Vladimir Sak

Wladimir Grigorjewitsch Sak ( Russian Владимир Григорьевич Зак , scientific transliteration Vladimir Grigor'evič Zak , English Vladimir Zak ; born February 11, 1913 in Berdychiv ; † November 25, 1994 in Pavlovsk ) was a Ukrainian chess coach and one of the most famous Soviet chess players Chess school .

He was born to Jewish parents, his original first name was Wulf. He later changed it to Vladimir.

During the Second World War he was a soldier and joined the CPSU . After the war he settled in Leningrad and worked there as a chess trainer for over 40 years. Boris Spasski and Viktor Korchnoi were among his most famous students . For them he was a father substitute in the beginning of their career.

Sak received the title of Honored Coach of the Soviet Union in 1958 . Since he was never able to achieve the title of chess master himself and his strength lay more in recognizing talents and developing them early, his students later turned to other coaches who were able to develop their understanding of chess. Most of his students remained grateful to Sak for life. One exception is the grandmaster Alex Yermolinsky , who later emigrated to the United States and who severely criticized Sak in his book The road to chess improvement (1999, ISBN 1-901983-24-2 ). Sak was authoritarian and only had a limited chess horizon.

Works

• Lasker . Fizkultura i Sport , Moscow 1963.
• The king's gambit . Batsford, London 1974, ISBN 0-7134-2914-3 .
• Improve your chess results . Batsford, London 1985, ISBN 0-7134-2486-9 .

literature

• Gennadi Sosonko : Russian silhouettes . New in Chess, Alkmaar 2001, ISBN 90-5691-078-7 , pp. 106-120.