Lev Psakhis
Encyclopedia
Lev Borisovich Psakhis ' onMouseout='HidePop("39348")' href="/topics/Krasnoyarsk">Krasnoyarsk
, Russia) is a naturalised Israeli chess
grandmaster, trainer and author. Born in Siberia
, he is also a two-time former champion of the Soviet Union.
titles in 1980 and 1982 respectively, either side of two momentous Soviet Championship victories in 1980 (Vilnius
- shared with Alexander Beliavsky
) and 1981 (Frunze - shared with Garry Kasparov
, whom he defeated in round 2).
In international tournaments, he has had many fine results, including outright or shared first place at Naleczow
1980, Sarajevo
1981, Cienfuegos
1983, Troon
1984, Sverdlovsk
1984, Szirak 1986, Sarajevo
1986, Sevastopol
1986, Lugano
Open 1988, Tel Aviv
1990 (and again in 1999), London MSO 1999 and Andorra
2002. There were creditable second place finishes at Tallinn
1983, Sochi
1985, Trnava
1988, Calcutta 1988, Erevan 1988 and Herzliya
1998.
In the World Championship
cycle, he was a runner-up at the Erevan Zonal of 1982 and qualified for the Interzonal
at Las Palmas later the same year. Posting only a modest score however, he failed to progress to the Candidates
stage of the competition.
It is the suggestion of his fellow professionals that his physical condition and occasional low energy levels were the only barrier to an even brighter career. Boris Gelfand
(an Elo rated 2700 grandmaster) remarked that he has never beaten Psakhis at normal speed chess. Psakhis himself is more modest about his abilities, claiming that he can offer good advice on defensive technique due to the many dreadful positions he has had to play his way out of.
He was champion of Israel
in 1997 and shared the title in 1999. He has also represented his adopted country at the Chess Olympiad
seven times between 1990-2002. At the European Team Championship
, he was first a member of the Soviet team at Plovdiv
in 1983, when he won individual and team gold medals. Representing Israel thereafter, he took the board 4 individual gold medal at Batumi
in 1999.
Over the years, he has assisted in many training programs, dating back to the late 1980s when he worked with Kasparov and Artur Yusupov
. He played a training match with Kasparov in 1990 and lost heavily (1-5). Other students and/or chess stars whom he has seconded include Susan Polgar
, Judit Polgár
, and Emil Sutovsky
.
In terms of chess style, he was in his youth a player of sharp, complex positions, but nowadays prefers to play in a positional sense. Consequently, he has developed an affinity with the French Defence
and is a noted expert on it, beginning with writing The Complete French (and The Complete Benoni) for B.T. Batsford in the early nineties. His latest Batsford effort is a four-volume treatise on the French in 2003/4, titled Vol.1 French Defence: 3. Nd2 (Tarrasch), Vol.2 French Defence: Advance and Anti-French Variations, Vol.3 French Defence: 3. Nc3 Bb4 (Winawer) and Vol.4 French Defence: Steinitz, Classical and Other Variations.
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia, with the population of 973,891. Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russia's largest producers of...
, Russia) is a naturalised Israeli chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
grandmaster, trainer and author. Born in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, he is also a two-time former champion of the Soviet Union.
Biography
He gained the International Master and International GrandmasterInternational Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
titles in 1980 and 1982 respectively, either side of two momentous Soviet Championship victories in 1980 (Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
- shared with Alexander Beliavsky
Alexander Beliavsky
-External links:...
) and 1981 (Frunze - shared with Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
, whom he defeated in round 2).
In international tournaments, he has had many fine results, including outright or shared first place at Naleczow
Naleczów
Nałęczów is a spa town situated on the Nałęczów Plateau in Poland's Lublin Province. In the 18th century, the discovery there of healing waters initiated the development of a health resort; the main treatments are for circulatory disorders.Notable landmarks include the 18th-century...
1980, Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
1981, Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos is a city on the southern coast of Cuba, capital of Cienfuegos Province. It is located about from Havana, and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed La Perla del Sur...
1983, Troon
Troon
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...
1984, Sverdlovsk
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
1984, Szirak 1986, Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
1986, Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
1986, Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
Open 1988, Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
1990 (and again in 1999), London MSO 1999 and Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
2002. There were creditable second place finishes at Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
1983, Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
1985, Trnava
Trnava
Trnava is a city in western Slovakia, 47 km to the north-east of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a kraj and of an okres . It was the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric . The city has a historic center...
1988, Calcutta 1988, Erevan 1988 and Herzliya
Herzliya
Herzliya is a city in the central coast of Israel, at the western part of the Tel Aviv District. It has a population of 87,000 residents. Named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, Herzliya covers an area of 26 km²...
1998.
In the World Championship
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
cycle, he was a runner-up at the Erevan Zonal of 1982 and qualified for the Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
at Las Palmas later the same year. Posting only a modest score however, he failed to progress to the Candidates
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
stage of the competition.
It is the suggestion of his fellow professionals that his physical condition and occasional low energy levels were the only barrier to an even brighter career. Boris Gelfand
Boris Gelfand
Boris Abramovich Gelfand is a Belarus-born Israeli chess Grandmaster. He won the 2011 Candidates Tournament and will challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship 2012.-Biography:...
(an Elo rated 2700 grandmaster) remarked that he has never beaten Psakhis at normal speed chess. Psakhis himself is more modest about his abilities, claiming that he can offer good advice on defensive technique due to the many dreadful positions he has had to play his way out of.
He was champion of Israel
Israeli Chess Championship
The Israeli Chess Championship is a chess event held every year in Israel.-History:From 1951-1971, the men's and women's championships were held every two years, eventually becoming an annual event...
in 1997 and shared the title in 1999. He has also represented his adopted country at the Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
seven times between 1990-2002. At the European Team Championship
European Team Championship
The European Team Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9...
, he was first a member of the Soviet team at Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
in 1983, when he won individual and team gold medals. Representing Israel thereafter, he took the board 4 individual gold medal at Batumi
Batumi
Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in...
in 1999.
Over the years, he has assisted in many training programs, dating back to the late 1980s when he worked with Kasparov and Artur Yusupov
Artur Yusupov
Artur Mayakovich Yusupov is a German International Grandmaster of chess, and a chess writer.-Chess career:...
. He played a training match with Kasparov in 1990 and lost heavily (1-5). Other students and/or chess stars whom he has seconded include Susan Polgar
Susan Polgar
Susan Polgar is a Hungarian-American chess Grandmaster...
, Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...
, and Emil Sutovsky
Emil Sutovsky
Emil Sutovsky is an Israeli chess Grandmaster. He is one of the several top chess grandmasters who were born in Baku, Azerbaijan .-Successes:...
.
In terms of chess style, he was in his youth a player of sharp, complex positions, but nowadays prefers to play in a positional sense. Consequently, he has developed an affinity with the French Defence
French Defence
The French Defence is a chess opening. It is characterised by the moves:The French has a reputation for solidity and resilience, though it can result in a somewhat cramped game for Black in the early stages...
and is a noted expert on it, beginning with writing The Complete French (and The Complete Benoni) for B.T. Batsford in the early nineties. His latest Batsford effort is a four-volume treatise on the French in 2003/4, titled Vol.1 French Defence: 3. Nd2 (Tarrasch), Vol.2 French Defence: Advance and Anti-French Variations, Vol.3 French Defence: 3. Nc3 Bb4 (Winawer) and Vol.4 French Defence: Steinitz, Classical and Other Variations.