[[File:Vasily_Panov.jpg|thumb|Vasily Panov]] '''Vasily Nikolayevich Panov''' ({{langx|ru|Васи́лий Никола́евич Пано́в}}, November 1, 1906 – January 13, 1973) was a Soviet [[chess]] player, author, and journalist. Winner of the [[Moscow City Chess Championship|Moscow City Championship]] in 1929, he also played in five [[USSR Chess Championship]]s from 1935 to 1948. His greatest tournament victory was [[Kiev]], 1938. He was awarded the [[International Master]] title by [[FIDE]] in 1950. The website Chessmetrics.com, which assigns retroactive ratings to older players, ranks Panov as 21st in the world in 1948. This ranking was higher than that of many Grandmasters. In 1950s his chess results started to decline but his popularity as a chess writer kept on increasing. Panov is best known for his chess writings and theoretical work on the [[chess opening|openings]]. He was chess correspondent for ''[[Izvestia]]'' from 1942 to 1965. His many books include a beginners' guide, biographies of [[Alexander Alekhine|Alekhine]] and [[José Capablanca|Capablanca]], and ''Kurs debyutov'' (1957), Russia's best-selling book on the [[chess openings]]. He has also written some non-chess poems, articles and plays.
==Contribution to openings== {{chess notation|pos=section}} Panov contributed greatly to the theory of the [[Caro–Kann Defence]] and the [[Ruy Lopez]]. A variation of the Caro-Kann starting with the moves 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 is known as the Panov Attack (sometimes Panov–Botvinnik Attack). He is also credited with a sound variation of [[Alekhine's Defence]] for White, 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.h3, known as the Panov Variation.
==Books== * ''Comprehensive Chess Openings'', by [[Yakov Estrin]] and Vasily Panov, in three volumes, Pergamon, 1980. {{ISBN|0-08-024113-1}} (for set of three volumes in flexicover)
==References== *{{cite book | author=[[David Vincent Hooper|Hooper, David]] and [[Kenneth Whyld]] | title=[[The Oxford Companion to Chess]] | publisher=Oxford University | year=1996 | isbn=0-19-280049-3}} *{{chessgames player|id=20507}}
==Further reading== * V. Panov, ''Sorok let za shakmatnoi doskoi'' (1966), an autobiography with 50 games * [[Yakov Estrin|Ya. B. Estrin]], ''Vasily Panov'' (1986), 80 games
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