Mark Izrailovich Dvoretsky (1947-2016) *68

was a Russian chess trainer, writer and International Master. Dvoretsky was born in Moscow in 1947. He was awarded the International Master title in 1975 and for a time, was widely regarded as the strongest IM in the world. This was due to a number of excellent results; he was Moscow Champion in 1973, finished equal fifth in a strong Soviet Championship in 1974 and won the Wijk aan Zee Masters tournament of 1975 by a clear point and a half. Along with another creditable finish at the USSR Championship of 1975, the results were an indication that he was already of grandmaster strength.

However, for personal reasons he opted not to remain an active player and instead followed his urge to become a chess trainer. This was something he had tried out and enjoyed while studying at Moscow University and he quickly gained a reputation for transforming serious, hard-working 2200 (Elo) players into grandmasters. Similarly, it was said that established grandmasters could become champions under his tutelage and his student register began to read like a 'who's who' of chess greats. Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Evgeny Bareev, Joël Lautier and Loek van Wely are among the players who benefited from his coaching. Four of his students went on to become Junior World Champions.

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