GM Yuri S Balashov

Yuri Balashov is a Russian grandmaster and GM Anatoly Karpov's friend and longtime coach. Balashov won the Moscow championship in 1970 and was a runner-up to Karpov in the 1976 Soviet championship.

In 1980 at the Chess Olympiad, he won both team and individual gold, scoring 7.5/10 on the first reserve board. He shared first place at Lone Pine in 1977 (6.5/9 with GMs Dragutin Sahovic, Oscar Panno, and Nona Gaprindashvili) and Wijk aan Zee in 1982 (8.5/13 with GM John Nunn). He took first at Karlovac (1979), Helsinki (1984), and Dortmund (1987).

Balashov was Karpov's second in three World Chess Championships: in 1978, 1981, and 1984. Karpov: "Balashov lived on chess and for chess.... I've never seen such a committed and devoted worker."