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 Pyotr 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 Though normally conferred for life, it was revoked in the case of Alla Kushnir and Viktor Korchnoi following their defection from the Soviet Union.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 Pyotr Romanovsky International Master 1940 Nikolai Riumin 1941 International Master 1942 Fedor Duz-Khotimirsky 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 Viacheslav Ragozin Grandmaster 1948 Vasily Smyslov Grandmaster 1948 Salo Flohr Grandmaster 1950 Vladas Mikėnas Grandmaster (retrospective award) 1951 David Bronstein Grandmaster 1952 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 Grandmaster of Chess Composition 1960 Viktor Korchnoi Grandmaster 1960 Tigran Petrosian Grandmaster 1960 Mikhail Tal Grandmaster 1962 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 Maia Chiburdanidze Grandmaster 1985 Garry Kasparov Grandmaster 1986 Irina Levitina Woman Grandmaster 1987 Elena Akhmilovskaya Woman Grandmaster 1987 Artur Yusupov Grandmaster 1989 Rafael Vaganian Grandmaster 1990 Liudmila Belavenets ICCF Grandmaster 1990 Alexander Beliavsky Grandmaster 1990 Marta Litinskaya Woman Grandmaster 1991 Vladimir Zagorovsky ICCF Grandmaster 1991 Mark Taimanov Grandmaster

References

See also Chess title