Mark Dvoretsky

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Mark Izrailovich Dvoretsky (born December 9, 1947, Moscow) is a world-renowned Russian chess trainer, writer and International Master.

He was awarded the International Master title in 1975 and for a while, 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 credible 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 tuition and his student register began to read like a 'who's who' of chess greats. Kasparov, Anand, Topalov, Bareev, Lautier and Van Wely were just a few of the players who benefited from his coaching. Four of his students went on to become Junior World Champions.

Equally noteworthy has been his long time collaboration with fellow Muscovite Artur Yusupov. Yusupov attributes much of his chess success to Dvoretsky's training methods and at his peak reached the semi-final of the World Championship Candidates Tournament on no less than three occasions. They have published books together and even established a chess school in the 1990s, turning out many of today's top-flight grandmasters.

Much of Dvoretsky's success revolves around his talent for seeking out valuable test positions and keeping good records of his own deep analysis and the findings of his students. In 1989 he was persuaded to compile this information into a series of training books. The series commenced with Secrets of Chess Training which won the BCF book of the year award in 1991. Secrets of Chess Tactics, Opening Preparation, Technique for the Tournament Player and Attack and Defence followed along. Some time later came his 'School of Chess Excellence' books, which were recently revised and re-issued by Edition Olms, a Swiss publishing house. Numbered 1-4, they are in order, Endgame Analysis, Tactical Play, Strategic Play and Opening Developments. The books are sometimes co-authored by star pupil Yusupov and many contain contributions from a host of other grandmasters. He wrote Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, published in 2003, a manual on the endgame. A second edition was published in 2006.