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Efim Geller
Geller 
 

Number of games in database: 2,493
Years covered: 1946 to 1995
Highest rating achieved in database: 2620
Overall record: +936 -356 =1194 (61.7%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 7 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (316) 
    B83 B92 B84 B42 B33
 Ruy Lopez (194) 
    C92 C95 C96 C78 C93
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (108) 
    C92 C95 C96 C93 C97
 French Defense (93) 
    C07 C05 C09 C03 C04
 French Tarrasch (81) 
    C07 C05 C09 C03 C04
 Nimzo Indian (75) 
    E59 E26 E54 E55 E29
With the Black pieces:
 Ruy Lopez (237) 
    C84 C93 C89 C92 C85
 King's Indian (212) 
    E92 E60 E67 E70 E73
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (188) 
    C84 C93 C89 C92 C85
 Sicilian (180) 
    B52 B64 B88 B62 B89
 Orthodox Defense (92) 
    D58 D55 D59 D53 D50
 Queen's Gambit Declined (90) 
    D31 D37 D35 D30
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Geller vs Smyslov, 1965 1-0
   Geller vs Karpov, 1976 1-0
   Fischer vs Geller, 1967 0-1
   Fischer vs Geller, 1967 0-1
   Geller vs Fischer, 1962 1-0
   Geller vs Portisch, 1967 1-0
   Kotov vs Geller, 1949 0-1
   Geller vs Najdorf, 1953 1-0
   Geller vs Velimirovic, 1971 1-0
   Geller vs Keres, 1973 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Przepiorka Memorial (1957)
   Ukrainian Championship (1959)
   Ukrainian Championship (1958)
   Ukrainian Championship (1957)
   USSR Championship (1955)
   Capablanca Memorial (1963)
   USSR Championship (1960)
   Nimzowitsch Memorial, Copenhagen (1960)
   Stockholm Interzonal (1962)
   Solidarity Tournament (1967)
   USSR Championship (1951)
   USSR Championship (1949)
   Allied Armies Championship (1966)
   Havana (1965)
   Przepiorka Memorial (1950)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   GellerStones & Bisguiers Atr Collection by fredthebear
   The Application of Chess Theory by elsaka
   The Application of Chess Theory by Okavango
   The Application of Chess Theory by nakul1964
   Application of Chess Theory (Geller) by Okavango
   Application of Chess Theory (Geller) by skisuitof12
   The Application of Chess Theory by Benzol
   Application of Chess Theory (Geller) by Qindarka
   The Application of Chess Theory by xajik
   Geller beats the world champions and pretenders by ughaibu
   Legend Geller by Gottschalk
   Efim Geller's Best Games by KingG
   Grandmaster Geller: The First Quarter Century by Resignation Trap
   Power Chess - Geller by Anatoly21


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EFIM GELLER
(born Mar-08-1925, died Nov-17-1998, 73 years old) Ukraine
PRONUNCIATION:
[what is this?]
Efim Petrovich Geller was born in Odessa, Ukraine. He learned how to play chess as a young man, and arrived on the international scene quickly by qualifying as a World Championship Candidate in 1952, thereby earning the grandmaster title. During Geller's career, he appeared in the Candidates five more times and competed in a record 23 Soviet Championships (winning two, in 1955 [rusbase-1] and 1979 [rusbase-2]). His aggressive playing style and expertise in double-edged positions culminated in a positive score against four World Champions over the course of his career (Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian, and Robert James Fischer). He also scored victories against Max Euwe, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tal and Anatoly Karpov, bringing his total of World Champions beaten to eight--a record he shares only with Botvinnik, Petrosian and Viktor Korchnoi. He won the 1992 World Senior Chess Championship.

