For Friends and Colleagues

Book excerpt: The Mark of a Master Mark Dvoretsky has long been considered one of the premier chess coaches and trainers in the world. He is renowned for taking talented masters and forging them into world-class grandmasters and champions. His literary achievements are also quite distinguished. For example, Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, soon to be released in a fourth edition, established itself as the sine qua non of endgame theory from the moment it appeared over a decade ago. This accomplished chess instructor and author now shares his story in a ground-breaking two-volume set. You are invited to share his journey from his childhood and maturing into a strong master, to his participation in the powerful Soviet championships and then, his transition to full-time chess coach. Along the way, Dvoretsky pulls no punches with his commentary and insights about the all-encompassing Soviet chess machine, top-flight grandmasters, and his trials and tribulations as he helped develop "average" masters into world-class players.