Lev Osipovich Alburt is a chess Grandmaster, writer and coach. He is a former three-time U.S. chess champion, three-time Ukrainian champion and former European team champion, as well as one of the most sought-after chess teachers in the world. Lev did not prefer the communist system and came over from Russia to the U.S. in 1979, at a time when it was extremely dangerous to do so. Once in the U.S., he reunited with his old teacher, I.M. Roman Pelts, who had smuggled out the secret lesson plans that had produced Soviet world-dominance in chess for three decades. The two got to work, and very quickly, Lev began to publish what was to become the best-selling and highly praised Comprehensive Chess Course. In 2004, he was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer. In New York City, where he lives, several Wall Street figures and other prominent people have taken chess classes from him, including Carl Icahn, Stephen Friedman, Doug Hirsch, Eliot Spitzer and Ted Field. He is still teaching today, online as well. Enjoy!