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Leonid Stein

LEONID STEIN (born Nov-12-1934, died Jul-04-1973, 38 years old) Ukraine (federation/nationality Russia) PRONUNCIATION: [what is this?] Leonid Zakharovich Stein was born in (the) Ukraine. He became a master at the age of twenty-four--unusually late for one who goes on to become a player of his caliber. Three years later, Stein qualified for the Soviet Championship for the first time, placing third and gaining the International Grandmaster title (1962). He played board one for the Soviet team at the Helsinki 1961 Student Olympiad, scoring a strong +8, =3, -1, and helping his team to the overall gold medals. He also represented the USSR at the Tel Aviv Olympiad (1964) scoring a fine 10/13, and winning an individual gold medal on the first reserve board. Again, he was in the Soviet side at the Havana Olympiad 1966, scoring 9/12, winning an individual silver medal on board four. Both times, the Soviet Union won the team gold medals. In the 1960s, he accumulated a string of strong tournament victories, including three U.S.S.R. Championships 1963 [rusbase-1], 1965 [rusbase-2] and 1966/7 [rusbase-3]. Although Stein never qualified for the Candidates, he came extremely close in 1962 and 1964 (when he would have qualified if not for a rule restricting the number of candidates from one country) and again in 1967 (where he was eliminated after drawing a tie-break playoff with Vlastimil Hort and Samuel Reshevsky due to the latter's better tiebreaks). Two outstanding international tournament victories were attained at Moscow 1967 (commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution), and Moscow 1971 (Alekhine Memorial, equal with Anatoly Karpov). Both of the Moscow tournaments were considered to be among the strongest tournaments in chess history up to that time. Further international tournament victories were scored at Sarajevo (Bosna) 1967, equal with Borislav Ivkov, Hastings 1967/68 shared, Kecskemet 1968, Tallinn 1969, Parnu 1971, and Las Palmas 1973, equal with Tigran Petrosian. As Stein was preparing to leave for Bath, England (1973) for the European Team Championship, he collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack in the Rossiya Hotel in Moscow, aged 38. Stein defeated many of the top players of his era. He was one of the few players who had an even score against Vasily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian, and Mikhail Botvinnik. He had plus records against Mikhail Tal, Boris Spassky, and Paul Keres. Garry Kasparov wrote that Stein "went beyond the bounds of Botvinnik-Smyslov harmony, expanding the limits of our understanding of the game, changing our impressions of the correlation of material and quality of position, of situations with disrupted material and strategic balance, and created the grounds for the emergence of modern, ultra-dynamic chess". (My Great Predecessors Vol. 3, p. 231) Wikipedia article: Leonid Stein Last updated: 2024-05-27 17:29:59

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page 1 of 41; games 1-25 of 1,024  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. V Golembo vs Stein 1-0 21 1948 Category IV Tt C34 King's Gambit Accepted 2. V Shiyanovsky vs Stein   1-0 27 1950 UKR-chT B03 Alekhine's Defense 3. Stein vs V Golembo   ½-½ 34 1950 Lvov A15 English 4. Stein vs V Golembo   1-0 49 1950 Lvov E40 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 5. E Lazarev vs Stein 0-1 34 1951 Ukrainian Junior Championship C05 French, Tarrasch 6. Stein vs V Golembo   ½-½ 53 1951 Lvov E26 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch 7. O Yurasov vs Stein   ½-½ 29 1951 Ukrainian Junior Championship B88 Sicilian, Fischer-Sozin Attack 8. V Golembo vs Stein   ½-½ 36 1952 Lvov B65 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...Be7 Defense, 9...Nxd4 9. Stein vs V Golembo   1-0 43 1952 Lvov Region Championship C19 French, Winawer, Advance 10. B Vorobets vs Stein   1-0 24 1953 Lvov B95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6 11. L Goltsov vs Stein 0-1 33 1955 