"USSR" still stronger than "Yugoslavia"
Some other chess news got priority, but of course we haven't missed the very special event that was held at the Central Chess Club in Moscow last Friday and Saturday. A friendly chess match was organised between the "Soviet-Union" and "Yugoslavia", and big names that we know from the old times, such as Ivkov, Averbakh, Velimirovic and Taimanov, were playing in Moscow. The USSR won 11-9 after scoring 6-4 on day one and a 5-5 tie on day two. Friendy matches between these two countries used to be a tradition (throughout the 1950s to 1980s, these matches were organized almost every year) and this 2007 edition was actually already the 22nd time it was organized. In all those years, Yugoslavia never managed to beat the USSR, and this week they didn't succeed either. The first match was held in Belgrade, 1956, and from that moment matches were held almost every year for two and a half decades, alternating between the USSR and Yugoslavia. During the turbulent last years of the 1980s, the tradition came to an end, and eventually the two countries suffered the same fate. But gradually life has become more stable, and the time has come to revive the tradition. In the match, the USSR had Viktor Korchnoi playing for board one. Apparently the match was friendly enough for the legendary Viktor to act two more days of his long life as a Soviet! ;-) He played his two games against Svetozar Gligori?тİ, who was the leading Yugoslav player for decades. Other famous names in the match included Ivkov, Vasiukov, Matanovic, Taimanov, Velimirovic, Balashov, Zaitsev and Averbakh.1st Round, 8 November 2007Yugoslavia - USSR 4-6 S. Gligori?тİ - V. Kortchnoi 0-1 B. Ivkov - E. Vasiukov ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? A. Matanovic - M. Taimanov ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? D. Velimirovic - Y. Balashov 1-0 N. Karaklaic - I. Zaitsev ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? S. Vlahovic - Y. Averbakh ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? Z. Spasojevic - V. Vorotnikov ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? A. Savic - A. Machulsky ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? M. Lazarevic - E. Fatalibekova 0-1 K. Blagojevic - L. Zaitseva 0-12nd Round, 9 November 2007
USSR - Yugoslavia 5-5 V. Kortchnoi - S. Gligori?тİ ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? E. Vasiukov - B. Ivkov ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? M. Taimanov - A. Matanovic ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? Y. Balashov - D. Velimirovic ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? I. Zaitsev - N. Karaklaic ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? Y. Averbakh - S. Vlahovic 0-1 V. Vorotnikov - Z. Spasojevic 1-0 A. Machulsky - A. Savic ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? E. Fatalibekova - M. Lazarevic ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? L. Zaitseva - K. Blagojevic ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ?All the games in PGN here.
Guests Andor Lilienthal (l.) & Boris Postovsky
Svetozar Gligoric (l.) & Viktor Korchnoi
Yuri Averbakh
Aleksandar Matanovi?тİ (l.) & Mark Taimanov
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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