| Andor Lilienthal | |
| Birthname: | Andor Arnoldovich Lilienthal |
| Country: | Hungary Soviet Union |
| Birth Date: | 5 May 1911 |
| Death Place: | Budapest, Hungary |
| Grandmaster (1950) | |
| Peakrating: | 2450 (July 1971) |
Andor (André, Andre, Andrei) Arnoldovich Lilienthal[1] [2] (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.[3] [4]
At the time of his death, he was the oldest living grandmaster (since surpassed by Yuri Averbakh), and the last surviving person from the original group of grandmasters awarded the title by FIDE in 1950.
Lilienthal, of Jewish origin, was born in Moscow, Russian Empire, and moved to Hungary at the age of two.[5] [6] 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).[7] 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.[8] His total score in the Olympiads was 75.51%.[9]
Emigrating to the Soviet Union in 1935, Lilienthal became a Soviet citizen in 1939.[5] He played in the USSR Chess Championship eight times.[10] 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.[11] He qualified for the Candidates Tournament once, in 1948.[9]
From 1951 until 1960 he was Tigran Petrosian's trainer.[3] Lilienthal began a friendship with Vasily Smyslov in 1938, and was Smyslov's in his world championship matches against Botvinnik.[3] He retired from tournament play in 1965 and returned to Hungary in 1976.[5] His last tournament was Zamárdi 1980, where he finished sixth in the B group, scoring +3-1=11.[12]
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.[13] At the time of his death, he was the oldest living grandmaster.
According to Boris Spassky, Robert James Fischer approved only three chess players who could carry his coffin at his funeral: Andor Lilienthal, Lajos Portisch, and Boris Spassky.[14]
Lilienthal was one of the few players with an even record against Capablanca.[15] [16] Lilienthal's "most celebrated victory"[2] is his win commanding the white pieces against Capablanca at Hastings 1934–35:
The game is famed, and Lilienthal relates, "wherever I went on an exhibition tour, both in the Soviet Union and elsewhere, chess players and fans always asked me to show them how I sacrificed the queen against the great Cuban." When Bobby Fischer noticed Lilienthal in the audience at his 1992 return match against Boris Spassky, Fischer greeted him with the remark "Pawn e5 takes f6."[17]