Eduard Yefimovich Gufeld (March 20, 1936 – September 23, 2002) was an Ukrainian International Grandmaster of chess. March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... The title International Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-03-08, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ...

Gufeld was perhaps the most prolific author in all of chess and wrote more than one hundred chess books. Gufeld had a long career as a professional player becoming an International Master in 1964 and an International Grandmaster in 1967 although these dates are slightly misleading. In those days Soviet players often didn't receive international titles at all and Gufeld's career best result of 7th in the USSR Chess Championships occurred in 1963 and was worth a whole lot more than most GM norms by modern standards. He was often rumored to be a KGB agent, mainly because he was allowed to travel freely around the world at a time when it was nearly impossible for anyone else to get out of the Soviet Union. Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-03-08, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The title International Master is awarded to outstanding chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. The title is open to both men and women. ... The title International Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... Soviet redirects here. ... Winner list: 1991 (58th,Moscow) Minasian, Artashes 1990 (57th,Leningrad) Beliavsky, Alexander / Yudasin, Leonid / Bareev, Evgeny / Vyzmanavin, Alexey ex aequo 1989 (56th,Odessa) Vaganian, Rafael 1988 (55th,Moscow) Karpov, Anatoly / Kasparov, Garry ex aequo 1987 (54th,Minsk) Beliavsky, Alexander 1986 (53rd,Kiev) Tseshkovsky, Vitaly 1985 (52nd,Riga) Gavrikov, Viktor / Gurevich... The KGB emblem and motto: The sword and the shield KGB (transliteration of КГБ) is the Russian-language abbreviation for State Security Committee, (Russian: (help· info); Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti). ...

Gufeld played the early part of his career at a time when Soviet Chess was at its most dominant. This was due not only to the famous names who went on to take the World Title or become Candidates but also due to the incredible strength in depth they had of which Gufeld was a part. He played in the Soviet Championships 8 times qualifying 6 times between 1959 and 1966 when it was a real achievement to do so. Looking at his record it seems his best achievements were behind him by the time he became an International Master. His wins against Mikhail Tal, Boris Spassky, and Viktor Korchnoi took place in the period 1958–1960. Unlike his Ukrainian rival Leonid Stein his results never really did kick on as he might have liked. Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal (Latvian: Mihails Tāls, Russian: Михаил Нехемьевич Таль) (November 9, 1936 - June 28, 1992), born in Riga, Latvia, was the eighth World Chess Champion. ... Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasski) (Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский) (born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess player and former world champion. ... Viktor Korchnoi (also Korchnoy, Kortchnoy, Kortschnoj, etc) (Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й) (born March 23, 1931) is a professional chess player. ... Leonid Stein (1934 – 1973), Soviet chess player from Ukraine. ...

Instead Gufeld's career settled into that of a good professional Grandmaster. He moved to Georgia and became trainer to amongst others Maya Chiburdanidze. He represented the Soviet Union in some team events and had a steady diet of invitationals. With the fall of the Berlin Wall he used the extra freedom he had to travel the world playing chess and turned up in opens everywhere. He finally settled in the United States in his final years where he had some very respectable results. Maia Chiburdanidze (born January 17, 1961) is a Georgian chess player. ... Remnant of the Berlin Wall near Potsdamer Platz, June 2003. ...

The accomplishments of which he was most proud, however, were his wins against Bagirov and Vasily Smyslov. In fact, the first of these games made it into John Nunn's collection of the hundred greatest games of all time. Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Васи́лий Смысло́в) (born March 24, 1921) is a Russian chess grandmaster. ... John Denis Martin Nunn (born April 25, 1955) is an English chess player and mathematician. ...

In September of 2002, Gufeld suffered a massive stroke that left him in a coma. He died two weeks later at the age of 66 in the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a world famous hospital located in Los Angeles. ... This article is about the largest city in California. ...

External links

• Obituary