Andor Lilienthal

Andor (André, Andre, Andrei) Arnoldovich Lilienthal (5 May 1911 – 8 May 2010) was a Hungarian and Soviet chess player. In his long career, he played against ten male and female world champions, beating Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, and Vera Menchik.

At the time of his death, he was the oldest living grandmaster (since surpassed by Juraj Nikolac), and the last surviving person from the original group of grandmasters awarded the title by FIDE in 1950.

Biography Lilienthal, of Jewish origin, was born in Moscow, Russian Empire, and moved to Hungary at the age of two. He played for Hungary in three Chess Olympiads: Folkestone 1933 (scoring +7−0=6 as the reserve, the fifth player on the team), Warsaw 1935 (scoring +11−0=8 on second board), and Stockholm 1937 (scoring +9−2=6 on , leading his team to the silver medal). He won the individual gold medal for his board (reserve and second board, respectively) at the 1933 and 1935 Olympiads, and had the fourth-best result on first board in 1937. His total score in the Olympiads was 75.51%.

Emigrating to the Soviet Union in 1935, Lilienthal became a Soviet citizen in 1939. His best result came in the 1940 championship, when he tied for first with Igor Bondarevsky, ahead of Smyslov, Paul Keres, Isaac Boleslavsky, Botvinnik, and 14 other players. He qualified for the Candidates Tournament once, in 1948.

Lilienthal remained actively involved in the chess world into his ninth decade. He died on 8 May 2010, at the age of 99. It was reported that he had been ill for some time. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living grandmaster.

According to Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer approved only three chess players who could carry his coffin at his funeral: Andor Lilienthal, Lajos Portisch, and Boris Spassky.

Notable games