Gideon Ståhlberg

Who was Gideon Ståhlberg?

Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg was a Swedish chess grandmaster.

He won the Swedish Chess Championship 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 in 1933 and 1934 respectively, and came third in Dresden 1936, and second in Stockholm 1937. In 1938 he drew a match against Keres.

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: Mar del Plata 1941, Buenos Aires 1941, Buenos Aires 1947.

His best results after returning to Europe were: the Interzonal of Saltsjöbaden 1948, the Candidates tournament of Budapest 1950, Amsterdam 1950, Budapest 1952, the Interzonal of Saltsjöbaden 1952

Ståhlberg umpired in the five World Championships between 1957 and 1963.

In 1967 he travelled to Leningrad to take part in an international tournament but died before playing his first game. He was buried in Gothenburg.