world for around twenty years. He was awarded the International Master title in 1951, and the International Grandmaster title the following year. Geller played in 23 USSR Chess Championships, a record equalled by Mark Taimanov, achieving good results in many. He won in 1955 at Moscow (URS-ch22) when, despite losing five games, he finished equal first with 12/19, then defeated Smyslov in the playoff match by the score of +1=6. He won his second title in 1979 at Minsk (URS-ch47) at the age of 54, making him the oldest Soviet champion. Among his best results in other important tournaments were: clear first at Iwonicz Zdroj 1957, equal first with Taimanov at Dresden 1959, equal first with Lajos Portisch at Beverwijk 1965, clear first at Kislovodsk 1966, clear first at Gothenburg 1967, clear first at Kislovodsk 1968, equal first with Mikhail Botvinnik at Wijk aan Zee 1969 (ahead of Keres), equal first at Havana 1971 with Vlastimil Hort, equal first at Hilversum 1973 with Laszlo Szabo, clear first at Budapest 1973 ahead of Anatoly Karpov, clear first at Teesside 1975, clear first at Moscow 1975 (ahead of Boris Spassky, Viktor Korchnoi, and Petrosian), clear first at Las Palmas 1976, equal first with Gennadi Sosonko at Wijk aan Zee 1977, clear first at Bogotá 1978, equal first at Bern 1987 with Daniel Campora, clear first at Dortmund 'A' 1989, and equal first at New York Manhattan 1990 with Gregory Kaidanov, at age 65. In Seniors' competition, Geller further distinguished himself in the early 1990s. At the World Seniors' Championship, Bad Woerishofen 1991, he tied for first with Smyslov at 8½/11. Then, in the next year's Championship at the same site, Geller claimed clear first with the same score. Geller remained active in high-level competitive chess until age 70; his last event was the 1995 Russian Championship at Elista. World title candidate Geller reached the later stages of the World Championship several times. He was a Candidate at Zurich 1953 and Amsterdam 1956. Geller's best result was in the 1962 cycle, as he finished second to Bobby Fischer at the Stockholm Interzonal. Then in the Candidates', he ended up one-half point short of playing for the title by scoring 17/27 at Curaçao, tying for second place with Keres, half a point behind Tigran Petrosian, who went on to defeat Botvinnik for the title the next year. Geller lost a playoff match to Keres