Artur Yusupov

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**Artur Yusupov**

Full name	Artur Mayakovich Yusupov
Country	Germany
Born	February 13, 1960 (age 47) Moscow, Russia

Title	Grandmaster


Rating	2599 (January 2007)
Peak rating	2680

Artur Mayakovich Yusupov (de: Jussupow), born February 13, 1960 in Moscow, Russia is a naturalised German International Grandmaster of chess.

He learned to play chess at the age of six and groomed his talent at the Young Pioneers' Palace in Moscow. Quickly establishing himself as a formidable youth player he was a winner of the World Junior Chess Championship in 1977. This was also the year that he gained the International Master title, qualification as a grandmaster following in 1980. Second place at his first USSR Championship in 1979 (behind Geller) further confirmed that he had the ability to become a strong force in world chess.

International tournament success continued into the next decade and included first place at Esbjerg 1980, first at Erevan 1982, equal fourth at Linares 1983, first at Tunis 1985, equal first at Montpellier 1985 and third at Linares 1988.

By this time Yusupov was also chasing World Championship qualification and he proved a tough and consistent match-player, reaching the semi-final of the Candidates Tournament on three occasions in 1986 (defeated by Andrei Sokolov), 1989 (defeated by Anatoly Karpov) and 1992 (losing out to Jan Timman).

In the early nineties, he returned to his Moscow apartment one day and disturbed some burglars. During the struggle that broke out, he was shot and considers himself lucky to have survived. It was not long after that he decided to move to Germany, which has remained his home ever since.

There were however plenty more victories to be had on the tournament circuit; first at Hamburg 1991, first at Amsterdam 1994 and second at Horgen 1994 (a category 18 tournament). Even into the new millennium, Yusupov's appetite for chess seems not to have waned; equal first at the 2002 World Open, first at the Basel Rapid 2005 and first at Altenkirchen 2005, making him the German Champion. Around this time (October 2005) he had an Elo rating of 2595, compared to his peak of 2680.

As a leading authority on the Petroff Defence, he wrote a book on the subject in 1999. It contains probably the most exhaustive analysis and encyclopaedic coverage of the opening thus far. He has also played the Lasker Defence of the Queen's Gambit Declined with aplomb, bringing new ideas to an opening over one hundred years old.

'Purposefulness' and 'strength of mind' are two of Yusupov's attributes, according to Alexei Suetin, who described him as "a player with a rational, positional style. He boasts high technical skill in the endgame and detailed knowledge of his customary opening systems. Least of all does he rely on inspiration; his every move is based on industrious study."

Throughout his playing career, Yusupov has been coached and mentored by Mark Dvoretsky, an International Master who is widely considered to be the world's leading chess trainer. Yusupov freely acknowledges that Dvoretsky's influence has been instrumental in many of his biggest victories. The strong alliance and collaboration that developed, led to them setting up the Dvoretsky-Yusupov Chess School. It was there that many of the new crop of world beating grandmasters learnt their trade in the early nineties, the most famous being Peter Svidler.

Yusupov has also been a frequent contributor to Dvoretsky's books and has been a second and advisor to both Viswanathan Anand and Peter Leko during their world championship campaigns.

He is also known to have been a friend and training partner of the Russian GM, Sergey Dolmatov. Dolmatov was of course another protégé of Dvoretsky and like Yusupov, became a Junior World Champion (in 1978).

[edit] References

Chess Magazine - Christmas 1985, pg. 258, Alexei Suetin article.
Hooper, David and Kenneth Whyld (1996). The Oxford Companion To Chess. Oxford University. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.