Igor Bondarevsky played in the 5th Russian Championship, Gorky 1935, scoring 4/9 points for a tied 6-7th place; the winner was Alexander Tolush.

[2] At Moscow 1937, his first international event, Bondarevsky struggled with a score of 2½/7, for a tied 7-8th place; the winner was Reuben Fine; however, he recovered with a solid performance in his first Soviet Chess Championship (at its tenth edition, Tbilisi 1937), with 9½/19 and a shared 10-12th place; the winner was Grigory Levenfish.

Bondarevsky joined the Soviet élite by placing sixth at the 11th USSR Championship, Leningrad 1939, with 10/17, a performance sufficient to automatically qualify him for the 12th final.

He reached his career peak the following year by sharing first place with Andor Lilienthal at the 12th USSR championship, Moscow 1940, ahead of Paul Keres, Isaac Boleslavsky and Botvinnik.

Botvinnik who failed badly in the regular championship 1940 won that additional event in 1941, with the runner-up being Keres, after which came Boleslavsky, Vasily Smyslov, Lilienthal and Bondarevsky in last place.