Chanov was born in Stalino, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. He joined the local club Shakhtar Donetsk at an early age, along with his brother Vyacheslav, also a goalkeeper. During the late 1970s to early 1980s Chanov performed exceptionally well and attracted the attention of the great Dynamo Kyiv. He transferred to Dynamo to compete for the number 1 jersey with Mykhaylo Mykhaylov, another goalkeeper of massive potential. Initially, the moustached Chanov ousted Mikhailov and forced his way also into the USSR squad for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, as second choice behind Rinat Dasaev. Chanov won league titles in his first two seasons at Dynamo and was the first-choice keeper throughout, however injury forced him out of some games in early 1985, and Mikhailov regained his position. Chanov returned to fitness midway through the season but was unable to dislodge Mikhailov, whose form had persuaded Valery Lobanovsky to persist with him. Dynamo Kyiv won the cup that year and Mikhailov was instrumental in the success. In 1986, Lobanovsky had decisions to make on the goalkeeping front. Chanov was selected as the first-choice goalkeeper, and was in goal as Dynamo lifted the European Cup Winners Cup, defeating Atlético Madrid 3–0 in Lyon. He played with an injured hand in the final. Chanov played 202 games for Dynamo.
In 1990, Chanov played out his last season Dynamo Kyiv and moved to spend his remaining days in Israel with Maccabi Haifa. He was signed by then-manager Shlomo Sharf to take the place of Giora Antman, arriving in Israel two days after Antman gave up five goals in a 5–0 drubbing by Maccabi Netanya. Chanov was immediately successful in goal, breaking a club record of four clean sheets in his first four matches. He won a league and cup double in his first season and later added the Israeli cup.
International career
In the summer of 1986 Chanov travelled to Mexico for the World Cup Finals with the USSR squad, again as back-up for Dasaev. He made a solitary appearance against Canada in a "dead rubber" match at the end of the first-round stage. He was yet again a reserve for the USSR at Euro 1988 in West Germany, appearing once as a 69th-minute substitute against the Republic of Ireland after Dasaev was injured while making a challenge on Tony Galvin.
Death
Chanov died in February 2017, with magazines reporting he was attacked and beaten to death.
