1. Leonid Zakharovych Stein was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine.
18 Facts About Leonid Stein
1. 2.
Leonid Stein won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s, and was among the world's top ten players during that era.
3.
Leonid Stein was a Jewish Ukrainian who served in the Soviet Army.
4.
Leonid Stein achieved the national Master title for chess at the relatively late age of 24, but, as his Army titles against strong competition attest, he was likely at that strength somewhat earlier.
5.
Leonid Stein won his first Soviet title at Leningrad 1963; he tied with Boris Spassky and Ratmir Kholmov in the tournament itself, then won the playoff.
6.
Leonid Stein won again at Tallinn, 1965, and repeated the next year, 1966, at Tbilisi.
7.
From 1963 to his premature death in 1973, Leonid Stein was in the top ten players in the world, or just outside that range.
8.
Leonid Stein had finished behind fellow Soviets Efim Geller, Petrosian, and Viktor Korchnoi.
9.
Leonid Stein had finished behind fellow Soviets Mikhail Tal, Vasily Smyslov, and Boris Spassky, who, along with Danish GM Bent Larsen, had all scored 17 points.
10.
Leonid Stein was on the Soviet side for the European team championships at Hamburg 1965 and Kapfenberg 1970, both of which were victorious.
11.
Leonid Stein served as an alternate on the Soviet team for the Match of the Century against the Rest of the World team, at Belgrade 1970.
12.
Leonid Stein had already qualified for the 1973 Petropolis Interzonal, and was considered a potential favorite to win the entire Candidates' cycle.
13.
Leonid Stein died of a heart attack at the age of 38 at the Rossiya Hotel in Moscow as he prepared to leave for the European chess championships in Bath, England.
14.
Leonid Stein was buried in Kyiv, in his native Ukraine.
15.
Leonid Stein was considered to be a brilliant attacking genius, but nevertheless played very sound chess, being less willing than Tal to complicate with unforeseeable results.
16.
Leonid Stein excelled in sharp openings such as the King's Indian systems with both colors, the Grunfeld Defence, and the Sicilian Defence.
17.
Leonid Stein was one of few players who had an even score against Vasily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian, and Mikhail Botvinnik.
18.
Leonid Stein had plus records against Mikhail Tal, Boris Spassky, and Paul Keres.