In the 1970s and 1980s he progressed to the senior Soviet Russian team and was again on the multiple gold medal winning trail.

At the Gijon (active) tournament of 1988, he showed he was a fine player of rapid chess too, finishing joint first with Anatoly Karpov.

Of his many attempts to become Soviet champion he came very close on three occasions; at Riga 1970, Baku 1972 and at Moscow 1983, where he finished behind Korchnoi, Tal and Karpov respectively.

At the momentous London 1984 USSR vs Rest of the World clash, he made a surprising, but important contribution.

Competing at the very strong Odesa rapid tournament of 2007, he got off to a flying start, drawing with Korchnoi and defeating the highly rated Smirin and Bacrot.