Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was a Soviet and Russian chess player. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess.
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions. Smyslov twice tied for first place at the Soviet Championships, and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won is an all-time record. In five European Team Championships, Smyslov won ten gold medals.
Paul Keres was an Estonian chess player and writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s and in 1950, was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE on its inaugural list.
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet chess champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific writer on the subject of chess. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation, and wrote most of his books during the Cold War. The importance and breadth of Kotov's work rank him among the all-time greats in this field.
Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet and Russian chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions. He won four Ukrainian SSR Championship titles and shared first in the 1991 World Seniors' Championship, winning the title outright in 1992.
Alexander Kazimirovich Tolush was a Soviet chess grandmaster. He was one of Boris Spassky's mentors. Tolush was born and died in Saint Petersburg. He earned the title of International Master (IM) in 1950, Grandmaster (GM) in 1953, and International Master of Correspondence Chess (IMC) in 1965.
Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin was a Soviet chess player, writer and editor. He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess.
Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky was a Soviet Russian chess player, trainer, and chess author. He held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess. Bondarevsky shared the 1940 Soviet title, and later coached World Champion Boris Spassky.
The 1948 World Chess Championship was a quintuple round-robin tournament played to determine the new World Chess Champion following the death of the previous champion Alexander Alekhine in 1946. The tournament marked the passing of control of the championship title to FIDE, the International Chess Federation which had been formed in 1924. Mikhail Botvinnik won the five-player championship tournament, beginning the era of Soviet domination of international chess that would last over twenty years without interruption.
At the World Chess Championship 1963, Tigran Petrosian narrowly qualified to challenge Mikhail Botvinnik for the World Chess Championship, and then won the match to become the ninth World Chess Champion. The cycle is particularly remembered for the controversy surrounding the Candidates' Tournament at Curaçao in 1962, which resulted in FIDE changing the format of the Candidates Tournament to a series of knockout matches.
Vladimir Alexeyevich Alatortsev was a Soviet chess player, author, and administrator. During his career, he became champion of both Leningrad and Moscow, and played in the Soviet Chess Championship finals nine times, with his best competitive results in the 1930s. He placed clear second in the 1933 Soviet final. He retired from most competitive play in the early 1950s, moving into roles as a chess organizer, teacher, and coach. He served as chairman of the All-Union chess section from 1954 to 1959 and as chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1959 to 1961. By profession, he was a hydraulics engineer.
The Piatigorsky Cup was a triennial series of double round-robin grandmaster chess tournaments held in the United States in the 1960s. Sponsored by the Piatigorsky Foundation, only two events were held, in 1963 and 1966. The Piatigorsky Cups were the strongest U.S. chess tournaments since New York 1927.
Gunnar Uusi was an Estonian chess player who won the Estonian Chess Championship six times.
The 1940 Soviet Chess Championship was the 12th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 5 September to 3 October 1940 in Moscow. The tournament was won by Andor Lilienthal and Igor Bondarevsky. Twenty of the Soviet Union's strongest masters competed in the final, six of whom qualified in the semifinals in Kiev earlier that year: Eduard Gerstenfeld, Mark Stolberg, Igor Bondarevsky, Iosif Rudakovsky, Alexander Konstantinopolsky and Peter Dubinin. The remaining invitations went to the Soviet chess elite. Botvinnik did his worst championship, only drawing in 5th/6th position, losing matches to both winners. This championship marked the debut of the future world champion Vassily Smyslov (3rd) and Paul Keres (4th). USSR had expanded its territory in 1939-40, incorporating the Baltic states, which meant that the strong masters Paul Keres from Estonia and Vladimir Petrov from Latvia were able to participate. In 1941, the top six played a competition called Absolute Championship of Soviet Union, ending with Botvinnik's victory.
The 1947 Soviet Chess Championship was the 15th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 2 February to 8 March 1947 in Leningrad. The tournament was won by Paul Keres. Mikhail Botvinnik was absent as a sign of his displeasure over the lack of good faith by the Soviet authorities in negotiating for a World Championship match-tournament.
The 1951 Soviet Chess Championship was the 19th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 11 November to 14 December 1951 in Moscow. The tournament was won by Paul Keres. The final were preceded by quarter-finals events and four semifinals.
Vasily Mikhailovich Byvshev was a Russian chess master. He qualified three times for the USSR Chess Championship. Byvshev is best known for his accomplishments as a chess teacher. He was coach of women's world champion Lyudmila Rudenko and FIDE world champion Alexander Khalifman.
The 1957 Soviet Chess Championship was the 24th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 20 January to 22 February 1957 in Moscow. The tournament was won by Mikhail Tal. The final were preceded by quarterfinals events at Frunze, Tallinn, Yerevan ; semifinals at Leningrad, Kharkov and Tbilisi.
The 1960 Soviet Chess Championship was the 27th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 26 January to 27 February 1960 in Leningrad. The tournament was won by Viktor Korchnoi. The final were preceded by semifinals events at Cheliabinsk, Tallinn e Yerevan. Mikhail Tal was missing, preparing for his world title match against Botvinnik. Paul Keres was in Cuba as part of a cultural delegation from Estonia.
The 1968 Soviet Chess Championship was the 36th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 30 December 1968 to 1 February 1969 in Alma-Ata. The tournament was won by Lev Polugaevsky who defeats Alexander Zaitsev in a play-off match. The non-attendance of stars such as David Bronstein, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, all away at foreign tournaments made it not too strong an event, especially in conjunction with the absence of Paul Keres. Mikhail Tal was ill again, after a year in which he spent a lot of time in hospital under observation.
Paul Keres 
