Yuri Razuvaev dies at 66
Tragic news appeared today on the website of the Russian Chess Federation: the well-known Russian grandmaster and trainer Yuri Razuvaev passed away at the age of 66. As we understand, Razuvaev had been ill for a while.
Yuri Sergeyevich Razuvaev was born on October 10th, 1945. A historian by profession, Razuvaev also distinguished himself as a player, coach and a talented chess journalist.
He became International Master in 1973 and Grandmaster in 1976. Tournaments he has won include Dubna 1978, Polanica-Zdrój 1979, London 1983, Dortmund 1985, Jūrmala 1987, Pula 1988, Protvino 1988, Reykjavik 1990, Leningrad 1992, Tiraspol 1994, Reggio Emilia 1996 and San Sebastian 1996.
At the second USSR vs Rest of the World match in 1984, he substituted for Tigran Petrosian, who was absent because of illness. Razuvaev performed admirably by limiting his opponent, the much higher rated Robert Hübner, to four straight draws.
Razuvaev was awarded Honoured Coach of Russia in 1976. He worked with Anatoly Karpov and assisted Botvinnik in his famous chess school. He was the coach of the USSR team at the European Championships and the World Chess Olympiad in 1980, and later the coach of Russia. In the 90s he also coached the national team of Italy.
In 2005 he was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer. Among his pupils were Evgeny Tomashevsky and former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, whom he assisted during the Women's World Championship in 2008, which she won.
For many years, Razuvaev headed the FIDE Trainers Committee and he was considered one of the most respected coaches in the world. He co-authored popular books like Akiba Rubinstein (1980) and Move to the endgame (1981), as well as numerous articles.
He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Chess Federation and did many things for the development of chess in Russia. In recent years, he paid special attention to school chess.
Crestbook writes:
He was characterized by a delicate sense of dynamics, flexibility and great erudition. Yuri Sergeyevich was a great analyst. Many of his ideas formed the basis of the modern theory of openings.
Selection of games
For this article Razuvaev's Wikipedia article and the news on the RCF website was used.
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