Josif (Josef, Iossif, Iosif) Davidovich Dorfman (born 1 May 1952, Zhytomyr) is a Soviet-French chess Grandmaster, coach, and chess writer.

Josif Dorfman
Dorfman in 2022
CountryFrance
Born (1952-05-01) 1 May 1952 (age 72)
Zhytomyr, Ukrainian SSR
TitleGrandmaster (1978)
FIDE rating2531 (November 2024)
Peak rating2617 (July 2002)
Peak rankingNo. 13 (January 1979)

Tournament results

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Boris Gulko & Josif Dorfman (1977)

Dorfman played in several USSR championships. In 1975, he took thirteenth in Yerevan (43rd URS-ch; Tigran Petrosian won). In 1976, he finished fifth in Moscow in the 44th Soviet championship as Anatoly Karpov won by a full point over Yuri Balashov.[1] 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).[2] The subsequent play-off match was drawn (+1 –1 =4).[3] In 1978, Dorfman shared thirteenth in Tbilisi as Tal won.[4] In 1981, he tied for 8-9th in Frunze; Lev Psakhis and Garry Kasparov won). In 1984, he took 12th in Lvov (51st URS-ch; Andrei Sokolov won).

In international tournaments, Dorfman tied for second at Pécs 1976, finished second to Smyslov at São Paulo 1978,[5] tied for second at Polanica Zdrój 1978, one-half point behind Mikhail Tseitlin,[6] 1st-3rd at Djakarta 1979, 3rd-5th at Manila 1979. He won at Zamardi 1980. He was a winner at Warsaw 1983 (+6, =8), was 1st= at Lvov 1984, 1st at Moscow 1985, and 5th= at Minsk 1986.

In 1998, Dorfman won the French Chess Championship in Méribel (73rd FRA-ch).[7] Two years later, he was runner-up to his former student, Bacrot.

He played for France in three Chess Olympiads.

Dorfman was awarded the IM title in 1977 and the GM title in 1978.

Coach

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He acted as one of Garry Kasparov's seconds in his first four World Championship matches against Anatoly Karpov. Later Dorfman moved to France. He coached the French player Étienne Bacrot 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 Senior Trainer.

Commentator

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In April 2019, Dorfman joined chess24 as one of the site's commentators and coaches together with Laurent Fressinet and Jean-Baptiste Mullon.[8]

Books

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  • Dorfman, Iossif (2001). The Method in Chess. Sarl Game Mind. ISBN 978-2957289028.
  • Dorfman, Iossif (2002). The Critical Moment. Sarl Game Mind. ISBN 978-2847350029.

Notable games

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References

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  1. ^ "URS-ch44 1976 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". 365chess.com. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  2. ^ "URS-ch45 1977 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". 365chess.com. 28 November 1977. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  3. ^ "URS-ch45 playoff-1pl 1978 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". 365chess.com. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  4. ^ "URS-ch46 1978 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". 365chess.com. 1 December 1978. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Sao Paulo 1978 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". 365chess.com. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Rubinstein mem 1978 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". 365chess.com. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Domaine obsolète". eric.delaire.perso.orange.fr. [permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Bonjour, chess24!". chess24. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
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