Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg (26 January 1908 – 26 May 1967) was a Swedish

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title

International Grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a Chess title, title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Chess Championship, World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is hel ...

from

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

in 1950. He won the

Swedish Chess Championship The first Swedish Champion was Gustaf Nyholm, who won two matches against winners of national tournaments: Berndtsson in Göteborg and Löwenborg in Stockholm in 1917. Until 1931 Swedish Chess Championships were decided by match play. In the 1930s, ...

of 1927, became Nordic champion in 1929, and held it until 1939. Ståhlberg came to fame when he won matches against star players Rudolf Spielmann and

Aron Nimzowitsch Aron Nimzowitsch (; , ''Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich''; 7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Latvian-born Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimzowitsch was one of the best chess players in the world. He was the foremost f ...

in 1933 and 1934 respectively, and came third (after

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...

) in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

1936, and second (after

Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...

) in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

1937. In 1938 he drew a match against

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

. Following the Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires 1939, he stayed in Argentina until 1948, where he won many tournaments, some of them in competition with

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf ( ; born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf; 15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish-Argentine chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a leadin ...

: Mar del Plata 1941 (ahead of Najdorf and Erich Eliskases), Buenos Aires 1941 (tied with Najdorf), Buenos Aires 1947 (ahead of Najdorf, Eliskases and

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...

). His best results after returning to Europe were: the Interzonal of Saltsjöbaden 1948 (6th, becoming a candidate), the Candidates tournament of Budapest 1950 (7th), Amsterdam 1950 (3rd), Budapest 1952 (3rd), the Interzonal of Saltsjöbaden 1952 (5th, again becoming a candidate) Ståhlberg umpired in the five World Championships between 1957 and 1963. In 1967 he travelled to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

to take part in an international tournament, the ''October Revolution 50'' Tournament.https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=42670 However, Ståhlberg died before playing his first game. He was buried in Gothenburg. Ståhlberg published more than ten chess books (some of them originally in Spanish): * ''Schack och schackmästare'', 1937 (''Chess and Chess Masters'', 1955) * ''El gambito de dama'', 1942 (Queen's gambit) * ''Partidas clásicas de Capablanca (La perfección en ajedrez)'', 1943 (with Paulino Alles Monasterio) (Classic games of Capablanca, perfection in chess) * ''I kamp med världseliten'', 1958 (In battle against the world elite) * ''Strövtåg i schackvärlden'' (Excursions in the world of chess, 1965) * ''Tal-Botvinnik II match'', 1969 * ''Modern spelöppningsteori i schack'' (Modern opening theory in chess) * ''Svenska schackmästare'' (Swedish chess champions)

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stahlberg, Gideon 1908 births 1967 deaths Chess arbiters Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Swedish chess writers People from Ale Municipality Swedish expatriates in Argentina 20th-century Swedish chess players 20th-century Swedish sportsmen