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List of Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR in chess

Badge for an Honoured Master of Sports of the Soviet Union

Honored Master of Sport was a Soviet state honour, introduced on 27 May 1934 by the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union. It was awarded by the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sport to athletes, including chess players, for outstanding performance. The award was in the form of a badge and certificate. 22 athletes were selected for this award in June 1934, including Peter Romanovsky. Out of over 4000 awards, 52 were given to chess players, including three problem composers and two correspondence chess players. Though normally conferred for life, it was revoked in the case of Alla Kushnir and Viktor Korchnoi following their defection from the Soviet Union. Mark Taimanov also had his award revoked in 1971 following his crushing defeat at the hands of Bobby Fischer, but this was restored in 1991.

Title holders

Year Name Other title
1934 Peter Romanovsky International Master
1940 Nikolai Riumin
1941 Viktor Goglidze International Master
1942 Fyodor Duz-Chotimirsky International Master
1943 Vladimir Makogonov Grandmaster (retrospective award)
1945 Mikhail Botvinnik Grandmaster
1947 Nikolai Zubarev International Master
1947 Grigory Levenfish Grandmaster
1947 Vladimir Nenarokov International Master
1948 Isaac Boleslavsky Grandmaster
1948 Igor Bondarevsky Grandmaster
1948 Paul Keres Grandmaster
1948 Alexander Kotov Grandmaster
1948 Andor Lilienthal Grandmaster
1948 Vyacheslav Ragozin Grandmaster
1948 Vassily Smyslov Grandmaster
1948 Salo Flohr Grandmaster
1950 Vladas Mikėnas Grandmaster (retrospective award)
1951 David Bronstein Grandmaster
1952 Pyotr Dubinin International Master
1952 Olga Rubtsova Woman Grandmaster
1953 Elisaveta Bykova International Master
1953 Lyudmila Rudenko International Master
1956 Genrikh Kasparyan Grandmaster of Chess Composition
1957 Kira Zvorykina Woman Grandmaster
1960 Vladimir Korolkov Grandmaster of Chess Composition
1960 Viktor Korchnoi Grandmaster
1960 Tigran Petrosian Grandmaster
1960 Mikhail Tal Grandmaster
1962 Lev Loshinsky Grandmaster of Chess Composition
1963 Efim Geller Grandmaster
1964 Nona Gaprindashvili Grandmaster
1965 Yuri Averbakh Grandmaster
1965 Boris Spassky Grandmaster
1965 Leonid Stein Grandmaster
1967 Tatiana Zatulovskaya Woman Grandmaster
1969 Lev Polugaevsky Grandmaster
1971 Nana Alexandria Woman Grandmaster
1972 Alla Kushnir Woman Grandmaster
1974 Anatoly Karpov Grandmaster
1978 Maya Chiburdanidze Grandmaster
1985 Garri Kasparov Grandmaster
1986 Irina Levitina Woman Grandmaster
1987 Elena Akhmilovskaya Woman Grandmaster
1987 Artur Yusupov Grandmaster
1989 Rafael Vaganian Grandmaster
1990 Lyudmila Belavenets ICCF Grandmaster
1990 Alexander Beliavsky Grandmaster
1990 Marta Litinskaya Woman Grandmaster
1991 Vladimir Zagorovsky ICCF Grandmaster
1991 Mark Taimanov Grandmaster
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