About Efim Geller
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. == Early life == Geller grew up in Odessa, Soviet Union, and was Jewish. He was a fine basketball player, and earned his doctorate in physical education before specialising in chess. His father was a First Category chess player. His development as a top player was delayed by the inception of World War II. Geller's first notable result was sixth place in the 1947 Ukrainian SSR Chess Championship at Kiev with 9½/15; the winner was Alexei Sokolsky.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.