USSR vs. the Rest of the World

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.


Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1970

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 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Players 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)

London, England, 1984

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 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Players 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)

Madrid, Spain, 1988

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        

Moscow, Russia, 2002

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\WorldAlexei 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