BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Andor Lilienthal, the last surviving member of 27 original grandmaster chess players, died Saturday in Budapest at the age of 99, the Hungarian Chess Federation said.

Lilienthal died at his home after a long illness, the federation's communications director Zsuzsa Veroci told The Associated Press.

"He was a phenomenon," said Veroci, also a FIDE woman grandmaster. "It may sound like an exaggeration, but he had no enemies, just friends. He loved chess and was always helping other players."

Lilienthal was born in Moscow to Hungarian Jewish parents on May 5, 1911, but moved to Budapest with his mother. He eventually competed for Hungary in three Chess Olympiads in the 1930s and later continued his career in the Soviet Union.

He trained world champion Tigran Petrosian from 1951 to 1963, and was the second to Vasily Smyslov during his successful world championship matches against Mikhail Botvinnik.

During his career, Lilienthal won matches against six world champions — Alexander Alekhine, Jose Raul Capablanca, Botvinnik, Max Euwe, Emanuel Lasker and Smyslov.

In 1950, FIDE, the international chess federation, included Lilienthal on its inaugural list of grandmasters, a title awarded to the world's strongest players. The list also included, among others, Soviet Alexander Kotov, American Reuben Fine and Miguel Najdorf, a Polish-born Argentine.

Lilienthal retired from tournament play in 1965 and returned to Budapest in 1976, staying active in the chess world until recently, Veroci said.

Lilienthal is survived by his wife, Olga. Funeral details were not immediately available.

The blood-words promised, we've spoken
Releasing the names from the circle
Maybe we can leave here now and
Transcend the boundaries

For now we're standing here
and awaiting some grand transition
The future is but past forgotten
When you're on the road to madness

I wonder where we're going?

Correct pronunciation of his name-

...and arranged to have Kirsan hand Fischer a briefcase full of money...

The player with the white pieces is still unknown here, and the other participants were H Van Hartingsvelt and F Wackers.

[Event "4-Player-Event A.S.C"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "1934.08.27"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Karper, J.G."]
[Black "Lilienthal, Andor"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E38"]
[Annotator "thomastonk"]
[PlyCount "58"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. e3 cxd4 6. exd4 Nc6 7. Nf3 d5 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qc7 11. O-O Bd7 12. Re1 Ne7 13. Bd3 Rc8 14. Bd2 Ned5 15. Re5 h6 16. Qb3 Qb6 17. Qxb6 Nxb6 18. Ra5 Ra8 19. Ne5 O-O 20. Rb1 Rfd8 21. Nxd7 Nfxd7 22. c4 Nf6 23. Be3 Rac8 24. c5 Nbd7 25. Rxb7 Nxc5 26. dxc5 Rxd3 27. h3 Nd5 28. Raxa7 Nxe3 29. fxe3 Rxc5 1/2-1/2

1. Lilienthal 4.5
2. Karlin 4.0
3. Gandolfi 3.5
4. Napoli 2.0
5. Biava 1.0
6. Ferrantes 0.0

This tournament was played because of the three guests (Lilienthal from Hungary, Karlin from Sweden and Ferranets from Argentina) visiting Milan.