For several years in the early to mid-1970s, he was part of the exceptionally deep class of Soviet masters which was just below international standard.

Merkurov was considered the greatest Soviet master of post-mortem masks.

There were eleven foreign stars and ten Soviet masters.

This was the first tournament victory by a Soviet master outside his own country.

Its Soviet masters later left it to rot.

The Soviet masters simply kept them waiting in their independence.

History, however, is likely to decide that although he did so reluctantly, in the end he carried out his Soviet masters' bidding.

Rather than going cold, out of contact with his Soviet masters, he'd likely try to make a fight of it.

They used it listlessly, watchfully, waiting for their former Soviet masters to do something.

And that was the way Poland's Soviet masters preferred it to be.