Wikipedia article: Efim Geller


Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 100; games 1-25 of 2,493  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Geller vs E Kogan 1-0341946OdessaB53 Sicilian
2. Geller vs D Rovner  ½-½321947URS-ch sf SverdlovskC90 Ruy Lopez, Closed
3. A Sokolsky vs Geller 1-0281947Ukrainian ChampionshipC55 Two Knights Defense
4. Geller vs M Lubensky ½-½161947Ukrainian ChampionshipC80 Ruy Lopez, Open
5. Geller vs Koblents ½-½311947URS-ch sf SverdlovskD44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
6. Geller vs V Saigin  0-1371947URS-ch sf SverdlovskB60 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer
7. Geller vs P Dubinin 1-0321947URS-ch sf SverdlovskC79 Ruy Lopez, Steinitz Defense Deferred
8. Furman vs Geller 1-0411947URS-ch sf SverdlovskD11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
9. Geller vs G Ilivitsky 1-0261947URS-ch sf SverdlovskB60 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer
10. O Moiseev vs Geller  ½-½411948URS-qf Baku (Masters-Candidate Masters)C80 Ruy Lopez, Open
11. Geller vs A Sokolsky  0-1471948Ukrainian ChampionshipD38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation
12. A Konstantinopolsky vs Geller  0-14819481st Soviet Team-ch finalE67 King's Indian, Fianchetto
13. Geller vs V Zagorovsky 1-02619481st Soviet Team-ch finalD15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
14. S Kotlerman vs Geller 0-1311949Odessa ChampionshipE70 King's Indian
15. Geller vs M Grozdov 1-016194918th Ch Ukraine (sf-group 1)D15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
16. M Lubensky vs Geller 0-1341949URS-ch sf TbilisiE70 King's Indian
17. Geller vs I Aramanovich  1-0641949URS-ch sf TbilisiB84 Sicilian, Scheveningen
18. Geller vs N Novotelnov 0-1201949URS-ch sf TbilisiC77 Ruy Lopez
19. A Pirtskhalava vs Geller  1-0291949URS-ch sf Tbilisi+A47 Queen's Indian
20. Petrosian vs Geller ½-½301949URS-ch sf TbilisiC01 French, Exchange
21. Kholmov vs Geller ½-½181949URS-ch sf TbilisiC48 Four Knights
22. D Grechkin vs Geller  ½-½311949URS-ch sf TbilisiC85 Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation Doubly Deferred (DERLD)
23. Geller vs I Pogrebissky  1-0311949URS-ch sf TbilisiC78 Ruy Lopez
24. A Ebralidze vs Geller  ½-½411949URS-ch sf TbilisiD76 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.cd Nxd5, 7.O-O Nb6
25. Geller vs K Klaman 1-0711949URS-ch sf TbilisiC61 Ruy Lopez, Bird's Defense
 page 1 of 100; games 1-25 of 2,493  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Geller wins | Geller loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 26 OF 28 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Aug-27-16  morfishine: <offramp> Speaking of look-alikes, I always thought Robert Vaughn looked like Efim Geller: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...

Perhaps Geller was a KGB spy chess playing actor all along lol

*****

Aug-27-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: <morfishine>. Wow. You are right. He is the uncle from Murmansk.
Aug-27-16  morfishine: <offramp> Vaughn and Geller both have that dimple on the chin that makes them appear virtually indistinguishable. According to ancient Persian Lore, the dimple on the chin is a sign of great beauty, though in this case, I find neither Vaughn or Geller beautiful

Whats that dimple on the chin called medically? Oh yes: chin dimple or dimple chin; or the less popular cleft chin or chin cleft

Thats all I've got

*****

Aug-27-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Dimplus simplex normalis mandibilis.
Dec-13-16  TheFocus: Quote of the day:

<Players who are devoted to certain opening systems know how unpleasant it can be to play against oneself in the purely psychological sense> - Efim Geller.

So says the man who beat Fischer with his own pet variation, the Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Sicilian.

Fischer vs Geller, 1967

Dec-16-16  maelith: <How did Kortschnoi know what was going on inside Geller's head?>

Perhaps it is based with Korchnoi playing many times against Geller. There maybe situations against Korchnoi where Geller took lots of time before making a move,and that move is a mistake.

Classical games: Viktor Korchnoi beat Efim Geller 11 to 6, with 15 draws.