RSFSR Young Candidates E69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line 12. V Lyublinsky vs Stein 0-1 34 1955 Soviet Army Championship C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense 13. E Poltoranov vs Stein 0-1 25 1955 Soviet Army Championship A49 King's Indian, Fianchetto without c4 14. G Kanayan vs Stein   0-1 35 1955 15th Ch RSFSR (sf) E62 King's Indian, Fianchetto 15. Stein vs Lutikov   0-1 32 1955 Soviet Army Championship C77 Ruy Lopez 16. D Rovner vs Stein   ½-½ 37 1955 Soviet Army Championship B32 Sicilian 17. Stein vs Y Shaposhnikov   0-1 28 1955 Soviet Army Championship C45 Scotch Game 18. Stein vs N Golovko   0-1 35 1955 Soviet Army Championship C45 Scotch Game 19. E Bakhmatov vs Stein   1-0 24 1955 RSFSR Young Candidates C59 Two Knights 20. E Zagoryansky vs Stein 0-1 50 1956 Moscow Championship semifinal E70 King's Indian 21. Stein vs V Soloviev   1-0 36 1956 Soviet Army Championship B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 22. Stein vs V Zheliandinov   0-1 51 1956 Soviet Army Championship B98 Sicilian, Najdorf 23. A Lukin vs Stein   0-1 40 1956 Moscow Championship semifinal D11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 24. G Ravinsky vs Stein   0-1 45 1956 Moscow Championship semifinal C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense 25. Stein vs G Goldberg   ½-½ 47 1956 Moscow Championship semifinal C61 Ruy Lopez, Bird's Defense  page 1 of 41; games 1-25 of 1,024

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 18 OF 18 ·  Later Kibitzing> Nov-12-16    parisattack: Stein has long been one of my favorite players. Aggressive with a somewhat hypermodern repertoire. His English is excellent! Four tomes of games: Leonid Stein: Master of Attack - Keene Leonid Stein: Master of Risk Strategy - Gufeld Chess Secrets: Great Attackers - Crouch has a full section on Stein, though I see him more as a power player. Stein: Move-by-Move - Engquist The Engquist volume has a excellent biography with (perhaps) the true story of his untimely demise. It is my favorite book of the group. Jan-02-17    parisattack: Tom Unger's very excellent book, Strategical Themes (Thinker's Press 1989), has a number of Stein's games with the double-fianchetto both as white and black. Jul-29-18    ZonszeinP: This great player should have been in the 1965 candidates. Probably the only one who could have beaten Spassky.. But then There's no justice in this world Jul-29-18    ewan14: Spassky did manage two draws in the 1964 2nd zonal tournament. He might have been playing not to lose Jul-29-18    ZonszeinP: Fighting games. One of them was a famous Marshall game Jan-01-19    Dionysius1: I don't think I smoke after intercourse, but I've never looked to see. Jan-21-19    Gallicrow: "I know how he died. Stein was preparing for the inter-zonal tournament in Brazil. And, as they did with everyone travelling to exotic countries, the doctors have him strong injections against a variety of illnesses…his organism could not cope with this. In hotel “Russia” at the dead of the night, someone called me on the phone and did not say anything. Later I understood that it was Leonid calling, but he no longer had the strength to say anything. In this way, having bade a silent farewell, a most talented chess player departed at the bloom of his age and strength". (V. Korchnoi) from http://ruchess.ru/en/persons_of_day... Sep-25-20    ARubinstein: Leonid Stein was an incredibly strong Grandmaster. In the West, he never got the attention and respect he deserved. I did an analysis of lifetime head to head scores of the top 50 players from 1945 to 1980, and Stein came in fourth place behind Fischer, Karpov and Botvinnik and ahead of such legends as Korchnoi, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Keres, Smyslov, Geller and many others. This is absolutely remarkable for a player who only became a chess master at 24 due to the unfortunate circumstances of his youth. He had an equal or plus score against: Botvinnik, Bronstein, Keres, Kholmov, Polugaevsky, Reshevsky, Smyslov, Spassky, Tal, and