Leonid Stein

Leonid Stein (November 12 1934 – July 4 1973), Soviet chess player from Ukraine.

Leonid Stein achieved the Master title for chess at the relatively late age of 24. At that age he competed for first time in the USSR Chess Championship and most amazingly tied for 3rd in that event, gaining the Grandmaster title and the right to play in the Interzonal tournament.

Stein's creative style was greatly influenced by Chigorin and Alekhine. He was a highly intuitive, natural player. He was considered to be a brilliant attacking genius, but nevertheless played very sound chess, being less willing than Tal to complicate with unforeseeable results.

He won the USSR Chess Championship three times out of four attempts between 1963 and 1966, as well as two other very difficult tournaments, Moscow 1967 and Moscow 1971. In 1969 he won the first annual International Chess Tournament in Tallinn, Estonia.

He was one of a few players who had an even record against Vassily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian, and Mikhail Botvinnik. He even had plus records against Mikhail Tal, Boris Spassky, and Paul Keres. Here is his win against Spassky in Leningrad in 1964 (moves given in Algebraic chess notation):

#d4 Nf6#c4 g6#Nc3 d5#cxd5 Nxd5#e4 Nxc3#bxc3 Bg7#Bc4 O-O#Ne2 Nc6#h4 Na5#Bb3 c5#h5 Nxb3#axb3 cxd4#cxd4 Bd7#hxg6 hxg6#Qd3 Qb6#Bd2 Rfc8#Ra5 a6#Rc5 Rxc5#dxc5 Qc7#Bc3 e5#b4 Rd8#Qg3 Bb5#f4 Qd7#Kf2 Bxe2#Kxe2 a5#Kf2 axb4#Bxe5 Bxe5#fxe5 Qd4+#Kf3 Qd3+#Kf4 Qd2+#Kg4 Rd4#Rf1 Rxe4+#Kh3 Qh6+ 0-1

Stein had already qualified for the 1973 Interzonal tournament to be held in Petropolis, and was a serious contender to win the whole candidates cycle, when he was found dead from a heart attack at the Rossiya Hotel in Moscow. He was only 38, at the top of his career.