David Bronstein, born on 19 February 1924, was a Soviet player who in 1951 drew a World Championship match with Mikhail Botvinnik, who, according to the rules, remained World Champion in the event of a draw. From the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s Bronstein was one of the strongest players in the world and was also known as an original and creative player.
Bronstein developed many ideas for changing the rules of chess, such as playing with increment or rearranging the starting position of the pieces - an idea later adopted by Bobby Fischer and now known as Chess960.
Together with his mentor Boris Vainstein, a senior KGB official, Bronstein also wrote the book Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953, considered by many to be one of the greatest tournament books ever written. Bronstein died on 5 December 2006.
/
