A strong record against the best of his era
From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!
There are differing accounts of Efim Geller's date of birth. Jeremy Gaige, in his work Chess Personalia. A Bibliography (Jefferson, North Carolina and London 1987), p. 136, states that his birthdate was on 2 March 1925. The authors of the German Wikipedia refer to this date. However, both the English and Russian Wikipedia versions, without citing further sources, mention 8 March 1925. In any case, Geller's birth would have marked his 100th anniversary this year. His birthplace is undisputed: Odessa, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, where he was born into a Jewish family.
When Efim Geller was 16 years old, the Second World War began for the USSR with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. Geller was drafted towards the end of the war. After his time in the army, he studied economics and obtained a doctorate.
As a teenager, Geller enjoyed playing both basketball and chess, and it was, ironically, his basketball coach - who was also a chess enthusiast - who advised him to focus on chess.
In 1949, Geller won the sem-final of the USSR Championships in Tbilisi ahead of Petrosian and Kholmov and finished in an excellent shared 3rd-4th place in the final tournament, behind Smyslov and Bronstein, alongside Taimanov.
Two years later, he was joint runner-up with Petrosian.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.e3 Nc6 7.Bd3 d6 8.Ne2 e5 9.0-0 Nd7 10.e4 b6 11.Ng3 g6 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.Qe2 Qe7 14.Rd1 Bb7 15.Nf1 0-0-0 16.Ne3 Na5 17.Nd5 Qd6 18.Rb1 Bxd5 19.cxd5 Nb8 20.a4 Kc7 21.Bd2 Nb7 22.Rb2 Qe7 23.Rdb1 Rd6 24.Be3 a5 25.Ba6 Nd7 26.Qb5 Nd8 27.Qc4 f5 28.Rb5 Qf6 29.f4 Re8 30.Bxc5 bxc5 31.Rxc5+ Nxc5 32.Qxc5+ Kd7 33.Qa7+ 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Geller,E | - | Lipnitsky,I | - | 1–0 | 1951 | E26 | URS-ch19 Final | 15 |
Please, wait...
In 1955, Geller won the USSR Championship title for the first time.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.d3 d6 9.c3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.Nbd2 Qc7 12.Nf1 Nc6 13.Ne3 Re8 14.d4 exd4 15.cxd4 Bf8 16.b3 Nb4 17.Bb1 Nxe4 18.Bb2 Bb7 19.d5 c4 20.bxc4 bxc4 21.Bxe4 Rxe4 22.Ng5 Re7 23.Qh5 h6 24.Nf5 Rxe1+ 25.Rxe1 hxg5 26.Re3 Bc8 27.Bxg7 Bxg7 28.Re8+ Bf8 29.Rxf8+ 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Geller,E | - | Kotov,A | - | 1–0 | 1955 | C90 | URS-ch22 Final | 4 |
Please, wait...
In 1979, he won the USSR Championship once again, leaving behind, among others, a very young Kasparov.
He won the Ukrainian SSR Championships four times: in 1950, 1957, 1958 and 1959. Geller participated in six World Championship Candidates Tournaments: in 1953, 1956, 1962, 1965, 1968 and again in 1971.
Geller's record against world champions is particularly noteworthy. He had a positive score against Botvinnik (+4 =6 -1), as well as against Smyslov (+11 =37 -8), and against Petrosian (6-3 with 36 draws - many of them very short, as Geller and Petrosian were close friends). He also had a positive record against Fischer (+5 =2 -3).
