The Scourge of Mighty Champions, part 1

Vladimir Makogonov was born in Nakhichevan in 1904. During the 1930s and 1940s, he was one of the strongest players in USSR, with best results being 3rd in Leningrad-Moscow 1939 and 2nd in Sverdlovsk 1943. After the end of practical career, he became a renowned chess coach. He worked with Vasily Smyslov when Smyslov became World Champion in 1957, and he was the first chess coach of a young Garry Kasparov.

Makogonov earned a nickname "The Scourge of Mighty Champions", and he fully deserved it: throughout his career, he defeated Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky, Lilienthal, Flohr and many strong Soviet masters and grandmasters.

Vladimir Makogonov was awarded a honorary Grandmaster title in 1987, when he was 83 years old. He died in 1993.

Here are some of his games against the "mighty champions".