Sanakoev, Grigory Konstantinovich (17.04.1935)

Russian Correspondence Grandmaster (1984), World Correspondence Champion and by profession, a chemist. Retired, he is now managing a local chess club.

He began playing postal chess in the late 1950s. By postal standards, he made quick progress, finishing second in the sixth USSR Correspondence Championship (1963-65). This result earned him the admission to the qualifying tournament for the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) World Championship.

He entered into three world championship finals (the sixth, 1968-71; the tenth, 1978-84; and the twelfth, 1985-92), finishing respectively fifth, fourth, and finally first.

Author of World Champion at the Third Attempt (1997 and 1999).