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5 Nd5 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.Be2 dxe5 16.0-0 Bc5+ 17.Kh1 Rf8 18.c4 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Bb7 20.Bg4? 20.Qc2 e4 21.Bg4 Be7 22.Qf2 0-0-0 23.Bf4 Bd6 24.Bxe6+ Kb8 25.Qb6 Bxf4 26.Qxd8+ Ka7 27.Rb1 Qd6 28.Bxd5 Bxd5 29.Qxd6 Bxd6 30.cxd5 20.Bd1! Rc8 21.Qe2 Be7 22.Qh5+ g6 23.Qxh7 Bxg5 24.Qxg6+ Kd7 25.Qxg5 Qd3 26.Rf7+ Kc6 27.Qg4 Kb6 28.Be2 Qe4 29.Qxe6+ Rc6 30.Qe7 Qxe2 31.Qb4+ 20...dxc4 21.Bxe6 Qd3 22.Qe1? 22.Bf7+ Kd7! 22...Kf8?? 23.Qxd3 cxd3 24.Bb3+ Ke8 25.Ba4+ Bc6 26.Bxc6# 22...Be4-+ 23.Bg4 Rb8 24.Bd1 Kd7 25.Rf7+ Ke6 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Fischer,R | - | Geller,E | - | 0–1 | 1967 | B97 | Monaco Grand Prix-01 GM | 11 |
Please, wait...
His record against Tal was balanced, while he had a negative score against Spassky (+6 =22 -9) and against the significantly younger Karpov (+1 =5 -2). Geller also played against Kasparov and ended with a narrow negative result (=3 -1).
In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.

Efim Geller | Photo: Dutch National Archive
As a member of the Soviet team, Geller won the gold medal seven times at Chess Olympiads: in 1952, 1954, 1956, 1962, 1968, 1970 and 1980. Between 1961 and 1983, he also won six gold medals with the team at the European Team Chess Championships. Five times, he personally received the gold medal for the best performance on his board.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 d6 6...b5 7.c3 0-0 8.d4 8.h3 Bd7 9.d4 Re8 10.Nbd2 Bf8= 8...Nd7 8...b5!? 9.Bb3 9.Bc2!? 9...Bg4 9.Be3 9.Nbd2 Bf6 10.Nf1 Nb6= 9...Bf6 10.Nbd2 Re8 10...exd4 11.cxd4 Nb6 12.Bc2 10...Nb6 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.dxe5± 11.d5 Ne7 12.b4! 12.c4 c5 12...g6 12...Ng6 13.g3 13.c4 c6 14.Rc1± 14.c5?! dxc5 15.bxc5 15.d6 b5∞ 15...cxd5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Ne4 Nxe3 18.Rxe3 Bg7 19.Rd3 Re7∞ 14...Bg7?! 14...cxd5 15.cxd5± 15.c5! dxc5 16.bxc5 cxd5 17.exd5 Nxd5 18.Bg5 Ne7 18...Bf6 19.Ne4 Bxg5 20.Nfxg5 Ne7 21.Bxd7 Bxd7 22.Qxd7+- 18...Qa5 19.Nc4 Qxc5 20.Ncxe5+- 19.Ne4 h6 20.Nd6! hxg5 20...Rf8 21.Bxe7+- 21.Nxf7‼+- Qa5 21...Kxf7 22.Nxg5+ Kf6 22...Kg8 23.Bb3++- 22...Kf8 23.Ne6++- 23.Nh7+ Kf7 24.Bb3++- 22.N7xg5 Rf8 23.Bxd7 Qxa2 24.Re2 Qa3 24...Qd5 25.Rd2 25.Re3 Qb4 26.Bxc8 Raxc8 27.Qd7 Nf5 27...Rfe8 28.Qe6+ Kh8 29.Nf7++- 28.Qe6+ Kh8 29.Qxg6 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Geller,E | - | Keres,P | - | 1–0 | 1973 | C87 | URS-ch41 Final | 10 |
Please, wait...
Despite these great successes against the best players of his time, Geller was never a serious contender for the World Championship title. This was partly because he was a perfectionist with a demanding tactical style, often thinking over his moves for too long, which frequently led to time trouble and even losses on time.
On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.
Additionally, Geller led an unhealthy lifestyle - he enjoyed eating in large quantities, was overweight, short of breath, and was also a heavy smoker.

Smokers together: Tal vs Geller (Unknown Photographer)
Geller remained active as a player until 1995. In 1991, he achieved victory at the World Senior Chess Championship. After a long illness, he passed away on 17 November 1998 in Moscow due to cancer.
Links