Yehuda Gruenfeld


Yehuda Gruenfeld is an Israeli chess Grandmaster. He was born in Dzierżoniów in Poland.
As of April 2007, his Elo rating was 2480, making him the # 25 player in Israel and the 887th-highest rated player in the world.

Career

In 1974, Gruenfeld won the Israeli championship for youth players. In 1978, he tied for 2nd-5th in Skien. In 1978, he won in Gausdal. In 1979, he tied for 1st-2nd in Biel. In 1979, he took 2nd in the Lucerne Zonal. In 1979, he took 12th in the Riga Interzonal, won by Mikhail Tal.
In 1980, he tied for 3rd-4th in Beer Sheva, tied for 2nd-8th in Lugano, tied for 2nd-4th in Gausdal, tied for 1st-4th in Oberwart, tied for 2nd-5th in Ramat Hasharon, and won in Biel. In 1981, he tied for 1st-3rd in Lugano, and won in New York.
In 1982, Gruenfeld won the Israeli championship. In 1984, he won in Dortmund. In 1985, he was equal first with Maxim Dlugy and Dmitry Gurevich at the 13th World Open of Philadelphia. In 1987, he tied for 8-11th in the Zagreb Interzonal, won by Viktor Korchnoi. In 1990, he again won the Israeli championship.
Gruenfeld played for Israel in six Chess Olympiads.
FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1978, and the International Grandmaster title in 1980.
Gruenfeld is deaf, but is able to speak, however hoarsely, and can read lips. He played in the 2014 Chess Olympiad as Board 1 for the International Chess Committee of the Deaf team.
He claimed gold medal in the men's blitz event at the 2019 Winter Deaflympics where chess was officially included as a medal sport for the first time.