– It was a huge shock for the entire chess world when, on September 26th 2016 Mark Dvoretsky passed away at the age of 68 years. At the Candidates tournament, which were held in Moscow in March 2016, ChessBase editor Sagar Shah and his wife Amruta Mokal met Mark at his home in Tallinskaya. In an interview that lasted well over two hours you get to know a lot about the legend's personality. This is Dvoretsky's last in-depth interview which deals with his life as a player, trainer and an author. Mark is no more but his teachings live on.

Interview with Mark Dvoretsky By Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal It is better to be first in the village, than second in Rome! Mark Dvoretsky ( - ) It was 15th of March 2016, the fourth round at the Candidates tournament 2016, Moscow.

Can someone explain to me how the chessbase database with all the GM games work? How do I get that?

Sitting in the press room, I was working on the analysis of the four games that were in progress. Suddenly I noticed Amruta (my wife), who was busy taking pictures, making a dash into the press room. With heavy breath and great excitement, she blurted, 'He is here, he is here, come quick!' I left all my work. I knew who had entered into the tournament venue. Awave studio 10 crack.

Before coming to Moscow, Amruta and I had decided that if any of us saw Mark Dvoretsky we would leave whatever it was that we were doing, no matter how important, and spend maximum time with the legend. When I was around 2200 and unable to make tangible progress in chess, it was Dvoretsky's books that came to my rescue. He taught me how every sound idea had to be backed up with variations. He asked questions which made me think deeply about the game, and his didactic answers almost always cleared my doubts. This man who had helped me become a strong chess player and in general improved the quality of not only my chess understanding, but also my life, was now sitting right in front me, in person. He was alone in the spectator's area, staring at the big screen projecting the games. I went up to him and introduced myself in a way that many people must have done to him in the past: 'Hi Mark, I have read almost every book that you have ever written and I am a big big fan of your work.'

Mark smiled and replied in a calm manner. I immediately started to feel comfortable and we discussed the game between Karjakin and Anand that was going on. 'It's an extremely difficult position for Black to defend,' said Mark.

He had looked at the position for only a few seconds, but he understood it quite well. That turned out to be Anand's first loss to Karjakin in any format. It was a dream come true for both me and Amruta to have a picture with Mark Dvoretsky As I stood with Mark, a lot of people came and greeted him. It was difficult to have a serious conversation in this environment. Hence, I asked him whether he would be fine if we met at his apartment for an interview for the ChessBase newspage.

It came to me as a great surprise that Mark didn't hesitate for a second. 'Sure, why not.' He took out the visiting card from his pocket, 'Contact me a day before you would like to come.' As the ninth round came to an end, I called Dvoretsky. 'Mark, tomorrow is a rest day at the Candidates. Can we meet at 5 p.m.?' He replied positively and on the 22nd of March Amruta and I got ready to go to Tallinnskaya street in Moscow to do an interview with the famous Mark Dvoretsky. The neighbourhood of Talinnskaya where Mark lived After half an hour of searching we finally located his apartment Mark greeted us warmly and took us to his study.

It was a perfect place to work in peace. Absolute quiet, well lit, the desk was littered with books and a computer, which Dvoretsky had to reluctantly use. He sat in his chair with a smile as I gathered everything around me. I was in the room of one of the greatest chess trainers and authors of all time. I asked him the first question and he replied with energy and enthusiasm.

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours as I spoke with Mark for nearly three hours. Amruta took pictures of his every emotion.

One of the features of Mark's interview was the ease with which he would answer the questions. No matter how deep it was, he answered immediately.

Chess was second nature to him, and this was clear from his replies. Due to my personal commitments and a huge chess trip I couldn't work on this interview immediately. After coming back from my 90 day Europe trip, I started carefully transcribing the audio files.

And while I was working on this interview I received the news of his death. Here I had been listening to his voice for hours on end, and there in Moscow Mark was no more. It will be my regret that he will not be able to read this interview, but I hope I will be able to make the readers understand what made Dvoretsky special and why was he one of the best trainers and authors who ever lived. Rapt with attention as the maestro speaks Sagar Shah (SS): Mark, everyone knows you as a great trainer and an author. But tell us about your beginnings. How did you start playing chess?