CHAPTER 27

"Ararat" 1975

Cup Winners' Cup 1975/76

Eduard Markarov - No. 3 in the list of the best football players of the USSR in 1975

Eduard Markarov is certainly a player of the highest class, and it's hard for me to imagine Ararat without him.

                                                                                                      Arkady Andriasyan

“Of the playing football players, only Eduard Markarov is now a member of the Club 100,” wrote Valery Vinokurov, a well-known football columnist for the Football-Hockey weekly. “He has been scoring constantly, regularly, for many years now. his main quality, if it can be for a striker who scores a lot, still some main quality, is the ability to lead the team's game, to be an organizer of combinational actions, a dispatcher, a conductor... We talked with Markarov more than once, and he repeatedly spoke on our pages, but mostly shared the experience of a scorer.In recent conversations with him, I wanted to know how he relates to his second, if not first duty - to create scoring situations for partners.I will try to present the totality of Markarov's thoughts in the form of his monologue :

"If they say, and rightly so, that technical mastery is acquired in childhood and adolescence, then the passing culture, in my opinion, is acquired by a football player throughout his sports life. When I joined the team of masters, I did not differ in the ability to play a creative game "And I still remember how I was struck then by the high culture of passing Yuri Kuznetsov. It was from him that I received excellent passes from which I scored goals. Playing next to such a master, it was simply impossible to freeze in place, not to improve. And I immediately set myself the task: to develop the ability to give a pass that is timely, convenient for a partner and true in plan. They say that it is impossible to learn the latter, that the vision of the field is natural for a football player. Maybe this is so. I'm afraid to argue. But it is also indisputable that you can develop your understanding of the game.And it is absolutely indisputable that you can learn to give such a pass to a partner who would not require extra effort from him, so that after this pass the ball easily lays sitting under a leg convenient for the partner, so that the ball is sent with such force, with which it was difficult for the opponent to intercept it, but for the partner it was easy to master it. I affirm that it is possible to learn this.

But as in any other business, much depends on the character of the person. I have noticed for a long time that there are footballers who are most happy when they themselves score a goal. They cannot be blamed for it. And there are players who are happy when they manage to give a great pass. There are those who are delighted with a subtle, clever pass even when a good pass comes from an opposing player. These are the players who appreciate the pass in football so much, they are somehow especially close to me. And someone who has this attitude towards passing, I am sure, will always make great efforts to master this art. Such players are especially demanding of partners both in training and in the game, because they understand that no matter how beautiful the goals are, they are rare in football, and the constant beauty of the game is created thanks to good passes, a combination draw, which is always based on true pass.

I came from "Neftchi" to "Ararat" already at a fairly mature age. And I easily managed to find a common language with my partners precisely because we have a whole group of players in the team from whom you can get a good pass, who themselves respond to a good pass. In the best seasons for Ararat, it was easy for me to conduct a dispatching game, because Andriasyan, Zanazanyan, and forwards Ishtoyan and Kazaryan tried to find partners, play passes with them, combine team actions with individual ones.

But back to the past. When Banishevsky appeared in the center of Neftchi's attack after the departure of Yuri Kuznetsov, I pulled back a little and began to play the same role that Kuznetsov had previously played. That's when it came in handy that I did not waste time and tried to learn everything I could from Kuznetsov. Our third offensive partner was Tuaev, a typical winger. My main task in cooperation with him was the goal: how to tear him away from the defenders, give him the ball in the gap between the central and extreme defender, so that Tuaev could rush for the ball, and the extreme defender would have to turn around at that moment. Banishevsky's functions boiled down to the fact that he moved a lot at speed along the front of the attack, played well with his head, and could strike on the move with any foot. I constantly had a choice in interaction with him, I could make different decisions, and he understood them.

In a word, it was both pleasant and interesting to interact with Tuaev and Banishevsky. However, I also had difficulties. It turned out that their game largely depended on me, because I had to serve them. I often had no one to get the ball from. I had to look for it, spend a lot of effort, and then sometimes there was not enough freshness to execute the pass the way I wanted, putting my soul into it. True, when Aleskerov was still playing in our midfield, it was easier for me: he himself was looking for me, and the ball sent by him found me. Of those who played in the middle line later, only Gadzhiev could provide such help with a pass, but he was unstable.

