Leonid Stein was born in Kamenets-Podolsky. He was a Jewish Ukrainian who served in the Soviet Army. In both 1955 and 1956, he tied for first place in the individual Army Championship. He achieved the national Master title for chess at the relatively late age of 24, but, as his Army titles against strong competition attest, he was likely at that strength somewhat earlier. At 24, he competed for the first time in the USSR Chess Championship at Tbilisi, 1959. In the following year he won the Ukrainian Championship at Kiev, winning it again in 1962. He played board one for the Soviet team at the Helsinki 1961 Student Olympiad, scoring a strong +8, =3, −1, and helping his team to the overall gold medals.
Grandmaster and Soviet Champion
Stein tied for third place in the 1961 Soviet Championship, at Moscow, defeating Tigran Petrosian on the way. He won his first Soviet title at Leningrad 1963; he tied with Boris Spassky and Ratmir Kholmov in the tournament itself, then won the playoff. He won again at Tallinn, 1965, and repeated the next year, 1966, at Tbilisi. Two outstanding international tournament victories were attained at Moscow 1967, and Moscow 1971. Further international tournament victories were scored at Sarajevo 1967, equal with Borislav Ivkov, Hastings 1967–68, shared, Kecskemét 1968, Tallinn 1969, Pärnu 1971, and Las Palmas 1973, equal with Tigran Petrosian. From 1963 to his premature death in 1973, Stein was in the top ten players in the world, or just outside that range.
World title challenge frustrations
With his strong result at the 1961 Soviet Championship, he earned the right to play in the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal tournament. His play there was excellent, finishing in a tie for 6th–7th places, but he was denied the right to advance to the Candidates' Tournament, because of a FIDE rule then in force which limited the qualifiers from any one country to three. He had finished behind fellow Soviets Efim Geller, Petrosian, and Viktor Korchnoi. A very similar occurrence was the story of the next Interzonal tournament, in Amsterdam 1964. Stein took fifth place, sufficient for qualification for any non-Soviet player, with an outstanding total of 16½ / 23, but was blocked from advancement. He had finished behind fellow Soviets Mikhail Tal, Vasily Smyslov, and Boris Spassky, who, along with Danish GM Bent Larsen, had all scored 17 points. He did represent the USSR at the Tel Aviv Olympiad that year, scoring a fine 10/13, and winning an individual gold medal on the first reserve board. Again, he was in the Soviet side at the Havana Olympiad 1966, scoring 9/12, winning an individual silver medal on board four. Both times, the Soviet Union won the team gold medals. Again, in 1967, Stein qualified for the Sousse Interzonal, scored well, in a tie for 6th–8th places, but had to undergo a further playoff with Samuel Reshevsky and Vlastimil Hort, in Los Angeles, which was won by Reshevsky. He was in the Soviet side for the European team championships at Hamburg 1965 and Kapfenberg 1970, both of which were victorious. He served as an alternate on the Soviet team for the Match of the Century against the Rest of the World team, at Belgrade 1970. He played one game, losing to Larsen. Stein had already qualified for the 1973 Petropolis Interzonal, and was considered a potential favorite to win the entire Candidates' cycle. But, as he was preparing to leave with the Soviet side for the European team championship, set for Bath 1973, he collapsed of an apparent heart attack, and died in the Rossiya Hotel in Moscow. He was only 38 and still near the peak of his career.
Style and legacy
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 excelled with Black in sharp openings such as the King's Indian Defence, the Grünfeld Defence, and the Sicilian Defence. He was one of few players who had an even score against Vasily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian, and Mikhail Botvinnik. He had plus records against Mikhail Tal, Boris Spassky, and Paul Keres. Stein defeated many of the top players of his era.
