Mark Diesen, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetMark Diesen
American chess player
Date of Birth: 16-Sep-1957
Place of Birth: Buffalo, New York, United States
Date of Death: 10-Dec-2008
Profession: chess player
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Virgo 
About Mark Diesen
- Mark Carl Diesen (born September 16, 1957 in Buffalo, New York, died December 9, 2008 in Conroe, Texas) was an American chess player.
- He earned the International Master title in 1976 by winning the World Junior Championship at Groningen, ahead of such noted players as LubomĂr Ftácnik and Oleg Romanishin.
- It was the first time an American had won the World Junior since William Lombardy 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, a suburb of Washington, D.C., 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 to face for even the most experienced IMs and GMs.
- Among the top players he defeated in his short career were Larry Evans, Borislav Ivkov, John Nunn, and Eugenio Torre.
- 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, he had a degree in Chemical Engineering.
- After dropping out of chess, he worked as a reservoir engineer for Shell Oil, Pennzoil and Noble Energy.
- After his withdrawal from chess he continued to influence and inspire through IM with Mark Diesen and coaching within the Conroe-Houston area. Diesen was married with three daughters (Gina, Amy, and Sarah).
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