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 variations 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 even had plus records against Mikhail Tal, Boris Spassky, and Paul Keres. Stein defeated virtually all of the top players of his era.
Grandmaster Raymond Keene wrote a book on his career: Leonid Stein – Master of Attack (London, Tui Enterprises 1989, ISBN 1-84382-018-8).
Read more about this topic: Leonid Stein
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