The semifinals were played late in 1989. At Gorky, Vyzhmanavin (10/13), Dvoiris 9 and Dreev 8½ classified. At the Latvian venue of Daugavpils, Smirin, Rozentalis and Aseev made 10/14; while Alexey Shirov finished with only 8. Kherson in Ukraine, Novikov and G.Kuzmin had 10½/15.