Evgeni Vasiukov - Grandmaster, Peak Form

Grandmaster, Peak Form

Vasiukov scored his best result to date when he won the 1961 Belgrade Open, ahead of Svetozar Gligorić. Then, in the Moscow International of 1961, he tied for first place with Smyslov at 7.5/11. These two fine finishes earned him the Grandmaster title, later that year. In the 1961 Moscow Championship, he tied for 3rd-5th places with 11/17, behind winners Bronstein and Leonid Shamkovich. Qualifying again for the Soviet final at Baku 1961 (URS-29ch), he showed enormous improvement to tie for 4th-5th places, with 12/20, as Spassky won. This would prove to be his best performance at that level. At the 1962 Moscow International, Vasiukov ended up 2nd with 9.5/15, behind winner Yuri Averbakh. Vasiukov proved his grandmastership at East Berlin 1962 with a powerful victory, at 11.5/15, ahead of Leonid Stein. Vasiukov also tied for first in the 1962 Moscow Championship, his fourth title there.

During his peak years, from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, Vasiukov scored wins in individual games over many top Soviet players, such as Smyslov, Bronstein, Tigran Petrosian, Mikhail Tal, Paul Keres, Mark Taimanov, Efim Geller, and Lev Polugaevsky. He was unable to defeat top-ranking Soviet stars such as Viktor Korchnoi, Anatoly Karpov, Spassky, or Stein.