This positive score by Korchnoi against Geller is maybe because Korchnoi is a great defender. Korchnoi also loves complication. Tal also has a negative score against Korchnoi. I am impressed that even a young Kasparov can dominate Korchnoi.

Mar-08-17  CountryGirl: Happy birthday in heaven, Efim Petrovich.
It's interesting that Geller had plus scores against the great 'strategists' Petrosian, Smyslov and Botvinnik, but minus scores against those with a more similar style to himself, including Keres and Spassky.
Mar-08-17  RookFile: Geller was one of the more prepared players in the world with regard to his openings.
Mar-08-17  Sularus: One of the greats who didn't become world champion. happy birthday!
Mar-08-17  Howard: Regarding CountryGirl's comment, Geller also had a plus score against Bobby-what's-his-name.

In fact, he beat him in tournament play more often than anyone else, including three times in a row from 1965-67.

Mar-08-17  Petrosianic: You can't always go by that kind of thing, due to the fact that top GM's often simply stop playing real games with each other after a while.

When Petrosian and Geller drew their final game in 1983, they hadn't had a decisive result with each other in 20 years, and most of their games stopped being real ones. There are a lot of other long-time opponents who do the same thing.

One who DIDN'T do it was Tal vs. Spassky. After Spassky won their Candidates Final in 1965, he never won another game from Tal in his life. Spassky turned Russian Bear against him. Tal, on the other hand, still had a lot of fight left against Spassky, and managed to win 5 games in that time. As a result, he reduced his lifetime deficit against Spassky from 9-1 to 9-6.

Mar-08-17  Petrosianic: Another funny thing about Petrosian and Geller. They drew most of their games through their whole life. But they had two decisive games in the 1956 Candidates.

Vasiliev's book explains that in their Round 1 game, Petrosian was amenable to another draw as usual, got a slightly superior position, and offered it. But Geller was in a fighting mood, said no, Petrosian got rattled and lost.

The next time they played, Petrosian had to avenge that loss, of course, so he went out and played one of his all-time best games. So, two decisive results. But had Geller taken that draw offer in the first game, probably both games would have been drawn.

Petrosian vs Geller, 1956

Mar-08-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  plang: OK - so I had to check - it is true that all their games after 1963 were drawn but from 1949-63 they played 8 decisive game which is mot unusually low.
Mar-08-17  Petrosianic: True, they did play a decent number of real and decisive games before 1963. But they also had plenty of non-games. I show they played 20 draws in 30 moves or less between 1949 and 1963. In fact, I only see ONE draw that went more than 30 moves in all those years, and only three lifetime (out of 32 total draws).
Mar-08-17  Petrosianic: It's always tough when friends play each other. Aren't there those two sisters (I forget their names), who not only draw all their games, but play the SAME game each time, move for move?
Mar-08-17  Petrosianic: The Kosintseva sisters, that's it. But it's been a few years since I last checked them out (figuratively speaking) and I see that they were actually forced to play real games (with some decisive results), when they met in the 2012 FIDE Knockout Women's Championship.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

Dec-21-17  The Boomerang: Dominated Fischer...are rare feat.
May-16-18  Senk: https://de.chessbase.com/post/zum-g...
Jul-01-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  stoy: According to Bronstein's widow her late husband thought that the greatest KID player was Efim Geller.
Jul-01-18  ughaibu: Stoy! You posted the same comment on March the eighth 2014!
Jul-01-18  ughaibu: And on the first of October 2009!!
Mar-08-19  saturn2: <Speaking of look-alikes, I always thought Robert Vaughn looked like Efim Geller:>

Good point that I have never observed though I like both of them in their respective profession.

Mar-08-19  gars: "A very great player who didn't become World Champion because he studied too many openings." I have read it somewhere.
Mar-08-19  saturn2: 1.e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 Nf3
that is how he played against me a sinultan.

Somewhere else I read it is the way Geller and Karpov play against the Pirc defence. So one could conclude even in simultan he relied on his opening principles.

Mar-08-19  stridergene: Efim P. Geller is the bete noire, the jinx, the contra pelo, and the boogeyman of Robert James "Bobby" Fischer
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