The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, April 16, 1961
Petrosian Wins in U.S.S.R. Chess Championship
Tigran Petrosian, leading most of the way, won the championship of the Soviet Union in one of the strongest tournaments of the year. He scored 13½-5½, winning nine games, drawing as many and losing only to a relative newcomer, 24-year-old Leonard Stein of the Ukraine.
Former champion Victor Korchnoi finished a close second with 13-6. He had been trailing until near the end when he scored 4½ points of his last five games. Stein, who defeated Boris Spassky in a vital game in the final round, finished in a tie for third with Ewfim Geller at 12-7. Stein defeated a total of six grandmasters to make himself the find of the tournament.
The four winners earned the right to represent Russia in the Interzonal Tournament later this year. Here they will meet Bobby Fischer, William Lombardy and Raymond Weinstein of the United States, and winners of other zonal tournaments throughout the world.
Former world champion Vassily Smyslov and Spassky tied for fifth with 11-8. Other good scores were Auerbach and Polugaevsky, 10½-8½, and Simagin and Taimanov, 10-9.
