Career
His greatest tournament victory was Kiev, 1938. Awarded the International Master title by FIDE in 1950, Panov is best known for his chess writings and theoretical work on the openings. He was chess correspondent for Izvestia from 1942 to 1965.
His many books include a beginners" guide, biographies of Alekhine and Capablanca, and Kurs debyutov (1957), Russia"s best-selling book on the chess opening.
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).