HoF #44: Leko–"The Cement Meister"
This blog is a celebration that leverages an outstanding concept of GMs Nielsen and Gustafsson but offers my unique take. The two GMs produced videos and multiple lessons regarding their top 50 chess players of all time. Although I provide a link to their work below, my focus is a bit different, though I freely accept their rankings.
How does my work differ? Well, first off, I'm not a titled player. Second, I wrote brief biographies for each player and offer limited discussion and pictures of some of their works (if they wrote). Third, if they were eminently quotable, I'll throw in a few of those! I may have found occasion to add quotes from other famous (or even unknown) chess names regarding the Hall of Famer. Fourth, I'll toss in the occasional caricature😏. Fifth and last, I will include at least two games analyzed by the individual, if such games exist. After all, the greatest of the great should be able to explain what they were thinking during a game, shouldn't they? (Spoiler alert: perhaps, except when there is no evidence that they ever had analyses published.)
This is week number seven—only 43 to go!
chess.com Hall of Fame #44: Peter Leko
Peter Leko (Hungarian: Lékó Péter; born September 8, 1979) is a Hungarian GM [my nickname: The Cement Meister, explained later], World U16 CC, commentator, and author. He nearly became the World CC in 2004, losing the last game to allow Kramnik (on the left in middle picture) to tie the match and retain his title with a score of 7 – 7. There were no tiebreaks in the regulations at that time.
His peak rating was 2763 in April 2025, and he reached #4 in the world in April 2003. Twenty plus years later he is still #58 with a rating of 2666 as of April 2025. However, he has been inactive since May 2023, also the last year he played games on chess.com. His chess.com username is @PeterLeko but he had not visited since 2024 or played a game since 2023 when I checked on 11 April 2025.
Leko represented Hungary in eight Olympiads, earning two team silvers and one individual gold. He served as a second in three World CC matches. First, supporting Anand versus Karpov in 2008, then working for Kramnik versus Anand in 2008, and finally, returning to Anand's team for the matchup versus Carlsen in 2013.
Hmm...not a lot of material here, and it's all on chessable.com. That limited literature is too bad for me but saves you some reading time.
Here are some lines taken from his free strategy lesson.
…the importance of knowing the soul of the position so we don't mix ideas and fall into strategically lost positions right from the opening. [Introduction]
The great thing about strategically overwhelming advantages is that often, with simple good moves, we can suffocate the opponent like a Boa! [Analysis of Alireza Firouzja-Magnus Carlsen, Wijk aan Zee 2020, after move 28…Kg7!]
What chessable.com says about Super Grandmaster Strategy:
The desire to stabilize the situation and gain the benefit no matter how complex it is,” is how Leko describes cemento-style chess. [Thus, forming the basis for @KevinSmithIdiot's preposterous nickname "The Cement Meister" for Leko.]
I expected more in this section given his role as a commentator. Then I thought about it and realized, it's not likely that a GM would kick off a day of watching multiple games with a catch phrase such as, "Are you ready to RUMBLE!!!" Drat and double drat.
Still, I managed to find a few things in interviews and elsewhere. Besides, it's not like these folks entered chess.com's Hall of Fame because of the things they said. It's what they did!
My favourite victory is when it is not even clear where my opponent made a mistake. Chess Mistakes [image above]
The problem is that nowadays, with so much information flying around, it is almost impossible to remember anything you saw just a week ago, never mind three years ago! Quotes About Learning Chess
I'm not the kind who takes unnecessary risks. I believe much more in the logic of our game, rather than gambling on your opponent's nerves. [ChessBase Chess News, interview, 5/26/2009]
Any talent who wishes to be a professional chess player and to develop his chess talent is in the best place and in the best era. [Younger And Younger: How Young Will Grandmasters Become? - Chess.com]
In order to develop, you should be aiming to face as many strong players as possible. It's not about the result. The biggest mistake is to try to find opponents whom you are beating. From just winning, you are not learning. It's much better to lose a lot of games, and the get the chance of improving. The online era is wonderful for this. Sensational stuff. [Ibid]
The technology is developing. All the online access, and during the pandemic we saw this [chess] boom that heavily contributed. The ones who started to play chess suddenly now have so much information. [Ibid]
We are trying to create very big stars, but it's also important to protect the kids. [Ibid]
Vishy is FIDE world champion and played super tournaments in Delhi and Teheran. Vladimir has broken the supremacy of the strongest player for the last 15 years. Taking into consideration tradition, it is logical that he too regards himself as world champion and feels like a champion. Therefore, we currently have two champions, Kasparov, who is as strong as an ox, and a few young grandmasters who also have great potential. This generates a lot of tension and interest. What is wrong with that? In boxing, there are up to four world champions in each weight division. From time to time, they challenge each other. These are the really big fights. [Leko: "A milestone for Fischer Random Chess", The Chess Variant Pages]
And now, let's hear a single comment from the other side!
