Vladimir Simagin
Notable Games

Vladimir Simagin

17 celebrated games · 271 in the full archive
◈ Biography 271 CURATED GAMES

◈The games that made the legend

  • 1936 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Yakubovich, N 1-0 26 moves Benoni Defense: Old Benoni Moscow Moscow 1936, the earliest game in the archive and Simagin at seventeen — already playing the way he would for thirty years. The queens come off on move ten and he attacks anyway: 16.Nxg5 hxg5 17.h6 Bh8 18.h7+ Kg7 buries a pawn on h7, and 22.Rh6 and 23.Bg8 lock the king in a box of his own making.
  • 1946.02.09 Kotov, Alexander vs Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich 0-1 25 moves Dutch Defense: Blackmar's Second Gambit Moscow-ch25 Final Moscow championship final 1946 with Black against Alexander Kotov, two years from the Interzonal and later a Candidate. Simagin meets 1.d4 f5 2.e4 with the gambit accepted and gives the pawn straight back for the initiative; by 23...Nc4 24.Qh6 Qe7 25.Nc3 Bg5 White's queen is trapped out of play with nothing to attack.
  • 1946.10 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Taimanov, Mark E 1-0 41 moves Ruy Lopez: Open URS-ch15 Semifinal USSR Championship semifinal 1946 against Mark Taimanov — also a study player in this archive — in an Open Ruy Lopez. Everything comes off by move twenty-two and Simagin wins the bishop ending outright: 26.g4, 28.h5, 29.g5, then 32.b5 and 34.b6 stretch Black across both wings until 41.h6.
  • 1949 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Chekhover, Vitaly A 1-0 68 moves Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense URS-ch17 Semifinal USSR Championship semifinal 1949 against Vitaly Chekhover, the endgame study composer and a study player here — and, of all things, it ends in mate on the board after sixty-eight moves. Simagin gives the exchange with 54.Rxg5 Rxf2, herds the king across the board with 62.Rhg7+, 63.Rh7+, 64.Rfg7+, and finishes 67.Re7+ Kf3 68.Rf6 mate.
  • 1951.01 Kopylov, Nikolai Georgievich vs Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich 0-1 21 moves Dutch Defense: Blackmar's Second Gambit Leningrad Chigorin Memorial Chigorin Memorial, Leningrad 1951 — twenty-one moves with Black against a gambit. Simagin returns the pawn, castles nowhere, and lets White have three pieces at his king: 15...Nxg4 16.Bxd6 Nf2, 18.Nb5 cxb5 19.Bxb5+ Kf7 20.Qb3+ Qe6, and after 21.Bc4 the attack is simply out of ammunition.
  • 1952 Averbakh, Yuri L vs Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich 0-1 43 moves Czech Defense Moscow-ch30 Moscow championship 1952 with Black against Yuri Averbakh, the great endgame theorist. Simagin's king walks to b7 in the middlegame and his a-pawn does the work: 32...a4, 37...Ra1, 40...a2, and the finish is 41...Rh1+ 42.Kxh1 a1=Q+ 43.Kg2 Qxd4.
  • 1955.02.11 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich 1-0 61 moves Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation URS-ch22 Final USSR Championship final 1955 against a twenty-three-year-old Viktor Korchnoi, later twice a World Championship challenger. Sixty-one moves: the rooks come off at 50.Rxe7+ Rxe7 51.Rxe7+, and the bishop and passed f-pawn beat rook and knight — 57.f6 Nxb3+, 59.Bg5, 61.Bh6.
  • 1956.10 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Petrosian, Tigran V 1-0 52 moves Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation Moscow-ch34plof Petrosian-Simagin+3-1=1 From the 1956 Moscow championship play-off match with Tigran Petrosian — seven years from the world title, and the record books the match +3−1=1 to Petrosian. This is Simagin's win: 40.Bf7 and 41.Bxh5 take the kingside apart, and from move forty-six the black king is driven up the board to e4 before 52.Rxd4+ ends it.
