Artur Mayakovich Yusupov (in German - Jussupow), born February 13, 1960 is a naturalised German International Grandmaster of chess.

Born in Moscow, Russia, he learned to play chess at the age of six, quickly establishing himself as a formidable youth player and a winner of the World Junior Chess Championship in 1977. This was also the year that he gained the International Master title, qualification as a grandmaster following in 1980. Second place at his first USSR Championship in 1979 (behind Geller) further confirmed that he had the ability to become a strong force in world chess.

International tournament success continued into the next decade and included 1st place at Esbjerg 1980, 1st at Erevan 1982, 4th = at Linares 1983, 1st at Tunis 1985, 1st = at Montpellier 1985 and 3rd at Linares 1988.

By this time Yusupov was also chasing World Championship qualification and he proved a tough and consistent match-player, reaching the semi-final of the Candidates Tournament on three occasions in 1986 (defeated by Sokolov), 1989 (defeated by Karpov) and 1992 (losing out to Timman).

In the early nineties, he returned to his Moscow apartment one day and disturbed some burglars. During the struggle that broke out, he was shot and considers himself lucky to have survived. It was not long after that he decided to move to Germany, which has remained his home ever since.

There were however plenty more victories to be had on the tournament circuit; 1st at Hamburg 1991, 1st at Amsterdam 1994 and 2nd at Horgen 1994 (a category 18 tournament). Even into the new millennium, Yusupov's appetite for chess seems not to have waned; 1st= at the 2002 World Open, 1st at the Basel Rapid 2005 and 1st at Altenkirchen 2005, making him the German Champion. Around this time (October 2005). he had an Elo rating of 2595.

As a leading authority on the Petroff Defence, he wrote a book on the subject in 1999. It contains probably the most exhaustive analysis and encyclopaedic coverage of the opening thus far.

Throughout his playing career, Yusupov has been coached and mentored by Mark Dvoretsky, an International Master who is widely considered to be the world's leading chess trainer. Yusupov freely acknowledges that Dvoretsky's influence has been instrumental in many of his biggest victories. The strong alliance and collaboration that developed, led to them setting up the Dvoretsky-Yusupov Chess School. It was there that many of the new crop of world beating grandmasters learnt their trade in the early nineties, the most famous being Peter Svidler.

Yusupov has also been a frequent contributor to Dvoretsky's books and has been a second and advisor to both Anand and Leko during their world championship campaigns.

References

• Hooper, David and Kenneth Whyld (1996). The Oxford Companion To Chess, Oxford University. ISBN 0192800493.