Eduard Gufeld

Eduard Yefimovich Gufeld, chess player: born Kiev 19 March 1936; married (one stepson); died Los Angeles 23 September 2002.

In the pantheon of great Russian chess players, Eduard Gufeld was never destined to gain a prominent place. Yet he was, for 30 years or more, one of the most prolific grandmasters from the old Soviet Union, and one of the greatest ambassadors for the game of chess. A player, trainer, chess propagandist, writer of over 80 books and, some said, a part-time secret police stooge, Gufeld was not a man who could easily be ignored.

Eduard Yefimovich Gufeld, chess player: born Kiev 19 March 1936; married (one stepson); died Los Angeles 23 September 2002.

In the pantheon of great Russian chess players, Eduard Gufeld was never destined to gain a prominent place. Yet he was, for 30 years or more, one of the most prolific grandmasters from the old Soviet Union, and one of the greatest ambassadors for the game of chess. A player, trainer, chess propagandist, writer of over 80 books and, some said, a part-time secret police stooge, Gufeld was not a man who could easily be ignored.

He was born in Kiev in 1936, where he became the junior champion of Ukraine at the age of 18. Called up for military service, he avoided the worst of army life by establishing himself as chess trainer to the armed forces, a role he was to enjoy for two decades. He gained the title of International Grandmaster in 1967, but never established himself in the first level of Soviet players. His best result in the USSR Championship was in 1963 when he finished in a tie for seventh place.

Indeed, it could be said that his greatest achievements were gained through the successes of others: in 1977, he became official trainer to the top women players of the Soviet Republic of Georgia. In this role, he guided Maya Chiburdanidze to the women's world championship, and led Georgia to a pre-eminent position in women's chess.

He understood better than anyone the brand of aggressive tactical chess that was needed to succeed in the rather insecure world of women players in the 1970s. The same style never brought him great success when up against the strategic depth and technical expertise of the world's best, but it was lethal in the less rarefied atmosphere of women's chess.

Yet it was not only as a trainer of women players that Gufeld seemed to turn up at major events. More often than not when a Soviet team arrived, Gufeld was part of the delegation as trainer or official journalist. Why him when there were so many stronger players longing for international travel? Since no Soviet delegation in that era was permitted to travel without someone monitoring their behaviour and reporting back, a persistent rumour grew that Gufeld was in the pay of the KGB. His ebullient spirit and generosity, however, made it easy to forgive him if the stories were true. After all, someone had to do the job and perhaps it was better to have someone with a genuine love for the beauty of chess.

"Eddie" Gufeld spread his infectious joy for the game wherever he went. He loved to lecture, and could never be restrained from demonstrating, to all who would watch, his brilliant victory over Vladimir Bagirov from a Russian Championship semi-final in 1973. This game must have appeared in every chess magazine in the world, always with the same annotations by Gufeld himself. Indeed, it seemed that he never went anywhere without a crumpled carbon copy of his notes to the game, which he would sell to any magazine that had not yet published them.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Gufeld travelled even wider afield, writing and playing more than ever. He eventually settled in California, where he opened a Chess Academy near Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. It had to close after three years when the rent was put up.

William Hartston