It still hurts me that I didn’t manage to try my hand at the national team paired with Banishevsky. Gradually, over the years of playing with him and with Tuaev, our interaction improved so much that I more and more often found myself on the shock line myself, having previously played “wall” with them. But it was then, perhaps, the only way for me to get to the gate. Therefore, a certain number of goals had to be scored from difficult positions, after the ball either bounced in an unexpected direction, or was not accurately beaten off by the opponent, or was not quite accurately addressed to me by a partner. I didn’t have a chance to play in the same squad with Streltsov. Therefore, only from the side I studied his passes and understood that the partners, thanks to his passes in an advantageous position, sometimes even unexpectedly for themselves, apparently should have experienced the same feelings that I once experienced when speaking next to Kuznetsov.

Performances in "Ararat" became a qualitatively new step for me in comparison with "Neftchi". But first, a small digression. Whatever data the nature of the young football player has awarded, he is obliged, first of all, to hone the blow. Unfortunately, I often see young talented football players whose talents have not been developed in children's teams, and I judge this by their shots. But both the goal and the correct pass depend on the blow, because, in the end, the pass is nothing more than a targeted blow. So, when I got to Ararat, I immediately realized that Andriasyan, for example, has a pass culture - a natural quality, but he constantly hones it. Sometimes it seems that Andriasyan overdoes the ball, and in such cases he is criticized for allegedly not giving a timely pass. But after all, he did not give it away, not because he did not see a partner or did not know how to send him the ball. He just doesn't want to make an obvious move, one that his opponents can figure out. Holding the ball, he is looking for a better move, waiting for the partners to create an opportunity for him for a new, more profitable continuation, and even then they will be grateful to him - the ball will not linger with him.

Zanazanyan is distinguished by his honed ability to give a long pass. But, oddly enough, his short pass is worse: he somehow does not calculate the force of impact. And he works on long and short passes a lot. Sometimes his long pass, which turns out to be the second or third touch of the ball in our team, puts me or his other partner one on one with the opposing goalkeeper. At the same time, a favorable moment for scoring appears as if out of nothing.

...The thirty-seventh championship of the USSR "Ararat" began with two victories over "Dnipro" (3:0) and CSKA (1:0, in Moscow). In a match with the Ukrainians, Eduard Markarov scored his 120th goal in the national championships. Watching the actions of Ararat's middle line in the Moscow match against CSKA, I involuntarily thought about how much Markarov gave the team. How much has Andriasyan's passing culture increased. Five years of communication with the great passer did not go unnoticed for Arkady. And in the actions of young Ogane-syan there is much from Markarov. The remarkable "techie" Sergey Salnikov noted in this match that the army's "offensive design looks primitive, since it is built on hastily directed long and often mounted passes, in the hope of tall forwards. And how sometimes one or two intermediate moves are needed to so that the attack acquires logic and genuine, not imaginary sharpness!

Substantially, better than any verbal agitation, this truth was proved throughout the match by Andria-hsiang, Markarov, Petrosyan and young Oganesyan, alternately, sometimes jointly and with equal success, standing on the control watch. The game of the southerners, especially against the background of the stereotyped moves of the Muscovites, looked inventive and picturesque. The contrast was bright and impressive. The fact that each of the controllers, in accordance with the situation, in the blink of an eye changed the duties of a "passer" to a sharp-attacking mission, imparted additional dynamism to the style of the Yerevan residents.

Before the match with Kyiv Dynamo, Oleksandr Kovalenko was seen off. A little later, before the cup game with the “Dawn”, at the whim of Maslova, her captain Hovhannes Zanazanyan and Nikolai Kazaryan will leave the team. At the end of the year, Levon Ishtoyan and Sergey Poghosyan will join them. “Recently, the game of extreme forwards has been discussed again. I am for playing on the flanks. But without a pronounced flank player,” Victor Maslov explained in a peculiar way the reason for excommunication from the team of Kazarian and Ishtoyan and, clarifying his thought, continued: “ I am for the game sharp, explosive, when the same football player is not constantly on the edge, but when different players appear here in a timely and unexpected manner. We watched on television how space ships set off. A powerful explosion, rockets take off at an unusual speed. And they don’t have wings. Yes, yes, those same wings that we perceive from childhood as an indispensable attribute of flight. "

Evaluating the results of the first round (the team was then in second place), Nikita Simonyan wrote: "Today, Ararat demonstrates a tendency to play the game without pronounced wingers. Such an adjustment is dictated by serious motives, and Ararat's coach V. Maslov , of course, it is clearer than many others how to use the available forces, based on the real state and sports form of one or another of its players, how to build a game.The trump cards of Yerevan remain the same - skillful possession of the ball, ingenuity.The game of the team is distinguished by entertainment "Ararat", as they say, looks, although, of course, not in all matches. It is interesting to introduce Hovhannisyan into the main team, a technical rock player who sees the field, combinational. Mirzoyan strengthened the line of defense. They continue to play a leading role in Ararat "Markarov and Andriasyan. They act subtly and intelligently on the field and skillfully direct their partners."

