Tall, erect, broad-shouldered, with a leonine head and mane, he stood out among his fellows, walking 'like a king'. A member of the generation coming to maturity after the Second World War, he shared their loss of faith in Western cultural traditions and rejection of conventional norms of dress and behavior, none of which stood him in good stead with the authorities. A great raconteur and somewhat of a dandy, he was extremely popular among chessplayers; they also liked his creative middlegame play and the recondite maneuvers he sometimes found.