Sergey Makarichev is a Russian chess player and FIDE (World Chess Federation) International Arbiter, best known for being awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1976. He was born on June 21, 1953 in Moscow, Russia.
Makarichev's earliest notable achievement was winning the World Junior Chess Championship in 1972, aged 19. His other significant victories include winning the Moscow Chess Championship in 1982, the Chigorin Memorial in 1981, and placing in the top five in the USSR Chess Championship multiple times.
Regarded as an accomplished player, Makarichev also dedicated much of his life to serving the chess community as an administrator and commentator. He was a member of the board of the USSR Chess Federation during the last years of the Soviet Union and participated in the work of the appeals committee at multiple chess Olympiads. In addition, Makarichev served as a reporter and commentator on chess events for many years.
His personal life includes his 1995 marriage to Woman International Grandmaster Elena Donaldson-Akhmilovskaya, who was previously his chess student. Makarichev married Grandmaster and Chess Olympiad gold medallist Elena Akhmilovskaya in 1995. Akhmilovskaya later died in 2012 due to brain cancer.
Between the years 2001 to 2012, Makarichev and his wife Elena operated a chess school in Redmond, Washington, USA. The school was known as ET (Elena Tatiana) Chess School. They relocated the school to Moscow in 2012 due to Akhmilovskaya's ill health condition.
Notably, Sergey Makarichev is the younger brother of Grandmaster Evgeny Makarichev. Both brothers are highly respected figures in the international chess community.