Peter Leko has three essential qualities (that I know about). He has a great opening repertoire, he is a greatly gifted technical player, and a very nice guy. If he had a good understanding of dynamics as well, he would have been one of the greatest players of our time (rather than just one game away from being World Champion!). [Jacob Aagaard, Grandmaster Preparation - Endgame Play. Quality Chess, 2014, p. 348]
Given these are fifty of the greatest players of all time, how were they as annotators? Well, for those who wrote books we could truly explore that question in depth. But to keep the playing field even, I am (usually) only including a game or two taken from a DB. Besides, I didn't want to burden myself with transcribing comments from a book into a pgn file. Or increase my debt burden by buying books of those who did not yet offer free access to books released to the public domain. Besides, far easier and faster to look for annotated games in an online database.
Below we can ponder four games annotated by Peter Leko. Why not two, the norm? Because his annotations are lucid and personal. Plus, I'm biased by annotations that hit many of the concepts I rely on in KIMPLODES!, even if Leko's comments are guided by less acronym-bound guidelines. Finally, these games cover almost twenty years of his career, with the first in 1995 and the fourth in 2014. Coincidentally, this chronology is bookended by Dortmund SuperGM tournaments.
I'll do some stage setting and perhaps a quick wrap up for each game. But I clearly lucked out with #44 in the HoF as his comments are entertaining, lucid, relatively contemporary, and to the point! Enjoy!
Leko, Peter (2605) - Karpov, Anatoly (2775) Dortmund SuperGM 23rd, 22.07.1995
In this game we get to hear Leko discussing how he prepared for the game, his thoughts during the game, as well as some thoughts Karpov shared in post-game analysis. Karpov held a slight edge for much of the game and Leko clearly delineates where Karpov missed his best chance, ways Leko could have gone wrong, and the point where Leko knew he could hold a draw despite the FIDE World CC's attempts to that point. (Did you forget that Kasparov had broken from FIDE and formed the PCA by 1995? And that Karpov was again the FIDE World CC?)
[GM Pavel Blatny and FM Alexander von Gleich also added annotations that are labeled clearly.]
Perhaps the comment that most caught my attention was after move fifteen, "Karpov seems to have a fondness for this astonishing kingside move in Dortmund." Knowing what your opponent played in a game two years before in a similar position resonates with me because I've done preparation that deep in some online contests where I had a week to prepare for a specific individual in a 45m rapid game. I suspect Leko didn't put in as much time as I did because I'm a bit slower to catch on to such points!
Bareev, Evgeny (2650) - Leko, Peter (2605) Dortmund SuperGM 23rd, 19-07.1995
Leko notes that he surprised Bareev on move two because Leko had never played this move before! Particularly useful for intermediate players, imo, are Leko's explanations of where Bareev slipped slightly (e.g., move fifteen) and Leko's planning process after his eighteenth move and how that forced White to make the material concession of a pawn or fall into a strategically hapless position. Later there is a prime example of Leko placing a knight on the perfect blockading square in front of an advanced pawn, but with the caveat that it was difficult for Black to make progress. Seeing how Leko orchestrates his pieces while denying counterplay to his opponent is a great example of his "cemento" style chess, keeping the opponent from doing anything constructive.
[FM Jerzey Konikowski also added annotations that are labeled clearly.]
A very instructive game, up to and including where Bareev resigned because Leko had a passed pawn that was simply too fast.
