GM Dmitry Svetushkin (1980-2020)

by André Schulz
9/11/2020 – Last Friday, September 4, 2020, Dmitry Svetushkin died. The Moldovan Grandmaster played ten times for his country at chess Olympiads and was also an active and renowned trainer. He was 40 years old. | Photo: Andreas Kontokanis, Wikipedia

ChessBase 18 - Mega package ChessBase 18 - Mega package

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

More...

Last Friday, September 4, 2020, Dmitry Svetushkin threw himself out of the window on the 6th floor of a house in Chisinau. Svestushkin left no farewell letter. The day before he had talked to friends via Skype and did not give the impression that something was wrong.

His friends describe Dmitry Svestushkin as a very friendly, well-read and versatile person, who, for example, tried to learn German to be able to read Goethe in the original. He was sporty, ran marathons and even once took part in an Ironman event.

Dmitry Svetushkin, born on July 25, 1980, was one of the best players of his country. Like practically all other Moldavian Grandmasters of his generation, he was a student of Vjacheslav Chebanenko.

Svetushkin cultivated a solid positional style and was particularly strong in the endgame. In 2000 Svetushkin won the Moldovan national championship and between 2000 and 2018 he represented his country at ten chess Olympiads.

Svetushkin took part in team championships in various countries. In the German Bundesliga he played for SG Trier and SK Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim. In 2002 he became a Grandmaster and in 2014 Svetushkin became an official FIDE trainer. He has done a lot to help and to train young Moldovan talents.

To remember and to honor Dmitry Svetushkin Mikhail Golubev annotated a game, which he played Svetushkin in 2002 at a tournament in Bucharest.

Translation from German: Johannes Fischer

 

Video of a blitz game against Savchenko from a tournament in Voronezh


André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

ulyssesganesh ulyssesganesh 6/16/2021 05:55
of course, chess is a mental sport .. while a win sends one euphoric, a loss could be devastating .... often chess players are introverts.....and suicides happen here and there .... it is time for FIDE to do something regarding the mental well being of chess players ... may be creating videos involving yoga, motivational features, meditation techniques etc., some financial help for the needy players, who have achieved in chess ...
dianche dianche 9/12/2020 03:28
Shocked and very sad. He was a lovely person.
virginmind virginmind 9/12/2020 10:52
R.I.P. Very sad news...
fgkdjlkag fgkdjlkag 9/12/2020 06:57
I am not convinced yet that this was a suicide. It has also been reported in other press that he "fell" from the window and that a "criminal case" was opened to investigate. Also he spoke to someone on Skype the day before who reported he was in a good mood and he even asked that person to call him in a few days.

If this was a suicide then there should be a history of depression.
Edwin Meijer Edwin Meijer 9/11/2020 04:40
If he did commit suicide, that's pretty sad.
goeland goeland 9/11/2020 02:30
Shocking death, so young. Rest in peace.
1