 +3 -6 =12 games
=17 Gufeld, Eduard 9/21 +2 -5 =14 games
21 Zhidkov, Valery S 8½/21 +2 -6 =13 games
22 Alburt, Lev O 7/21 +3 -10 =8 games

Cross Table

Player 12345678910111213141516171819202122
1 Tal, Mikhail ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1
2 Tukmakov, Vladimir B ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1
3 Kuzmin, Gennadi P ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½
4 Mukhin, Mikhail A 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½
5 Savon, Vladimir A 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1
6 Vasiukov, Evgeni ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1
7 Balashov, Yuri S 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0 ½
8 Furman, Semen Abramovich 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½
9 Bagirov, Vladimir ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0
10 Kholmov, Ratmir D ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½
11 Lein, Anatoly ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1
12 Razuvaev, Yuri S ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1
13 Bronstein, David Ionovich 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1
14 Dzindzichashvili, Roman ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1
15 Shamkovich, Leonid Alexandrovich 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½
16 Kapengut, Albert Z ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½
17 Grigorian, Karen Ashotovich ½ 0 0 ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1
18 Rashkovsky, Nukhim N ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1
19 Zilberstein, Valery I 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0 0
20 Gufeld, Eduard ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0
21 Zhidkov, Valery S 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½
22 Alburt, Lev O 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½

Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.

EXPLORE ALL 231 GAMES