Vladimir Makogonov

Vladimir Andreyevich Makogonow (* August 27, 1904; † January 2, 1993 ) was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who came from Azerbaijan.

Life

Makogonow was born in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan but lived most of his life in Baku. In 1950 he became an International Master. In 1987, the title of Honorary Grand Master, he was awarded by FIDE.

Makogonow reached no great name recognition outside the Soviet Union, but was highly regarded in his homeland as a player and coach. Between 1947 and 1952 he won five Azerbaijani chess championships. His best results in the Soviet championships were two fourth place finishes in 1937 and 1939.

His best tournament results included:

• 3rd place Leningrad - Moscow 1939 behind Salo Flohr and Samuel Reshevsky
• 2nd place Sverdlovsk 1943 behind Mikhail Botvinnik

As a player Makogonow was known for his positional style. He made some contributions to the theory of chess openings.

According to him, the following variants are named:

• The Makogonow variant of the King's Indian Defense:

• The Makogonow version of the Grunfeld Indian Defense:

• The Tartakower - Makogonov - Bondarewski system (short- TMB system) as a development of Tartakower Defence in the Queen's Gambit Declined.

His competition season he finished in the 1950s; then he was successful as a chess coach. So he coached Vasily Smyslov in the preparatory phase of the chess world championship match in 1957 against Michael Botvinnik. He also coached Vladimir Bagirov Genrik Tschepukaitis and finally the young Garry Kasparov.

His brother Mikhail Makogonow (1900-1943) was also a Soviet chess master.