The largest country in the world, and the one that has naturally produced the best chessplayers, was the Soviet Union. Players from the Soviet Union would consistently trounce players from the rest of the world until the breakup of the U.S.S.R., after which the rest of the world became victorious.
For all games in this section, a win for the USSR is indicated by a black square, a win for the World is indicated by a white square, and a draw is indicated by a grey square.
The first such tournament took place between March 29 and April 6, 1970 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The USSR won 20.5 to 19.5. (10 wins for the USSR, 9 wins for the World, and 21 draws).
Players from the U.S.S.R. | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Players from the rest of the World |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paul Keres | Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia) | ||||
Efim Geller | Svetozar Gligoric (Yugoslavia) | ||||
Vassily Smyslov | Sammy Reshevsky (USA)/Fridrik Olafsson (Iceland) (Round 4) | ||||
Mark Taimanov | Wolfgang Uhlmann (East Germany) | ||||
Mikhail Botvinnik | Milan Matulovic (Yugoslavia) | ||||
Mikhail Tal | Miguel Najdorf (Argentina) | ||||
Boris Spassky/Leonid Stein (Round 4) | Bent Larsen (Denmark) | ||||
Viktor Korchnoi | Lajos Portisch (Hungary) | ||||
Lev Polugaevsky | Vlastimil Hort (Czechoslovakia) | ||||
Tigran Petrosian | Bobby Fischer (USA) |
The second tournament took place in London, England between June 24 and June 29, 1984. The USSR won 21-19 (8 wins for the USSR, 6 wins for the World, and 26 draws). Note that Viktor Kortschnoj defected from the USSR to play for Switzerland.
Players from the U.S.S.R. | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Players from the rest of the World |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alexander Beliavsky | Yasser Seirawan (USA)/Bent Larsen (Denmark) (Rounds 3-4) | ||||
Anatoly Karpov | Ulf Andersson (Sweden) | ||||
Garry Kasparov | Jan Timman (The Netherlands) | ||||
Mikhail Tal/Oleg Romanishin (Round 2) | John Nunn (England)/Murray Chandler (England) (Round 4) | ||||
Vassily Smyslov/Vladimir Tukmakov (Rounds 2-3) | Ljubomir Ljubojevic (Yugoslavia) | ||||
Yury Razuvaev | Robert Hubner (East Germany) | ||||
Lev Polugaevsky/Vladimir Tukmakov (Round 4) | Viktor Kortschnoj (Switzerland) | ||||
Rafael Vaganian | Zoltan Ribli (Hungary) | ||||
Artur Yusupov/Oleg Romanishin (Round 4) | Anthony Miles (England) | ||||
Andrei Sokolov/Oleg Romanishin (Round 3) | Eugenio Torre (Czechoslovakia)/Murray Chandler (England) (Round 3) |
The third tournament took place in Madrid, Spain between December 14 and December 18, 1988. The USSR won 32.5-31.5 (20 wins for the USSR, 19 wins for the World, and 25 draws. It should be noted that the time limit in these games was much shorter, so the players did not have as much time to consider their moves as they normally would. This may have affected the outcome.
USSR\World | Viktor Kortschnoj Switzerland |
Lajos Portisch Hungary |
Ulf Andersson Sweden |
Jonathan Speelman England |
Ljubomir Ljubojevic Yugoslavia |
Johann Hjartarson Iceland |
Jesus Nogueiras Cuba |
Miguel Illescas Cordoba Spain |
Garry Kasparov | ||||||||
Mikhail Gurevich | ||||||||
Alexander Chernin | ||||||||
Sergei Dolmatov | ||||||||
Alexander Beliavsky | ||||||||
Zurab Azmaiparashvili | ||||||||
Alexei Sokolov | ||||||||
Lev Psakhis |
By now, the U.S.S.R. has been divided into a number of independent countries, the largest of which is Russia. The Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia, formerly parts of the U.S.S.R., have now become part of the Rest of the World, giving the World an edge over Russia. Now the World emerges victorious with a score of 52-48 (19 wins for Russia, 23 wins for the World, and 58 draws.
Note: There were some spares brought in for this tournament - Sergei Rublevsky filled in for Peter Svidler, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Khalifman, and Alexander Motylev. Vadim Zviagintsev filled in for Anatoly Karpov, Alexei Dreev, and Alexander Motylev. Vladimir Akopian of Armenia filled in for Ilia Smirin, Nigel Short, and Judit Polgar. Zurab Azmaiparashvili of Georgia filled in for Viswanathan Anand, Nigel Short, and Judit Polgar.
Russia\World | Alexei Shirov Spain | Ruslan Ponomariov Ukraine | Vasyl Ivanchuk Ukraine | Boris Gelfand Israel | Viswanathan Anand India | Peter Leko Hungary | Ilia Smirin Israel | Teimour Radjabov Azerbaijan | Nigel Short England | Judit Polgar Hungary |
Evgeny Bareev | ||||||||||
Alexander Morozevich | ||||||||||
Peter Svidler | ||||||||||
Alexander Grischuk | ||||||||||
Anatoly Karpov | ||||||||||
Alexei Dreev | ||||||||||
Vladimir Kramnik | ||||||||||
Garry Kasparov | ||||||||||
Alexander Khalifman | ||||||||||
Alexander Motylev |