Yes, thanks to the June breakthrough (8 out of 8!) "Ararat" moved to the second line in the championship table. In the matches with "Zorya" and "Pakhtakor", won by Yerevan with a score of 2:0, Markarov scored a goal, and in both cases after Nazar Petrosyan's crosses. "Ararat" is behaving boldly, which is confirmed by the distribution of points scored and, most importantly, by the nature of the game, Lev Filatov noted. - I saw his game in Leningrad with Zenit in the last round and the other day in Moscow with Torpedo. He won the first - 2:1. In the second - a draw. In both cases, "Ararat" played to win, and did not consider itself obliged to defend away from "Hrazdan". But his opponents - and the "Zenith" and "Torpedo" - from among those in dire need of points and would hardly have missed the opportunity to "profit" by playing at home. In the game, "Zenith", as it seemed to me, was discouraged by the fact that visitors "behave badly" and do not take their place near their gates. Faced with the need to defend for the most part, the Leningraders did not manage to show how they build the game in general, what they are capable of, and acted as they had to.

In the match "Torpedo" - "Ararat" a magnificent goal was scored in all respects, and it's impossible not to say about it. The combination was played wide and fast. Markarov from the middle of the field threw the ball to the left flank of Petrosyan, he went forward and shot along the gate, Andriasyan, having already run past the ball, somehow reversed his movement, froze, turned around and slightly rolled the ball back to the running Hovhannisyan, who hit on the move into the corner and under the crossbar. At that moment, it was impossible not to remember that the yellow-and-green colors that Ararat was wearing were the colors of the Brazilian national team."

Unfortunately, high-level games alternated with failures, and as a result, Ararat ended up in fifth place, just like last year. “In order to become true to the tactics of the time, the Yerevan “Ara-rat” had to undergo a serious restructuring last season,” Viktor Maslov summed up the year. “It was necessary to abandon the old-fashioned game with extreme forwards, without weakening the flank attacks. having, besides Markarov, clearly pronounced forwards of the modern type, we used players of a new type in the middle line.The main tactical subtlety of "Ararat", which made his game unlike the game of other teams, was that two such masters, how Andriasyan and Markarov, in tactical terms, acted unusually, changed places according to their feelings, depending on one or another development of game episodes.

In the championship of the 75th year, Markarov scored 10 goals and 4  already described. The remaining six he led against Dynamo Moscow (after an individual pass), SKA Rostov (one in each circle), Zenit Leningrad and the Moscow teams Torpedo, Lokomotiv, CSKA. Markarov scored two goals from 11 meters (SKA, CSKA), although before that he had not been engaged in this thankless task in Ararat.

Chief football statistician Konstantin Yesenin noted: “For the past four years, the only troublemaker was the “last of the Mohicans” Eduard Markarov. on the fifth. Markarov is going to hang up his boots on a carnation. It's a pity. In 1975, he scored 15 goals at the expense of the Club, and the same number remained to the "most-my-most" peak ... "

The 15 goals indicated by Yesenin included five goals scored by Markarov against the Cypriot "Anarto-sis" in the European Cup Winners' Cup. The Yerevan match with the Cypriots was held with the overwhelming advantage of "Ararat" and ended in a rout - 9:0! The return game was no longer of interest and ended in a draw - 1:1.

In the 1/8 finals "Ararat" was expected by the formidable "West Ham". In the first match in Yerevan, the home team quickly took possession of the territory and laid siege to the English gates. At the gates of Day, one after another, acute situations began to arise. Hovhannisyan and Gevorkyan did not use excellent chances. A few more minutes pass and after a strong and accurate blow of the same Oganesyan, only Day's excellent reaction saves the British.

