Mark Bluvshtein (born 20 April 1988) is a Soviet-born Canadian
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 ...
player. He became the youngest Canadian ever to achieve the title of
Grandmaster in 2004, at the age of 16. He previously achieved the title
International Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
at the age of 13.
Early life
Mark's father Ilia Bluvshtein is a Canadian National Master player himself, and taught his son how to play chess, playing countless games where Mark had
material odds. The Bluvshtein family moved from Russia to
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
when Mark was five years old. They moved again, to
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario, Canada, six years later, where he attended
Newtonbrook Secondary School
Newtonbrook Secondary School is a high school for Grades 9 to 12 in the Newtonbrook neighborhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
History
Opened in 1964 by the then North York Board of Education to provide a closer school for the area (formerly se ...
. Bluvshtein graduated from Newtonbrook in 2006.
Chess career
Bluvshtein was Israel under-10 champion (1998) and under-12 champion (1999).
Upon arriving in Canada, he earned a National Master ranking within a few months at age 11, making him the youngest Canadian to achieve this level. He was training during this time with Yan Teplitsky, who had studied in the famed Russian school run by
Mark Dvoretsky before moving to Canada.
Bluvshtein's first major Canadian success came in 2000, when he tied for 2nd-3rd places in the Toronto Closed Championship, with a score of 8/11 points, behind Eduardo Teodoro IV. His first full international event in Canada was the Toronto Summer International Open 2000, where he made a score of 4½/9. He claimed clear first place in the Toronto Thanksgiving Open 2000 with 5/6, ahead of several strong masters. In the Junior Canadian Championship,
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
2001, he placed clear second with 7/9, behind winner Yaacov Vaingorten. In 2001, he won the Canadian grade 7 championship and in the Canadian Youth Championship, held at
Sackville, New Brunswick
Sackville is a former town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Tantramar, New Brunswick, Tantramar.
Sackville is home to Mount Allison University, a primarily undergraduate libe ...
, he took clear first place in the U14 group scoring 6½/7. Staying on for the
Canadian Open Chess Championship
The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada. The event celebrated its 50th rendition in 2013.
...
, also at Sackville, Bluvshtein tied for 3rd-7th places, with 7½/10, behind only winners
Tony Miles
Anthony John Miles (23 April 1955 – 12 November 2001) was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the International Grandmaster, Grandmaster title.
Early and personal life
Miles was born on 23 April 1955 in Edgbaston, a sub ...
(in his last tournament before his death a few weeks later) and
Larry Christiansen
Larry Mark Christiansen (born June 27, 1956) is an American chess player of Danish ancestry. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1977. Christiansen was the U.S. champion in 1980, 1983, and 2002. He competed in the FIDE World Champ ...
.
Youngest Canadian international master
A few weeks later, Bluvshtein became the youngest
international master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
in Canadian history, at age 13, when he scored 6/9 at the
Zonal Closed Canadian Championship in Montreal. He tied for 3rd-4th places, behind only winners
Kevin Spraggett
Kevin Spraggett (born November 10, 1954, in Montreal) is a Canadian chess grandmaster. He was the first Canadian-born player and fourth Canadian overall to earn the grandmaster title, after Abe Yanofsky, Duncan Suttles and Peter Biyiasas.
...
and
Alexandre Lesiège
Alexandre Le Siège (born 18 August 1975 in Montreal), also known as Alexandre Lesiège, is a Canadian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster. He has won three Canadian championships and represented Canada in world championship qu ...
. He won the 2001 Toronto Christmas Open with 4½/5.
