Mark Diesen

Who was Mark Diesen?

Mark Carl Diesen 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 Ľubomír Ftáčnik 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.