 Efim Geller |
Efim Petrovich Geller was born on March 8, 1925 in Odessa, USSR (Ukraine). He came from
a Jewish family. Geller served in the Soviet army during World War II. Geller learned chess during World War II while reading chess literature during his spare time. His father was a First Category chess player and was a student of the first Soviet grandmaster, Boris Verlinsky. In 1946 Geller played in his first chess tournament and took 4th place in the Ukrainian Championship in Kiev. In 1947, he took 6th place in the Ukrainian Chess Championship, held in Kiev (Kyiv). He scored 9.5 out of 15. The event was won by Alexei Sokolsky (1908-1969). In 1948, he took 3rd-5th place at Baku with 9 out of 15. In 1948, he took 5th-8th in the Ukrainian SSR Championship in Kyiv. He scored 11 out of 18. In 1948 he graduated from Odessa National University with a degree in political economy, but later made chess his career. He later earned a doctorate in physical education. In 1949, he won the USSR Championship semifinal qualifier at Tbilisi 949 with 11½/16, thus advancing to the final later that year. He took 3rd-4th place in the 17th USSR championship in 1949. He was only a candidate master at the time and the lowest rated player. He scored 12.5 out of 19. In 1950, he took 3rd in the 1950 qualifier at Kyiv, scoring 9 out of 15. In 1950 he won the Ukrainian championship and took 7th in the USSR Championship. He took 2nd-3rd in the 1951 USSR championship. His wife, Oksana, was a ballet dancer while his son, Alexander, was also a chess master. His first international tournament was in Budapest in 1952. He took 2nd place (won by Paul Keres), ahead of Botvinnik and Smyslov. He obtained the Grandmaster title in 1952. He took 4th place in the Stockholm interzonal in 1952. He took 3rd place in the 1952 USSR championship. In 1952, Geller had a spacious house outside Moscow in Peredelkino, the artists' and writers' colony, and was a familiar figure at the Central Chess Club in Moscow. In 1953 he took 6th place in the Zurich Candidates tournament. In 1954, Geller defeated I.A. Horowitz in the Russian vs. USA team match, held in New York. He tied for first in 1955 USSR Championship with Vasily Smyslov, and then defeated Smyslov in the play-off. He would win the Soviet championship again 24 years later. He took 5th place in the 1955 interzonal tournament in Gothenburg. He shared 3rd place in the 1956 Candidates tournament in Amsterdam. In 1957 he won the Ukrainian championship. In 1958 he won the Ukrainian championship. In 1959 he won the Ukrainian championship. In 1960 he took 2nd place in the USSR championship. He tied for 2nd place in the 1962 Stockholm interzonal. He tied for 2nd place with Paul Keres in the 1962 Candidates tournament in Curacao. His peak Elo rating is estimated at 2655 from this event. He lost to Paul Keres in a match to qualify for the Candidates' matches. From 1962 through 1963, Geller was ranked No. 3 in the world. Geller was ranked second in the world in three different months between the May 1963 list and the July 1963 list. His highest rating was 2765, in the August 1963 list, when he was third in the world ranking, at the age of 38 years and 5 months. (source: Blanco, "Efim Geller," ChessBase Chess News, Mar 11, 2022) In 1965 he took 1st place at Beverwijk. He lost to Smyslov in the Candidates quarter-final (Geller had replaced Botvinnik). In 1966 he took 2nd place in the USSR championship. He lost a match with Larsen in a Candidates match. He tied for 2nd place in the 1967 Sousse interzonal. In the 1960s and 1970s, Geller regularly played for the Soviet Army team. In 1968, he took 1st place at Gothenburg. He lost to Spassky in the Candidates quarter-final. In 1968, Geller played Board 1 for his Army Club and won the 5th Armies Team Chess Championship, held in Moscow. He repeated his wins in 1969 and 1970. In 1969 he took 1st place at Wijk aan Zee. In 1969 the first official FIDE rating listed Geller as 2620. Only 6 other grandmasters were rated higher than him: Fischer, Spassky, Korchnoi, Botvinnik, Petrosian, and Larsen. He tied for 2nd place in the 1970 Palma de Majorca interzonal. In 1971 he lost to Korchnoi in the Candidates quarter-final. In 1972, Geller was part of Spassky’s entourage in the Spassky-Fischer world chess championship match, held in Reykjavik, Iceland. During the match, Geller made the statement that some electronic devices and chemical substances were in the playing hall and being used against Boris Spassky. He wanted Fischer’s chair and the lighting examined for bugs, devices, and chemical substances. In 1973 he tied for 2nd in the Petropolis interzonal, but lost in a match-tournament with Portisch and Polugaevsky. In 1975 he took 1st place at Teesside and at Moscow. In 1976 he took 1st place at Las Palmas. His peak rating was 2620. In 1976 he took 9th in the Biel interzonal. In 1977 he took 1st place in the Hoogovens tournament in Wijk aan Zee. In 1979 he won the USSR Championship at the age of 54. He won the USSR championship 24 years earlier. In 1980 he tied for 1st at Las Palmas. In 1982 he took 5th in the Moscow interzonal. In 1984 he wrote APPLICATION OF CHESS THEORY. In 1991, he tied for 1st in the World Seniors’ Championship. He lost on tie-break to Vasily Smyslov. In 1992, he won the World Seniors’ Championship, held in Bad Worishofen, Germany. In 1995, he played in his last major tournament, the 1995 Russian Championship at Elista. He died of prostate cancer and heart disease on November 17, 1998 at the age of 73 at a hospital near his home. He is buried in the Peredelkino Cemetery in Moscow. (source: Thomas, "Yefim Geller, Grandmaster of Daring Attacks, Diec at 73," The New York Times, Nov 21, 1998) Geller was a Candidate for the World Championship on 6 occasions (1953, 1956, 1962, 1965, 1968, and 1971). Geller won the Ukrainian championship 4 times (1950, 1957, 1958, and 1959). During his career, he defeated eight world chess champions - Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Fischer, Euwe, Spassky, and Karpov. He never beat Kasparov. Geller - Hansen, 1978 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 e6 5.d5 exd5 6.cxd5 Na5 7.e4 b6 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 f6 (9...Bb7) 10.Nd5 Rb8?? (10...Bb7) 11.Nc7+ Kf7 12.Qd5+ Kg6 13.Nh4+ Kh5 14.Qf3+ (14...Kxh4 15.Qh3 mate) 1-0
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 Bill Wall
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