In 2002, Bluvshtein won the Canadian grade 8 championship and made a perfect score of 8/8 in the Canadian Youth Championship (U14 group). Then, in the Canadian Open Championship, Montreal 2002, he tied for 4th-10th places, with 7½/10, behind only winners
Jean-Marc Degraeve,
Pascal Charbonneau, and
Jean Hébert. Bluvshtein's first grandmaster
round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...
was the 2002 Montreal International, where he tied for 10th-11th places scoring 4/11; the winner was Degraeve. Just a couple of weeks later, in the 2nd
Chess'n Math Association
The Chess'n Math Association (or Chess and Math Association) is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing chess into Canadian schools. Founded in 1985 by Larry Bevand, who still serves as its executive director, it is "Canada's National Scho ...
Futurity in Toronto, he tied for 1st-4th places, with 6/9, along with
Yuri Shulman,
Walter Arencibia, and
Dmitry Tyomkin
Dmitry (); Church Slavic form: Dimitry or Dimitri (); ancient Russian forms: D'mitriy or Dmitr ( or ) is a male given name common in Orthodox Christian culture, the Russian version of Demetrios (, ). The meaning of the name is "devoted to, dedi ...
, missing a
norm
Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to:
In academic disciplines
* Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad
* Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock
* Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...
for the title of
Grandmaster by half a point. In the Toronto Labour Day Open 2002, he tied for first at 5/6 with Goran Milicevic.
Youngest Canadian grandmaster
In June 2003, Bluvshtein scored his first norm for the title of Grandmaster at a round-robin tournament in
Balatonlelle
Balatonlelle is a resort town located in Hungary on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, about 35 km west of Siófok. During the summer, the town becomes a holiday destination for many Hungarian and German families, and is known for its touri ...
, Hungary, by winning his last three games and finishing with 6½/9. He scored solidly at the 2003
Guelph
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...
International, with 5/9, but he had a rough tournament at the Montreal International, as he could only score 3½/11 in a field which had nine grandmasters out of 12 competitors.
Bluvshtein switched trainers, working with Grandmaster
Dmitry Tyomkin
Dmitry (); Church Slavic form: Dimitry or Dimitri (); ancient Russian forms: D'mitriy or Dmitr ( or ) is a male given name common in Orthodox Christian culture, the Russian version of Demetrios (, ). The meaning of the name is "devoted to, dedi ...
for a time, with success. With funding assistance from chess patron and businessman
Sid Belzberg, Bluvshtein was able to work with Israeli Grandmaster
Alexander Huzman, and this provided the impetus for his next qualitative advance.
Bluvshtein made a Grandmaster norm at the 2004 Canadian Open Championship in
Kapuskasing
Kapuskasing ( ) is a town on the Kapuskasing River in the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Hearst, Ontario, Hearst and northwest of Timmins, Ontario, Timmins. The town was known as MacPherson until 1917.
...
, where he played eight grandmasters in ten rounds, while scoring 6½/10 to tie for 13th-26th places; he beat
Vladimir Epishin
Vladimir Epishin (born 11 July 1965 in Leningrad) is a Russian chess grandmaster.
Tournament play
He finished third in the 58th USSR Chess Championship in 1991. He won the 1987 St. Petersburg Championship. Other tournament successes include ...
and Arencibia, and lost only one game.
The next month, at the 2004 Montreal International, he made his third and final qualifying grandmaster result with 6½/11 to place fourth; the winner was
Zahar Efimenko. Then he placed third, following a tie-break playoff, at the Zonal Canadian Championship in Toronto, with 6½/9, behind co-winners Charbonneau and
Eric Lawson
Eric Lawson (born February 12, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist, who is perhaps best known for his fight stint with now-defunct promotion Strikeforce. A professional mixed martial arts since 2004, Lawson holds a record of 9–5.
Mixed ...
. A couple of months later, Bluvshtein raised his international rating above 2500, completing the requirements for the title of Grandmaster. He was awarded the title by
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 ...
at age 16, during the
36th Chess Olympiad
The 36th Chess Olympiad (; ), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tourna ...
, held in
Calvià
Calvià () is a municipality on the island of Majorca, part of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is located in the southwestern part of the island of Majorca, between the Serra de Tramuntana and the Serra de Na Burgue ...