many other great players. Sep-25-20    MissScarlett: Dying early (Stein), retiring early (Fischer), being close to one's peak in 1980 (Karpov), and playing very selectively (Botvinnik), are all winning strategies in that regard. Sep-25-20    plang: Dying early is not a strategy and not sure what you are saying about Karpov. Sep-25-20    MissScarlett: All these strategies serve to <hide the decline>. Sep-25-20    harrylime: Stein was a good commie Bobby had his number tho Sep-25-20    harrylime: stein was a good commie fischer had his number tho ... Sep-25-20    harrylime: Sometimes James Nick Parker and Friends https://youtu.be/HhQBA4dR4l0 Sep-25-20    moronovich: <ARubinstein> Thanks for your analysis. And Stein was indeed something special. One of the best ever. Sep-25-20    ARubinstein: <harrylime: Stein was a good commie Bobby had his number tho> Yes, Fischer won a grand total of ONE game against Stein... They only played twice, with one draw and one win for Fischer. The only player who really had Stein's number was Efim Geller. Geller won 7, drew 8, and lost only one game against Stein. Geller's score was by far the most lopsided result against Stein on my list -- nobody else came close. Jan-05-22    Messiah: <Albertan: Can someone please add this game to the Stein database as my iPad won’t download the pgn. file properly.Thanks: https://www.chess.com/games/view/13... Are you the mysterious database crap uploader? The game is already in the DB: Korchnoi vs Stein, 1965 Jan-06-22    pazzed paun: I was in a big chain bookstore I ran into a 2300 rated player who’s father had been a chess master He saw a copy of stein move by move And said why are they writing books about nobodies? He really had no idea who stein was ! Nov-12-23    offramp: Today is Stein's birthday.He would be 88 this year. He died 50 years ago. Oct-01-24    ewan14: No Moscow 67 or 71 in the notable tournaments either ! Jul-22-25    Petrosianic: <offramp: Today is Stein's birthday.He would be 88 this year. He died 50 years ago.> Try to think of something pleasant, no matter how much it hurts. Jul-22-25    Petrosianic: I've never understood why Stein is so poorly remembered. He had a popular attacking style. He was never world champion, but neither was Rashid Nezhmetdinov, who is quite kitschy. Stein got a lot closer to the title than Rashid did. I'm looking at Stein's record against other top players of his day, and it's quite impressive. In 65 games against world champions, he broke even. vs. Botvinnik +1-1=2 vs. Smyslov +1-1=8 vs. Tal +3-0=14 vs. Petrosian +1-2=8 vs. Spassky +3-2=11 vs. Fischer +0-1=1 vs. Karpov +0-2=3 Against other top players, his record is more than impressive. vs. Korchnoi: +2-2=12 vs. Keres: +2-0=6 vs. Bronstein: +4-1=11 vs. Portisch: +2-3=2 vs. Gligoric: +7-1=1 vs. Geller: +2-7-8 vs. Taimanov: +5-1=7 vs. Najdorf: +0-1=1 vs. Averbakh: +2-0=7 vs. Larsen: +1-2=0 vs. Olafsson: +0-1=2 vs. Reshevsky: +0-0=7 vs. Furman: +4-2=4 vs. Tolush: +1-0=0 vs. Kholmov: +3-2=11 vs. Uhlmann: +4-1=0 vs. Unzicker: +0-0=1 vs. Krogius: +6-0=0 Winning records against most of these. About the only guy in all of this who seemed to have his number was Geller, while he had Gligoric's number. And 6-zip against Krogius is no small feat. Jul-22-25    offramp: Hmm. I think THIS is the most interesting datum: <Petrosianic: ... <vs. Unzicker: +0-0=1>>. I am racing to that game. Jul-22-25    unspiek: <Petrosianic> vs. Bill Addison: +0-1=0 Stein vs W Addison, 1970 Jul-23-25    Petrosianic: <offramp> <I am racing to that game.> I only mentioned that one at all because I had Uhlmann in there, and have always mentally associated Uhlmann and Unzicker, as the top East and West German players of that time (and both names starting with a U). It seemed wrong to put one in and leave the other out, like mentioning Tweedledum without Tweedledee. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 18) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 18 OF 18 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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