| Efim Geller | |
|---|---|
 Geller in 1977 | |
| Full name | Efim Petrovich Geller |
| Country | Soviet Union → Russia |
| Born | 8 March 1925 Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 17 November 1998 (aged 73) Moscow, Russia |
| Title | Grandmaster (1952) |
| Peak rating | 2620 (January 1976) |
| Peak ranking | No. 8 (January 1976) |
Efim Petrovich Geller (Russian: Ефим Петрович Геллер; Ukrainian: Юхим Петрович Геллер; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice (in 1955 and 1979) and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions (1953, 1956, 1962, 1965, 1968, and 1971). He won four Ukrainian SSR Championship titles (in 1950, 1957, 1958, and 1959) and shared first in the 1991 World Seniors' Championship, winning the title outright in 1992. His wife Oksana was a ballet dancer while his son Alexander was also a chess master. Geller was coach to World Champions Boris Spassky and Anatoly Karpov. He was also an author.[1]
- ^ Geller published Za Shakhmatnoi Doskoi (1962), containing a short autobiography and five of his games. Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1987). The Oxford Companion to Chess. Oxford University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-19-281986-0.