Leonid Stein facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Leonid Stein |
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Leonid Stein in 1969
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| Full name | Leonid Zakharovich Stein |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Born | November 12, 1934 Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | July 4, 1973 (aged 38) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| Peak rating | 2620 (July 1972) |
Leonid Zakharovich Stein (Леонид Захарович Штейн; November 12, 1934 – July 4, 1973) was a very talented chess player from the Soviet Union. He was a Grandmaster, which is the highest title a chess player can earn. Leonid Stein won the important USSR Chess Championships three times in the 1960s (1963, 1965, and 1966). During that time, he was considered one of the top ten chess players in the world.
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Early Life and Chess Beginnings
Leonid Stein was born in a city called Kamianets-Podilskyi in Ukraine. He was from a Jewish family. He also served in the Soviet Army.
Leonid showed his chess skills early on. He tied for first place in the individual Army Chess Championship in both 1955 and 1956. He earned the national Master title when he was 24 years old. This is a high achievement in chess.
In 1959, he played in the USSR Chess Championship for the first time. The next year, he won the Ukrainian Chess Championship in Kiev. He won it again in 1962. In 1961, he played for the Soviet team at the Student Olympiad in Helsinki. He played very well, helping his team win the gold medal.
Becoming a Grandmaster and Soviet Champion
In 1961, Stein tied for third place in the Soviet Championship. During this tournament, he even defeated the famous player Tigran Petrosian.
Leonid Stein won his first Soviet Championship title in 1963. He tied with Boris Spassky and Ratmir Kholmov in the main tournament. Then, he won the playoff to become the champion. He won the championship again in 1965 and 1966.
He also won two very important international tournaments in Moscow. One was in 1967, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution. The other was in 1971, called the Alekhine Memorial, where he tied with Anatoly Karpov. These tournaments were known as some of the strongest in chess history at that time.
Stein won other international tournaments too. These included events in Sarajevo (1967), Hastings (1967–68), Kecskemét (1968), Tallinn (1969), Pärnu (1971), and Las Palmas (1973). From 1963 until his death in 1973, Leonid Stein was always among the top players in the world.
Challenges in World Title Matches
(from left to right) Leonid Stein, Mark Taimanov, Borislav Ivkov, Andor Lilienthal and Vasili Smyslov
Even though he was a top player, Leonid Stein faced some challenges in trying to become World Champion.
In 1962, he played in the Stockholm Interzonal tournament. He played very well and finished tied for 6th-7th place. This was usually enough to move on to the next stage, called the Candidates' Tournament. However, there was a rule at the time that only three players from any one country could qualify. Since three other Soviet players (Efim Geller, Petrosian, and Viktor Korchnoi) finished ahead of him, Stein could not advance.
Something very similar happened at the next Interzonal tournament in Amsterdam in 1964. Stein finished in fifth place, which would have qualified him if he wasn't from the Soviet Union. But again, three other Soviet players (Mikhail Tal, Vasily Smyslov, and Boris Spassky) finished with slightly higher scores. So, he was blocked from moving forward.
Despite this, he still represented the Soviet Union in team events. He played in the Tel Aviv Olympiad in 1964 and the Havana Olympiad in 1966. He played excellently in both, winning individual gold and silver medals. The Soviet Union team won gold medals both times.
In 1967, Stein again qualified for the Sousse Interzonal. He played well, tying for 6th-8th place. But he had to play a special playoff match against Samuel Reshevsky and Vlastimil Hort. Reshevsky won this playoff, so Stein did not advance.
He also played for the Soviet team in the European team championships in Hamburg (1965) and Kapfenberg (1970), where his team won. He was also part of the famous "Match of the Century" in 1970, where the Soviet team played against the Rest of the World team.
Tragic End and Legacy
Leonid Stein had already qualified for the 1973 Petropolis Interzonal tournament. Many people thought he had a good chance to win the entire Candidates' cycle that year.
However, as he was getting ready to travel for another chess event, he suddenly collapsed. He died from a heart attack in Moscow. He was only 38 years old and still at the peak of his chess career.
Stein's chess style was very creative. He was influenced by famous players like Mikhail Chigorin and Alexander Alekhine. He was known as a brilliant attacking player. He was also very good at playing with the black pieces in sharp openings like the King's Indian Defence and the Sicilian Defence.
He was one of the few players who had an even score against strong players like Vasily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian, and Mikhail Botvinnik. He even had winning records against Mikhail Tal, Boris Spassky, and Paul Keres. Leonid Stein defeated many of the best chess players of his time.
Images for kids
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Amsterdam Interzonal 1964
(from left to right) Leonid Stein, Mark Taimanov, Borislav Ivkov, Andor Lilienthal and Vasili Smyslov
