Ronen’s Greatest Hits! - Andor Lilienthal

Andor Lilienthal

Opening: :

Player(s): Lilienthal

One of the most interesting characters out there in the chess world was for sure Andor Lilienthal. Lilienthal's life spanned across almost a century: he was born in Moscow, Russian Empire, in 1911, and died in Budapest, Hungary, in 2010. In 2006, at age 95, he was still driving his car, smoking cigarettes, and writing articles for chess magazines! At the time of his death, he was the last surviving person from the original group of grandmasters recognized by FIDE in 1950. In his long chess career, Lilienthal beat several world champions, notably Lasker, Capablanca - in the famous game with a Queen sac in Hastings - Euwe, Botvinnik and Smyslov. From 1951 to 1960 Lilienthal was Tigran Petrosian's trainer, and he was second to Smyslov his matches against Botvinnik for the World Championship title. In this episode of his 'Greatest Hits' series, Ronen takes us for a quick tour through the life and chess of this giant of the past century.