Mark Israilevich Dvoretzky / Mark Israilewitsch Dworetzki (9.xii.1947 - 26.ix.2016)

Yesterday, the Russian super trainer Mark Dvoretzky has died in his 69th year, i..e. at 68 years old.

I had rether few connections to Dvoretzky apart from being a reader of his great masterpiece "Die Endspieluniversität", which is a great endgame book, the greatest if you can choose only one, although of course if you can afford it you will want the Chéron as well.

I had the second edition first and later bought the third edition. On the occasion of his 60th birthday, I participated with three handful of studies (some published in my own "Weltenfern" in 2013 instead). One of them only was selected for the award, and I received the German edition of the book "Studies for Practical Players" as a reward for my study.

At some point in my life I read "Positionelles Schach", a wonderful book that I lost later, where Dvoretzky explained prophylactic thinking and all aspects of positional chess, how it usually is - in my opinion - an extension of tactical chess, as more often thatn not a prophylactic move enables a defense against an opponent's plan that you wouldn't have had otherwise.

Yesterday the great master has died, but let us hope that his books never will!