The Yerevanians completely dominate the field. They do not give opponents a break. And here again a dangerous moment at the gates of the guests, but Petrosyan's blow only shakes the crossbar. Ours clearly lacked luck. After another unused scoring chance, Ararat goalkeeper Norik Demirchyan, who was sitting next to the journalists, exclaimed: “I don’t remember the second such match: having so many opportunities and not scoring is rare. Old Hottabych must be an Englishman.”

Guests spent the entire match on the defensive. Their main task, apparently, was to neutralize Markarov and Andriasyan. They tried to cut this feigned, strong bond. The English did not succeed, as there were too many scoring chances at their gates. It is not known how the meeting would have ended if the only aimed shot made by Taylor in the 56th minute on Abrahamyan's goal had not reached the goal.

Now the defenders of Yerevan have gone forward. The ball was thrown at half of the British, but did not climb into their gates. When labor balls do not climb into the goal, ridiculous ones usually fly in. The goalkeeper of the British, after a scored goal, clearly began to drag out time. In one of these episodes, he picturesquely stopped in the goalkeeper's area and began to throw the ball from hand to hand. Samvel Petrosyan quietly crept up behind him (who played the whole match with "excellent") and at the moment when Day lost control of the ball for a split second, he knocked it out, and then scored into the goal in a fall with his head.

West Ham head coach John Layola spoke highly of the game of Yerevan: "I was especially surprised by the high technique of Ararat, the ability to control the ball without looking at it. Your team could play successfully in the English Championship. I don't like curtsy and speak from souls: whatever the outcome of the match, it was a pleasure for us to play with such a team."

And in the second match in London, "Ararat" offered a high pace due to the rapid movements of the attackers and short passes. "West Ham" sought to play the game more slowly, long passes leading forward flanking forwards. In the first half, the British succeeded in their plan, and they scored two goals. The second half began with furious attacks of "Ararat". The residents of Yerevan are picking up the pace and seizing the initiative. A swift attack follows, and Markarov scores a beautiful goal. This combination was carried out so spectacularly that even the most fanatical West Ham fans applauded. But the French judge Ellies, after consulting with his assistants, did not count him, which caused smiles and laughter in the stands. Nevertheless, the Yerevan team managed to realize their advantage in this half-off of the game: in the 48th minute, after Andriasyan's pass, Nazar Petrosyan sent the ball into the top nine of the English goal. And if it were not for the referee's mistake (it was not the last in the match), the score would have become equal - 2:2.

In those minutes, "Ararat" played in his usual fast technical manner. The hosts were forced to go on the defensive. Even Taylor began to act as a real defender. It is difficult to say how the match would have ended if the referees had not made another mistake. Coleman received the ball while offside. Followed by a pass to Taylor, who was behind the defenders of "Ararat" - the judges did not react in any way, and as a result, the third goal was scored, which finally tilted the scales towards the home team. Mistakes judges later recognized coaches of “West Ham”.

John Layola stressed that he does not consider this win easy: "Yerevans stand out for their excellent technique, speed, ability to play attacking football. However, they do not fully use these qualities necessary for modern football, which is most likely due to insufficient experience in participating in international tournaments and, as a result, problems in psychological preparation".

... At the end of the year, Markarov was included in the list of "33 best" (for the third time) football players in the country. Journalists did not deprive him of attention when they determined the best football players of the Union in 1975. Ahead of Markarov were only five Kyivans and two Muscovites. But among the residents of Yerevan, Eduard, who scored 18 points, was the first. Another Ararat resident Arkady Andriasyan scored 5 points in this poll.

The formidable scorer and virtuoso conductor turned 33 years old. Age of Christ. And he firmly decided that this was his last season. “I think,” said Eduard Markarov, “that artists and football players should leave the stage on time. Why give a “rooster”? Let the audience remember better how you sang in a clear voice.

There are such difficult games, after which you want to quit everything. I won't say I'm tired though. On the contrary, I feel light - I went, however, to a little trick: I reduced my weight by 3 kg. And, of course, I sacredly honor the regime. But speed, speed! It may not be so noticeable to the eye, but sometimes I feel: an extra second would not hurt.

