Efim Geller - Beating The Best

Beating The Best

Geller represented the USSR seven times in Chess Olympiads, over a 28-year span from 1952 to 1980, and contributed well each time to the team gold medal victories. He won three gold medals and three silver medals on his board. His overall score in Olympiad play is: (+46 =23 −7), for 75.7 per cent. Chess Olympiads#Best individual results in men's Olympiads

• Helsinki 1952, board 4, 10½/14 (+8 =5 −1), board silver medal;
• Amsterdam 1954, 1st reserve, 5/7 (+4 =2 −1), board gold medal;
• Moscow 1956, 2nd reserve, 7½/10 (+7 =1 −2), board gold medal;
• Varna 1962, 1st reserve, 10½/12 (+10 =1 −1), board gold medal;
• Lugano 1968, board 4, 9½/12 (+7 =5 −0), board silver medal;
• Siegen 1970, 2nd reserve, 8/12 (+6 =4 −2);
• Valletta 1980, board 4, 6½/9 (+4 =5 −0), board silver medal.

Geller was also selected on six occasions for the USSR team to the European Team Championships. His team won gold each time, and he won four gold medals on his board. According to olimpbase.org, his overall score in Euroteams events is: (+17 =19 −1), for 71.6 per cent.

• Oberhausen 1961, board 7, 6½/9 (+4 =5 −0), board gold medal;
• Kapfenberg 1970, board 4, 4/6 (+3 =2 −1), board gold medal;
• Bath, Somerset 1973, board 7, 4½/5 (+4 =1 −0), board gold medal;
• Moscow 1977, board 6, 4½/7 (+2 =5 −0), board gold medal;
• Skara 1980, board 5, 4/6 (+2 =4 −0);
• Plovdiv 1983, 2nd reserve, 3/4 (+2 =2 −0).

According to Jeff Sonas' Chessmetrics rating system, Geller was ranked No. 3 in the world from 1962–63, and was in the world's top ten for much of the 1950s and 1960s, and broke back into the top ten in 1973, 1975–7 and 1979–80. Geller also had an overall plus score against world champions, +39 −35 =132, comprising Max Euwe +1 −1 =0, Mikhail Botvinnik +4 −1 =7, Vasily Smyslov +11 −8 =37, Mikhail Tal +6 −6 =23, Tigran Petrosian +5 −3 =32, Boris Spassky +6 −10 =23, Bobby Fischer +5 −3 =2, Anatoly Karpov +1− 2 =5, and Garry Kasparov +0 −1 =3.