Yuri Averbakh, a Russian chess grandmaster who was among the world’s best players for a decade, trained world champions and was the last surviving participant in one of the greatest competitions in history, died on May 7 in Moscow. He was 100.

The historic contest in which Mr. Averbakh took part was the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 19563, the final step in the cycle to select a challenger for the world championship. The tournament was notable not only for the participants but also for the quality of the games played; many chess experts consider four or five of them among the most memorable in chess history, including one that Mr. Averbakh lost to Alexander Kotov in Round 14 after Mr. Kotov “uncorked a spectacular queen sacrifice,” The New York Times said.

In 1962, he became editor of the two most prestigious Soviet chess magazines, Shakhmatny Bulletin and Shakhmaty v SSSR. He edited them for 37 years. Mr. Averbakh was appointed president of the Soviet Chess Federation in 1972, a privileged position in Soviet society, regarded much like elite athletes. “I never obtained great pleasure from winning,” he once wrote. “On the other hand, I did not like to lose, and the bitterness of defeat was in no way compensated for by the pleasure of winning.”