Mark Carl Diesen (September 16, 1957 in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

– December 9, 2008 in

Conroe, Texas Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about north of Houston. It is a principal city in the metropolitan area. As of 2024, the population was 114,581. Since 2007, t ...

) was an American

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 earned the

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 ...

title in 1976 by winning the World Junior Championship at

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 ...

, ahead of such noted players as

Ľubomír Ftáčnik Ľubomír Ftáčnik (born October 30, 1957, in Bratislava) is a Slovak chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and a former European Junior Chess Championship, European Junior Champion. Chess career He became European Junior Chess Championship, ...

and

Oleg Romanishin Oleg Mikhailovich Romanishin (; born 10 January 1952) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster and former European junior champion. Career Many honours and awards were bestowed on Romanishin as a young man. After winning the European Junior Champ ...

. It was the first time an American had won the World Junior since

William Lombardy William James Joseph Lombardy (December 4, 1937 – October 13, 2017) was an American chess grandmaster, chess writer, teacher, and former Catholic priest. He was one of the leading American chess players during the 1950s and 1960s, and a conte ...

in 1957. Other achievements included being Louisiana State Champion in 1986, 1987 and 1988. His father, Carl Diesen, was a tournament chess player as early as the mid-1940s, which resulted in strong family support for Mark's chess career. He grew up in

Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 47,018. It is named a ...

, a suburb of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, which afforded him numerous opportunities to play. It also allowed Mark to become a student of Grandmaster Lubosh Kavalek, who was one of the strongest players in the world. While Kavalek was noted as a tactician, Diesen was a player with a positional style that made him a difficult opponent for even the most experienced IMs and GMs. Among the top players he defeated in his short career were Larry Evans,

Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov (12 November 1933 – 14 February 2022) was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. As one of the most decorated players in the history of Chess Olympiad, Ivkov was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal t ...

John Nunn John Denis Martin Nunn (born 25 April 1955) is an English chess grandmaster, a three-time world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician. He is one of England's strongest chess players and was form ...

, and

Eugenio Torre Eugenio Oliveros Torre (born November 4, 1951) is a Filipino Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. In 1974, at 22 years old, he became the first Filipino and non-Soviet Asian to qualify for the title Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster. Torre di ...

. Diesen played in the 1980 U.S. Championship—his only appearance in the Closed Championship—but had to withdraw after three rounds after injuring himself in a fall. A graduate of the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, Diesen had a degree in chemical engineering. After dropping out of chess, he worked as a reservoir engineer for

Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Y ...

Pennzoil Pennzoil is an American motor oil brand currently owned by Shell plc. The former Pennzoil Company had been established in 1913 in Pennsylvania, being active in business as an independent firm until it was acquired by Shell in 2002, becoming a bra ...

and

Noble Energy Noble Energy, Inc. was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration headquartered in Houston, Texas. In October 2020, the company was acquired by Chevron Corporation. The company was known as Noble Affiliates, Inc. until 2002. As of December ...

. He continued to influence and inspire through IM with Mark Diesen and coaching in the Conroe-Houston area. Diesen was married with three daughters (Gina, Amy, and Sarah).

References

External links

Mark C Diesen rating card at FIDE
* 1957 births 2008 deaths Chess International Masters World Junior Chess Champions 20th-century American chess players Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York University of Tennessee alumni {{US-chess-bio-stub

References

Further reading

External links