Josif (Josef, Iossif, Iosif) Davidovich Dorfman (born 1 May 1952,

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

) is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-French

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

Grandmaster, coach, and chess writer.

Tournament results

Dorfman played in several USSR championships. In 1975, he took thirteenth in

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(43rd URS-ch; Tigran Petrosian won). In 1976, he finished fifth in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in the 44th Soviet championship as

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...

won by a full point over Yuri Balashov. One of his most emphatic victories occurred in qualification for this championship, at the 1976 First League tournament, where he finished 1½ points clear of the field (+6 =11). In 1977, he was joint USSR Champion with Boris Gulko (both +4 =11, ahead of Petrosian, Polugaevsky and Tal). The subsequent play-off match was drawn (+1 –1 =4). In 1978, Dorfman shared thirteenth in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

as Tal won. In 1981, he tied for 8-9th in Frunze; Lev Psakhis and

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

won). In 1984, he took 12th in

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(51st URS-ch; Andrei Sokolov won). In international tournaments, Dorfman tied for second at

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

1976, finished second to Smyslov at

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1978, tied for second at Polanica Zdrój 1978, one-half point behind Mikhail Tseitlin, 1st-3rd at Djakarta 1979, 3rd-5th at

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1979. He won at Zamardi 1980. He was a winner at

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1983 (+6, =8), was 1st= at

1984, 1st at Moscow 1985, and 5th= at

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1986. In 1998, Dorfman won the French Chess Championship in Méribel (73rd FRA-ch). Two years later, he was runner-up to his former student, Bacrot. He played for France in three

Chess Olympiads The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

. * In 1998, at 2nd board in the 33rd Chess Olympiad in Elista (+3 –0 =6); * In 2002, at 2nd board in the

35th Chess Olympiad The 35th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and women's tournament, took ...

in Bled (+1 –1 =8); * In 2004, at 3rd board in the 36th Chess Olympiad in Calvià (+2 –0 =8). Dorfman was awarded the IM title in 1977 and the GM title in 1978.

Coach

He acted as one of

's seconds in his first four World Championship matches against

. Later Dorfman moved to France. He coached the French player

Étienne Bacrot Étienne Bacrot (; born 22 January 1983) is a French chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, and as a child, a chess prodigy. He competed at the World Chess Championship 2007, Candidates Matches in 2007 and won the Aeroflot Open in 2009. He pas ...

from age nine to Grandmaster level, when he became France's and the world's youngest ever. In 2004 Dorfman was awarded the title of

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

Senior Trainer.

Commentator

In April 2019, Dorfman joined chess24 as one of the site's commentators and coaches together with Laurent Fressinet and Jean-Baptiste Mullon.

Books

* *

Notable games

Petar Velikov vs Josif D Dorfman, Palma de Mallorca (GMA) 1989, Zukertort Opening: Kingside Fianchetto (A04), 0-1Josif D Dorfman vs Yuri Razuvaev, Elenite 1992, English Opening: King's English Variation, General (A20), 1-0

References

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorfman, Josif 1952 births Living people Chess Grandmasters Chess coaches Chess Olympiad competitors Ukrainian chess players French chess players Soviet chess players French chess writers French male non-fiction writers Sportspeople from Zhytomyr