Tragic news arrived from Minsk – 82-year-old David Ionovich Bronstein died of a stroke. We express our deep condolences not only to his relatives and friends, but to all chess devotees.

David Ionovich was a great chess player and an outstanding person. He was born in 1924 in Ukraine. His talent was recognized already before the war, but the real fame came to him in 1946, when Bronstein moved to Moscow. His sporting career peaked in 1951, when Bronstein reached the championship match against Botvinnik. The players’ strength proved equal: Bronstein led with just two games left to play, but failed to protect his lead.

For a few decades David Ionovich remained on top of the chess ladder, winning international tournaments of the highest level, USSR championships, and World Chess Olympiads. However, his main motivation laid in creativity – Bronstein was a creator. He played hundreds of sparkling games, which will always be remembered by chess players. Bronstein was and remains a hero for hundreds of thousands chess fans, who grew up on his ingenious books and games. He worked much until the very end. Bronstein had his own unique voice in the game, creativity and literature. David Bronstein was a true pioneer, and many of his ideas were ahead of his time.

Mikhail Tal: "Bronstein is a player whose ideas always delight me".

Bent Larsen: "Sometimes I think that chess is primarily an art, and then I place Bronstein above all".

Garry Kasparov: "...Bronstein clearly belongs to the champions’ cohort by depth of his chess understanding, and not only his originality".

David Bronstein: "Beauty is the most important aspect of chess... We are passing our knowledge and our understanding of beauty to the next generations, and thus life goes on for ever".