World’s oldest chess grandmaster Yuri Averbakh passes away

GM Yuri Averbakh, the world’s oldest grandmaster, a trainer, international arbiter, chess composer, endgame theoretician, writer, historian, honorary member of FIDE, and the last living participant of the famous Zurich 1953 Candidates Tournament, has passed away, three months after turning 100.

He won the Moscow Championship in 1949 and earned the Grandmaster title in 1952. In 1954, he became the champion of the USSR. He also chaired the Chess Federation of the USSR from 1972 to 1977.