Leko, Peter (2741) - Gelfand, Boris (2734) Moscow Tal Memorial 1st, 10.11.2006
Even, or perhaps particularly, super-GMs look for motivation in the oddest corner. Leko chose to open with 1.d4 because that's Boris Gelfand territory! Gelfand continued in the main lines, lines he had been playing all year, though Leko mentions that Gelfand hesitated before his fourteenth move before continuing with theory. Sure enough, on move fifteen Leko dropped a novelty on the board! And Gelfand responded, as super-GMs readily do, by liquidating to a slightly worse but solid endgame rather than risk falling further into opponent preparation. From there the game entered a fascinating maneuvering stage in a difficult endgame where both sides missed chances, including an overlooked zugzwang that all of us would have missed (imo).
I took several insights away from this game. First, sometimes the more "passive" move is correct (see Leko's 21st move). Second, you always have to be ready to change your plan in mid-stream, but it can be difficult if you are already quite invested in that scheme. On move 28, Gelfand had spent his previous six moves preparing to place his black knight on f4. But when the opportunity presented itself, it was inaccurate to do so. It's hard to stop the swing of an axe, golf club, or your fist once they're on their way.
Leko, Peter (2737) - Naiditsch, Arkadij (2705) Dortmund SuperGM 42nd, 18.07.2014
Unlike the game we just looked at, here Leko took the opposite approach. Knowing that Naiditsch was an excellent 1.e4 player, Leko chose to open with the d-pawn. Given his choice against Gelfand it strikes me that these are choices of the moment and the mood.
A critical point of the game is reached on move thirteen and, according to Leko, both players took considerable time on their move! The funny part is that I would have probably played Black's thirteenth move in a heartbeat! Sure, placing the bishop on d7 isn't exciting but it developed the last minor piece and connected the rooks. Ignorance is bliss!!
Having read Leko's notes I now have a better feel for what was really going on in the game. Hope you experience the same epiphany I did. A lucky guess (mine) is fine, a well-informed decision is best. Leko's discussion of why he did not play 14.e4 is not equally illuminating, but still typical of the insights Leko spills throughout his annotations. Another insightful moment comes after Leko's 17th move, "I had the feeling that I had a very good position, but over the board it was very difficult to understand all the finesses." Unfortunately, as he discovered in post-game analysis, he overlooked a stronger move! Okay, time to let you enjoy the game.
Hope you enjoyed playing through the game and reading about Leko's thought processes as he conducted it. This was a wonderful mini-endgame course all in itself.
The whole purpose of this section is to address some obvious questions that might pop into your head. How come Kevin didn't talk about this? Or that? Not to mention the other thing! Well, just call me lazy! Or you could appreciate the fact I'm limiting the word count that is imposed on you😏.
Nonetheless, in the series I'll be using this little section to provide links to more fulsome discussions that revolve around some well-known and lesser-known facets of the featured chess giant. That will range from videos to links to other chess.com blogs, usually by Top Bloggers. Enjoy or skip, it's your call, as always.
This section will start and finish with a video produced by Ben Finegold, one of the GMs I find both entertaining and insightful.
There was some other material out there. However, though I found it mildly interesting that Peter became fascinated in recent years with the samurai mindset, I didn't garner the same thrill that others might while he talked about his katana for almost three minutes. Nor was I inclined to include any videos of his commentary of specific tournaments. That said, I consider Peter Leko one of the best live commentators in the chess community.
That's it for the 7th installment of my own take on chess.com's 50 greatest players of all time. Hope you enjoyed the blog. The good GMs below have a full selection of videos and puzzles dedicated to each of the fifty.
Cheers!
Sources for this information included chess.com, wikipedia.com, ChessBase, FIDE, individuals' websites, YouTube.com, news articles, books, and other sources. Plus, my faulty memories. I mixed, matched, cut, and pasted so much that separation is implausible, and I apologize for misattributions. Particularly with quotes which are found in a thousand repositories, not to mention book covers, t-shirts, and the rantings of chess coaches of whom I've had more than a few thanks to Chess University and @AttilaTurzo (my primary instructor and co-author of a book we are writing on how to analyze during a game and afterwards.)
If you enjoy reading "greatest of" lists then you might also enjoy chess.com's Every Chess 'Player Of The Decade' (From Morphy To Magnus).
HoF #50: "The Stormy Petrel" - Chess.com
HoF #49: Karjakin–"The Minister of Defense"
HoF #48: Portisch–"The Hungarian Botvinnik"
HoF #47: Polugaevsky–"The Great Poluga"