, where he made a further grandmaster norm. Chess'n Math awarded Bluvshtein $7,000 for becoming a grandmaster.
Bluvshtein won the Canadian Youth Championship (Under 18 group) in 2005, and tied for first at the Canadian Open Championship at
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
2005, with a score of 8/10. He defeated
Alexei Shirov
Alexei Shirov (, ; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994.
He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classical world championshi ...
among others.
In 2006, Bluvshtein tied for 2nd-5th places at the Zonal Canadian Championship in Toronto, with 6½/9, behind champion
Igor Zugic. Bluvshtein shared the title at the
First Saturday tournament in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
in June 2007, scoring 8/11. He scored 7/10, unbeaten, in the 2007 Canadian Open Championship in Ottawa. At
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
2007, he defeated former world championship finalist
Nigel Short
Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...
.
In June 2008 Bluvshtein won the Budapest First Saturday tournament scoring 10 points put of 13, a full point ahead of the second place. At 2008 Montreal International, he tied for second with
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru Nakamura[Varuzhan Akobian
Varuzhan Akobian (, born 19 November 1983 in Yerevan, Soviet Union) is an Armenian-born American chess Grandmaster. Originally from Armenia, he now resides in St. Louis. He played on the bronze medal-winning U.S. team in the 2006 and 2008 Ches ...](_blank)
with 5½ of 9, behind the winner
Yuri Shulman. In the 2009 Quebec Invitational, Bluvshtein took second place with 7 of 9, half a point behind the winner
Anton Kovalyov. That same year he tied for first with 7½ of 9 in the Canadian Open at Edmonton, ahead of Alexei Shirov and
Michael Adams. Right after this Bluvshtein took second place on Canadian Zonal with 6½ of 9, undefeated. Proceeding to the strong 2009 Montreal International, he scored 5½ points out of 11, beating
Alexander Onischuk
Alexander Vasylovych Onischuk born September 3, 1975) is a chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1994, and won the 2006 U.S. championship.
Career
In 1991, Onischuk represented the Soviet Union and took 2nd place in ...
and
Alexander Moiseenko.
In 2010 Bluvshtein graduated from university and engaged in chess for a full year professionally. He played in 13 tournaments and matches around the world over the year. Bluvshtein tied for second in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
with 5½ of 7. He then played on the first board for team Canada at the
2010 Chess Olympiad, beating former world champion and world number two
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (pronounced ; ; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion.
Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE ...
. At 2010
Groningen
Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...
Bluvshtein tied for first place with 6½/9. His next success came in the 2011
American Continental Championship, where he tied for first with 7½/9 to qualify for the 2011
FIDE World Cup. Right after this he played in the Premier group of the
Capablanca Memorial
The Capablanca Memorial is a chess tournament that has been held annually in Cuba since 1962 in honor of José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera. At the time, it was the best paid tournament in the world. Since 1974 B and C tournaments have been held ...
tournament in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.[World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...](_bl ...<br></span></div>, Cuba and tied for first again, scoring 6 of 9. At the <div class=)
Bluvshtein was eliminated in the first round by
Alexander Riazantsev.
Bluvshtein was selected as the Canadian Chess Player of the Year in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2011.
Youngest Canadian Olympian
Bluvshtein was first selected to play for the Canadian
Olympiad
An olympiad (, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the Ancient Olympic Games, ancient and Olympic Games, modern Olympic Games.