Yes, and injuries stuck. I always got it. They did not spare, they beat. Not only was he removed, he didn’t even have a “mustard-nickname”. But what of that? Many bone-breakers carried out, as it were, a special task of their "tutors", and tried to take me out of the game. It came to curiosities. I even remember how I tried to persuade one of these "vis-a-vis" to have mercy. In response, I heard - "it will not be yet." In the second half, when he ran into me again, I deftly dodged, so much so that the rude man was seriously injured. In a word, everything happened. I could still play, bringing some benefit to the team, but I know that my own game would no longer please me. When you lose speed, you have to be on the move all the time in order to start not from a place, but to be on the move. This is also necessary for young people, for those who have a starting spurt that is not so hot. But like in the final, I can't play all the time. And worse, I don't want to.

The season as a whole went well, because there were no injuries. Every year there were injuries, but not a single one. As if on purpose, fate tempted me - well, try another year, but no, I won’t give in, it’s decided. Sleepless nights and thoughts that in his youth he could have played better? I already had a lot of such no-whose.

Ten years in "Neftyanik" and five in "Ararat" flew by unnoticed. This time will forever remain, like a wide and bright streak in life. I only regret about one thing - I didn’t manage to really play in the national team.

It's getting harder and harder to score in football every year. Even Blokhin's figure is not very high, although he is the main slaughterer among the people of Kiev. Buryak, Muntyan, Veremeev, Konkov - almost the entire middle line scored almost nothing, everything was created for the forwards. And I had to co-create in the first place. If we talk about age: has it become more difficult for me to score now? Difficult - because you lose speed, easier - because you have gained experience. It was difficult for me this year, because I had to understand the newcomers, support them and help them. If we had such a relationship with someone else, as with Andriasyan, we could have scored more goals.

I consider Blokhin, Lovchev, Andriasyan the best this year. Although ... no, all this is very conditional. Well, how to compare scorer and goalkeeper? Blokhin now largely determines the game of Kyiv "Dynamo". It used to be, about two years ago, he acted more as if on his own. Now he has team tasks in the first place, and the people of Kiev can build the game this way and not otherwise, precisely because they have Blokhin. Let's remember the matches with "Bayern" - our spring in the Champions Cup and their Super Cup. The general drawing is about the same, but we did not have Blokhin. He is equally strong in counterattacks when his team is leading a massive offensive. Therefore, the people of Kiev are not afraid to go on the defensive, even if for a long time - sooner or later Oleg will have his say.

This season I really liked Konkov, mainly as a defender. I don't think we've ever had a Libero like this before. Such a player, by the way, also determines the face of the team.

As for the goalkeepers, then, apparently, it was not by chance that Prokhorov and Astapovsky were noted after the season. They were in the public eye, because they saved their unsuccessfully played teams. So it turns out that everyone notices forwards among the leaders, and goalkeepers among weaker teams.

Thank you all very much. And the coaches with whom I had to work, and the journalists who criticized and supported me, and all the fans.

Now I want to work with children at a football school. To live at home, without these continuous trips. For 15 years, he saw his family in fits and starts. Looking forward to relaxing evenings at home. And with the same impatience - morning meetings with young football players. Here I will check to what extent it is possible to transfer technical skills to them, what role demonstration and prompting play, up to what age they are most receptive. In my opinion, it is necessary to know. And then ... then I want to try myself as a coach of a team of masters.

... Counting Markar's goals. Starting with "Oilman":

- USSR championships - 88 goals;

- matches for the USSR Cup - 6;

– international friendly meetings – 31

TOTAL: 125 goals

Then we move on to "Ararat":

- USSR championships - 41 goals;

- matches for the USSR Cup - 10;

- European Cup matches - 12;

– international friendly meetings – 14

TOTAL: 77 goals

​

Speaking as part of the Soviet national teams, he scored five goals, and in total, Eduard Markarov scored 207 goals. If we add here the balls scored by Eduard in unofficial matches of club teams and national teams, then I am sure that his track record will include at least 300 goals. Which of these goals is the most favorite, memorable for Eduard Markarov?

“A goal is a miracle, it’s a striker’s happiness,” the famous footballer answered this question. “Is there one miracle more wonderful than another? Every goal is equally dear to me.”

Finishing the story about Markarov the football player, one cannot help but refer to the essay by Lev Filatov from his collection "Forwards":

"Markarov's place in football is the line where tastes diverge. It is invisible. Those who are on the sides, at times, under the pressure of fluctuations in the situation, step over it, making forced concessions. But not for long, then they each diverge into their own half. Football is studied down and across, all its many components are known.Both a bad game and a good one, and a victory, and a defeat are immediately overgrown with a thousand arguments, any of which has the right to exist.However, universal erudition is unable to cope with sympathy for one or another player, The forward scores, he is the soul of the team, and someone stubbornly says: “I don’t like it, it’s not my taste ...” The team plays beautifully, dexterously, is in the lead, and again a voice is heard : "Not serious, unreliable, lightweight, but ..." Even if you break, you won't prove anything, taste, after all, it characterizes not only the subject of the dispute, but also the disputants themselves.

