XXXI. Championship of the USSR Leningrad 1963 Score Sheet Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi and Alexey Stepanovich Suetin

Handwritten player sheet of game number 105 between Kortschnoi and Suetin at the XXXI Championship of the USSR Leningrad 1963. Quarto (10 3/4" x 5 1/2") with the handwritten signature of Grandmaster Viktor Kortschnoi and the abbreviation of Grandmaster Alexej Suetin.

The 31st Soviet Chess Championship was held in the city of Leningrad from November 23 to December 27, 1963. Twenty of the Soviet Union's strongest masters and grandmasters competed in the round robin event, with only two notable absences: the newly crowned world champion Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian and the newly deposed Mikhail Botvinnik. As usual, the field was composed chiefly of players who had qualified from the Soviet semi-finals held earlier in the year: Viacheslav Osnos, Boris Spassky, Alexey Suetin, and Igor Bondarevsky qualified from Kharkov; Lev Polugaevsky, Iivo Nei, Arkady Novopashin, and Alexander Zakharov qualified from Moscow; Ratmir Kholmov, Leonid Stein, Eduard Gufeld, and Semyon Furman qualified from Sverdlovsk; and Aivars Gipslis, Vladimir Bagirov, David Bronstein, and Janis Klovans qualified from Alma-Ata. Four invitations were also granted to former Soviet champions: Mark Taimanov, Viktor Korchnoi (the defending titleholder), Efim Geller, and Yuri Averbakh. The evenly matched field saw a three-way tie for first by the final, which was followed by a playoff from which Leonid Stein emerged as the champion. It was the first of what would be three Soviet crowns for Stein, and signaled his arrival as one of the world's strongest players.

After drawing his first seven games Stein produced an astonishing burst of 5.5 of 6 to lead after thirteen rounds. Bronstein was recovering while Geller, Spassky and Cholmov continued to hold their high placings. Every half point was vital at this stage. With three rounds to go, the issue was still open. The Eighteenth round produced two vital results: Korchnoi, who had fought his way back among the leaders lost to Taimov and Suetin's game with Stein was a draw. This meant that Cholmov and Spassky lead by 1/2 point from Stein and Bronstein with Suetin and Geller a further 1/2 point behind. Suetin and Geller won and so the final was a tie first through third with Spassky, Cholmov and Stein and fourth through sixth Bronstein Geller and Suetin. A double round play-off for first place resulted in Spassky losing t Stein and a win over Cholmov and Stein became the new Soviet Champion.

The game Zukertort Opening: Sicilian Invitation with 44 moves was won by · Korchnoi. Suetin placed fourth half a point behind the leader and Korchnoi tenth.

Condition: The sheet is partially tonrd and punched else very good.