Although the ancient Olympics were established during Archaic Greece, Greece ...
team at age 14 in 2002; this tied the record for the youngest Canadian male chess Olympian, first set by
Daniel Yanofsky
Daniel Abraham "Abe" Yanofsky (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000) was a Canadian chess player, chess arbiter, writer, lawyer, and politician. An eight-time Canadian chess champion, Yanofsky was Canada's first grandmaster and the first grandmaste ...
in 1939. Bluvshtein was also selected in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010, gradually moving up the boards and playing on board one in his last two Olympiads. His results in this Olympiad are:
*
Bled 2002: 1st reserve: 8/11, +7 =2 -2; 2553 performance
*
Calvià 2004: 3rd board: 8.5/12, +7 =3 -2; 2638 performance
*
Turin 2006: 2nd board: 7.5/11, +5 =5 -1; 2576 performance
*
Dresden 2008: 1st board: 5/9, +4 =2 -3; 2429 performance
*
Khanty-Mansiysk 2010: 1st board: 6/11, +4 =4 -3; 2576 performance
His totals for Canada in Olympiad play are: 54 games, +27 =16 -11, for a score of 64.8%.
Personal life
In September 2011 Bluvshtein retired from chess and is pursuing other career opportunities. Bluvshtein graduated from
York University
York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
in Toronto in 2010, majoring in Science and Technology Studies. He received an MBA from the
Rotman School of Management at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
in 2016. As of August 2017, Mark was working at
Wave
In physics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from List of types of equilibrium, equilibrium) of one or more quantities. ''Periodic waves'' oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium ...
in Toronto as a Manager, Financial Services. At the same company, Bluvshtein later became Director, Business Operations.
Wave Spotlight: Mark Bluvshtein
www.waveapps.com, Sept. 12th 2019
Notable chess games
Dmitri Tyomkin vs Mark Bluvshtein, Oakham 2001, Bogo-Indian Defence (E11), 0-1
Young Mark downs a Grandmaster at just age 13.
Mark Bluvshtein vs Irina Krush, New York Generation Chess International 2003, Sicilian Defence, Richter-Rauzer Variation (B66), 1-0
Bluvshtein defeats one of the world's best young woman players.
Mark Bluvshtein vs Dmitri Tyomkin, Canadian Zonal Championship, Toronto 2004, Sicilian Defence, Kan / Taimanov Variation (B42), 1-0
Crafty maneuvering eventually explodes into tactical fireworks.
Mark Bluvshtein vs Ognjen Cvitan, Calvia Olympiad 2004, King's Indian Defence, Classical Variation (E91), 1-0
Impressive positional performance against a strong GM.
Mark Bluvshtein vs Viacheslav Dydyshko, Calvia Olympiad 2004, Nimzo-Indian Defence (E20), 1-0
Bluvshtein has played some important original games in this variation.
Mark Bluvshtein vs Normunds Meizis, Calvia Olympiad 2004
Budapest Defence, Rubinstein Variation (A52), 1-0 Bluvshtein defeats Black's sharp offbeat opening in precise positional style.
Mark Bluvshtein vs Ildar Khairullin, World Youth Championship, Boys' Under 18 Group, Belfort 2005, Benko Gambit, Fianchetto Variation (A58), 1-0
Another sharp opening is dealt with in fine fashion.
Alexei Shirov vs Mark Bluvshtein, Canadian Open, Edmonton 2005, Petroff Defence (C42), 0-1
Bluvshtein's biggest scalp to date, as Shirov is humbled when Black sacrifices two pieces.
Nigel Short vs Mark Bluvshtein, Montreal International 2007, King's Gambit Accepted (C34), 0-1
Former World Finalist Short sacrifices his Queen for strong attacking chances, but Bluvshtein defends perfectly and scores with his counterattack.
Mark Bluvshtein vs Veselin Topalov, Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad 2010, King’s Indian Defence (E90), 1-0
Bluvshtein's biggest scalp as he beats former World Champion and current FIDE rating #2.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bluvshtein, Mark
1988 births
Living people
Canadian chess players
Jewish chess players
Chess Grandmasters
21st-century Israeli Jews
Russian Jews
Jewish Canadian sportspeople
Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent
Israeli emigrants to Canada
Russian emigrants to Canada
Russian emigrants to Israel
York University alumni
Sportspeople from Yaroslavl
Chess players from Toronto