Moscow 1935 chess tournament

Moscow 1935 was the second international chess tournament held in Moscow, taking place from 15 February to 15 March 1935.[1] Salo Flohr and future world champion Mikhail Botvinnik tied for first, followed by former world champions Emanuel Lasker and José Raúl Capablanca.

Tournament field

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The single round-robin tournament was organized along the lines of Moscow 1925, with twelve Soviet players and eight international players.[2] Of the twelve Soviets, only four, Grigory Levenfish, Peter Romanovsky, Ilya Rabinovich and Fedir Bohatyrchuk had played at the 1925 event.[2]

Salo Flohr (Czechoslovakia) was internationally renowned and considered a world championship contender. Later, Flohr would be in the inaugural group to receive the grandmaster title when it was introduced by FIDE in 1950.[3] Mikhail Botvinnik (Soviet Union) was known as a rising star at age 24 and two years earlier had drawn a match with Flohr.[4] He would later become world champion in 1948. Botvinnik and Flohr (together with Levenfish) jumped out to an early lead in the tournament. After round 15, Flohr led Botvinnik by half a point. Botvinnik won in round 16 while Flohr only drew to bring the two into a first-place tie, the tournament's ultimate result as both players drew all their games in the final three rounds. Botvinnik had scored only 50% in his final nine games.[4]

Emanuel Lasker (Germany) and José Raúl Capablanca (Cuba) were former world champions. At age 66, Lasker was undefeated, beating Capablanca in their individual game and finishing third, a half point ahead of Capablanca in fourth place.[2] Reuben Fine hailed Lasker's result at age 66 as "a biological miracle."[5] Rudolph Spielmann (Austria), finished fifth.[2]

Crosstable

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# Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Total
1   Salo Flohr (Czechoslovakia) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 13
2   Mikhail Botvinnik (Soviet Union) ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 13
3   Emanuel Lasker (Germany) ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 12½
4   José Raúl Capablanca (Cuba) ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 12
5   Rudolf Spielmann (Austria) ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 11
6   Ilya Kan (Soviet Union) ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 10½
7   Grigory Levenfish (Soviet Union) ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 10½
8   Andor Lilienthal (Hungary) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 10
9   Viacheslav Ragozin (Soviet Union) ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 10
10   Peter Romanovsky (Soviet Union) 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 10
11   Ilya Rabinovich (Soviet Union) 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1
12   Nikolai Riumin (Soviet Union) ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ 1
13   Vladimir Alatortsev (Soviet Union) ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1
14   Victor Goglidze (Soviet Union) 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1
15   Georgy Lisitsin (Soviet Union) 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 9
16   Fedor Bohatirchuk (Soviet Union) 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 8
17   Gideon Ståhlberg (Sweden) 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8
18   Vasja Pirc (Yugoslavia) 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1
19   Vitaly Chekhover (Soviet Union) ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 1
20   Vera Menchik (England) ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0

Notes

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  1. ^ "Moscow (1935)".
  2. ^ a b c d Golombek 1977, p. 206
  3. ^ Hooper & Whyld 1992, pp. 141–142
  4. ^ a b Pachman 1972, p. 100
  5. ^ Fine 1976, p. 51

References

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