Mark Yevgenyevich Taimanov was born in Kharkov, Ukraine (formerly USSR) and was awarded the IM title in 1950 and the GM title in 1952. Despite this, he never devoted himself fully to chess, splitting his time and talents between the game and his career as a concert pianist. He still enjoyed several tournament successes over his lengthy career, particularly in the years 1950 to 1956 when he was considered to be among the top ten players in the world. He was a World Championship Candidate in 1953 and 1971, finishing 8th in the 1953 tournament, while in the Fischer - Taimanov Candidates Quarterfinal (1971), he famously lost to Fischer 6-0. Although he never beat Fischer, he won many games against world champions, beating Botvinnik (twice), Smyslov (thrice), Tal (thrice), Petrosian (four times), Spassky (thrice), and Karpov.
He was more successful in national tournaments: he played in 23 USSR Championships from 1948 to 1976, which is a record equaled only by Efim Geller. In the 1952 Soviet Championship, he tied for first with Mikhail Botvinnik, but lost to him in their playoff for the title*. However, he won the title in 1956 after a play-off with Yuri L Averbakh and Boris Spassky. Playing hors concours, he won the Latvian Championship in 1949, and the Leningrad Championship in 1948, 1950, 1951, 1961 (jointly) and 1973. In 1993 and 1994 he won the World Senior Championship. In 2008, he played in his last FIDE rated tournament.
Taimanov has authored important opening works on the Dutch and Nimzo-Indian Defences, and on the Reti Opening.
As an opening theoretician, he left a legacy of openings that bear his name, including a variation in the Benoni, the King's Indian, and most notably the Sicilian, Taimanov Variation (B46) (1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.♘xd4 ♘c6 5.♘c3 a6).
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Wikipedia article: Mark Taimanov
Kibitzing
