Ratmir Kholmov - Grandmaster

Grandmaster

Kholmov scored one of the best results of his career to date with a tied 1st–2nd, along with Smyslov, at the Moscow International 1960 with 8.5/11. The same year FIDE awarded him the Grandmaster (GM) title. He won the Soviet semifinal at Novgorod 1961 with 13/16. In Baku, at URS-ch29 (December 1961), he scored 11/20 to tie for 8th–11th places. He was clear first at Bucharest 1962 with 11.5/15, ahead of Vladislav Shianovsky. He tied for 2nd–4th places in the Spartak Championship at Minsk 1962 with 11/17, behind Anatoly Bannik. Kholmov won at Kecskemét 1962 with 11/15, ahead of Lajos Portisch and László Szabó, who tied for 2nd–3rd places. He placed 4th in the URS-ch30 at Yerevan 1962 with 13/19, a point behind champion Korchnoi. Kholmov was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE in 1962.

In 1963 he shared 1st–3rd, with Boris Spassky and Leonid Stein, at Leningrad at the 31st Soviet Chess Championships. Stein prevailed in the three man playoff. Consequently, Kholmov is arguably the strongest player of the era ranging from the 1940s through the 1960s to never hold the title of Soviet Champion. (Isaac Boleslavsky is the only other player of Kholmov's strength in that period to never hold the title.) At Sochi 1964, Kholmov tied 2nd–3rd places with 10/15, behind winner Nikolai Krogius. Then Kholmov suffered perhaps his greatest career disappointment in the Soviet Zonal tournament, Moscow 1964, where he scored 6/12 for 4th in a super-strong field, but fell one place short of advancing to the Interzonal stage. At Kiev in the URS-ch32 (1964/65), Kholmov tied 5th–6th places with 11.5/19, as Korchnoi won. He made a notable result at Havana 1965 with 5th place on 14.5/21, as Smyslov won, but Kholmov defeated Bobby Fischer and finished undefeated in the tournament. At Tbilisi 1966/67 for URS-ch34, he scored 10/20 to tie for 10th–12th places, as Stein won again.

Kholmov moved to Moscow in 1967 and lived there for the rest of his life. He won at Belgrade 1967 with 6.5/9. One of his best career results was 2nd in a very strong field at Leningrad 1967 with 12/16, behind Korchnoi. He was 4th in an excellent field at Skopje 1967 with 11.5/17, as Fischer won. Kholmov won at Havana 1968 with a powerful 12/14, ahead of Stein and Alexey Suetin.

His play in the next four Soviet finals continued to be strong. At Alma-Ata 1968/69 for URS-ch36, he placed 6th–9th with 10.5/19, as Lev Polugaevsky and Alexander Zaitsev won. The next Interzonal qualifier was URS-ch37 at Moscow 1969, and he finished tied 7th–9th with 12.5/22, with Polugaevsky and Petrosian winning; this was a point short of advancing to the Interzonal. At Riga 1970 for URS-ch38, he dropped a bit with just 10/21 for a tied 13th–14th, as Korchnoi won. Then in Baku 1972 for URS-ch40, he had 10.5/21 for a tied 10th–11th place, with Tal winning. This was his last Soviet final. His form in his late 40s had substantially fallen from his best years, and a new generation of Soviet players would earn most of the top tournament places and international opportunities.

Kholmov got just one chance to represent the USSR in a team event at full international level when he played board ten at the European Team Championships, Kapfenberg 1970. He won the board gold medal with 4.5/6 (+3 =3 −0), and helped his side to team gold. Kholmov did play in many national matches, such as against Hungary and Yugoslavia, generally scoring well.

The Chessmetrics website statistically estimates his retroactive ranking at a minimum of Top 25 in the world from 1956 to 1970, with his peak ranking being 8th in 1960–61. They further estimate that his peak rating was 2736, also in 1961.