  • 1960.02.03 Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich vs Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich 0-1 33 moves Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation URS-ch27 Final USSR Championship final 1960, Korchnoi again and Black this time. Simagin throws two knights at the white king — 20...Ng4 21.h3 Rf6 22.hxg4 fxg4 23.Nh2 Nxf2 24.Rxf2 g3 — and after 28...Rxf3 29.gxf3 Qxf3 the king is stripped bare: 30...Bc4+, 31...Qg3+, 32...Bd5+, 33.Ne4 Rf1+.
  • 1961.01.17 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Stein, Leonid 1-0 54 moves Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation URS-ch28 Final & Zonal USSR Championship final 1961 against Leonid Stein, soon to be a three-time Soviet champion. Simagin lets Black take the b-pawn with 9...Qxb2 and never lets him consolidate; 36.Rd6+ Kb7 37.Rxd7+ Kc8 38.Rc7+ Qxc7 39.Nxc7 gives the rook back to reach a queen ending he wins by check.
  • 1961.02.02 Spassky, Boris Vasilievich vs Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich 0-1 57 moves Sicilian Defense: Closed URS-ch28 Final & Zonal The same 1961 championship, with Black against Boris Spassky, eight years from the world title. Both sides queen: 49...Rxf3 50.Re6 Qxe6 51.dxe6 Rf2+ gives the queen back to clear the file, and 53.e7 Rg2+ 54.Kxg2 e2 55.e8=Q e1=Q leaves Simagin's own passed pawn the one that counts.
  • 1961.02.03 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Polugaevsky, Lev 1-0 42 moves Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System URS-ch28 Final & Zonal The very next day, against Lev Polugaevsky, later a three-time Candidate. The queens come off at 23.Qxf7+ Rxf7 and Simagin wins a long two-bishops-and-rooks ending, trading everything at the right moment — 37.Bxd3 cxd3 38.Rxd3 — before 41.Rd7+ and 42.Ra1.
  • 1963.11.03 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Keres, Paul 1-0 65 moves Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Steinitz Deferred Alekhine Memorial Alekhine Memorial, Moscow 1963 against Paul Keres, then still one of the strongest players alive. Sixty-five moves, and Simagin wins it with a knight against a bishop: 49.Na4 Bxa5 50.Nxc5 Bb6 51.Nxa6 takes the queenside apart, and the b-pawn goes through at 62.b6.
  • 1965.10.04 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Bruentrup, Dieter 1-0 16 moves Indian Defense: Reversed Chigorin Defense Zinnowitz International DSV-02 Zinnowitz 1965 — sixteen moves, the shortest game in the archive, and the finish is a joke at Black's expense. Simagin plays 11.e5 and 12.Nxe5 to open the b8–h2 diagonal, and after 13...Ra7 has boxed the rook in, 16.Bb8 simply parks a bishop behind it and wins the exchange with the whole position collapsing.
  • 1966.01.18 Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich vs Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich 0-1 34 moves Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Neo-Modern Variation, Early Deviations Moscow Training Moscow training tournament 1966, a third win over Korchnoi and Black again. Korchnoi attacks with 12.g4 and 13.h4; Simagin gives up the g-pawn — 19...Nxg4 20.Bxg7 Rg8 21.Bd4 Qe4 — and the black queen takes over the position on its own, 24...Qxf2, 30...Qb5, 34...Qb5.
  • 1966.08.08 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Taimanov, Mark E 1-0 38 moves Benoni Defense: Czech Benoni Defense Kislovodsk International Kislovodsk 1966, Taimanov again — and this one ends in mate with two white queens on the board. 22.gxh5 and 23.h6 push the h-pawn through, 26.Rxg7+ Kf8 sacrifices the rook to keep it running, and 34.h7 Qh3+ 35.Kg1 Qxf3 36.h8=Q+ Ke7 37.f6+ Ke6 38.Qc8 is mate.
  • 1968.09.22 Simagin, Vladimir Pavlovich vs Nikolic, Stanimir 1-0 70 moves Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Maróczy Bind Kislovodsk International Kislovodsk, 22 September 1968 — seventy moves, and one of the last games Simagin ever played; he died of a heart attack at this tournament three days later, aged forty-nine, while holding the World Correspondence Championship he had just won. A Maróczy Bind ground down to a king-and-pawn race: 62.Rxe2 Rxe2+ 63.Kxe2, 65.Kxf4, and 70.g5.
EXPLORE ALL 271 GAMES