Yury Dokhoian, 1964-2021

The sad news is a couple of weeks old, and some of you may have heard about it during the recent rapid & blitz event in Zagreb, Croatia. Grandmaster Yury Dokhoian, for many years Garry Kasparov's primary second and later the trainer of Sergey Karjakin, passed away July 1 at the relatively young age of 56 due to COVID-19.

He was a strong GM in his youth, though not of the super-elite level, but found his niche when he started working with Kasparov. He was strong enough to be helpful, and had must have had great strength as a person to be able to push against a personality as powerful of Kasparov's. While Kasparov hasn't been an active professional since 2005, it must nevertheless be a great loss to him, and likewise to the other members of the chess community who knew and worked with Dokhoian. (For Kasparov it is a second blow in the 6-7 months; his beloved mother died last year on Christmas day.)

All of the tributes I've seen have focused on his work as a trainer, and understandably so. Still, it's worth having a peek at some of his successes when he was an active player - have a look at these games with Epishin and Shabalov, for starters.

My condolences to Dokhoian's friends, colleagues, and loved ones. Rest in peace.