Fate was favorable to Markarov. The son of Artem Markarov, a well-known Baku football player, from the first childhood steps he found himself in the enchanting world of the game: family, yard, stadium, where his father worked as a coach. And everything worked out for the boy in love with the ball. Everything that can be done alone, he learned from childhood. B. Arkadiev noticed him as a youth and took him to Neftchi, taught him lessons in playing with partners, and appointed him to the center forward. And again everything began to work out. Nearby was Yuri Kuznetsov, one of the outstanding dispatchers, a man endowed not only with tactical intelligence and a perfect pass, but also with paternal care for the front line players.

Later, Markarov, when Banishevsky became the center forward in Neftchi, and Kazbek Tuaev was on the flank, and he himself experienced the pleasure of playing in the style of Kuznetsov. But Markarov, unlike Kuznetsov, was constantly attracted to the gates, he was never content with the role of playing along, all his wanderings, maneuvers, feints ended in a jerk and a blow.

Then, as usual, he began to notice sidelong glances on himself: "It's not the same anymore, 29 ..." And he moved to Ararat.

This club is of the same style as "Neftchi", technical, combinational, and Markarov felt himself in it like a fish in water. But there was also a difference. "Ararat", having experienced the influence of coaches A. Ponomarev, N. Glebov, N. Simonyan, comprehended the science of team, strong-willed play and gradually took the lead. Markarov was lucky again with attacking partners: Arkady Andriasyan, Levon Ishtoyan, Nikolai Kazaryan, Oganes Zanazanyan - all in their prime, all eager to show themselves, all the “techies”, and even the tactics of Moscow coaches who have gone through the school. Markarov was the eldest among them. It suited him, and so did they. He played a game that met with complete understanding. Together with Ararat, Markarov became the champion, won the Cup twice, and most importantly, he played in front of everyone, then everyone liked the team.

Even in the most concise summary, the biography is nowhere better. After all, Markarov not only shone, played, made an impression, conquered the audience - he also brought evidence against which it is not customary to argue: 129 goals in the national championships is the sixth (!) result in our football.

Despite all this, Markarov had half the confession. No one questioned his skill with the ball, they agreed that he was one of the virtuosos. Maybe he overdid it, flirted? In no case. All his graceful tricks with the ball flickered like sparks, exactly as much as needed, measured, as in a pharmacy, for a general game, for an attack, in order to score a goal. Did he see the field? Still, seer, what few! The ball passed from him like a fan, he did not lose sight of the slightest opportunity. Did he have the strength? His goals are only part of the answer. He managed everywhere, made fearless acrobatic jumps, rushed into martial arts, to the rescue of a gaping partner. He was one of those who do not consider their movements, do not save.

What, then, prevented him from being in the "classics", along with G. Fedotov, Paichadze, Beskov, Streltsov, Dementiev, Ivanov, Simonyan, Gogoberidze? Why did they pass by him, forming the national team?

An honest answer would seem strange, which is why they hush it up, although it exists: it didn’t grow. How simple - 164 centimeters, and a refusal. There is no right to such a refusal, and there are no reasonable arguments. But there is a "taste". And nothing will help here. Whatever arguments, examples, analogies you give, you will come across a grin: "All this is fine, but if we lose, they will say:" Whom did they recruit? What kind of kindergarten? We need athletes. You have to climb, push, not slap, "and they will remove me for not understanding how to form a team." That's what the coach will say. And not all fans will accept the "baby". In an extreme case, they will be merciful: "We have nothing, let him play, but he has nothing to do in the international arena."

I strongly suspect that in the case of Markarov, the reference to growth helped out those who did not give him a go. For a certain category of people, he played too subtly. You can't assign any partners to someone like Markarov, confusion will begin. It is necessary that the rest be a match for him, and this is perestroika, a change of views, concepts ... Why be smart? Better simpler, stronger, with a guarantee against defeat. True, no guarantees for a cool game. This is how unsophisticated tastes rule.

And Markarov himself did everything to be remembered as a rare master."