06.01.2007 We advise you to read: A WAR FOR THE GM GUFELD’S INHERITANCE

Alexander Grant

“To the US Secretary of State for Justice Alberto Gonzales

Dear Mr. Gonzales! We’d like to let you know about the violation of federal laws and criminal actions against the family of Eduard Gufeld who died in Los Angeles California on September 23, 2002…

Eleonora Gufeld, Besik Kekelishvili. May 3, 2006”.

The International Grandmaster, the Merited Trainer of USSR, the well-known journalist and writer, the California State University Professor, the author of thousands of articles and over one hundred books published in different countries of America, Europe and Asia – all this is Eduard Gufeld. When he died New York Times published an obituary while Voice of America informed its Russian-speaking listeners.

Except for the spiritual legacy Gufeld left tangible material results of his work and also his intellectual property rights. Since the day of his death a war is waged for the grandmaster’s inheritance. Judging by the official data I received it is a fight without rules and judging by the unofficial ones there are few million dollars at stake.

Eduard Efimovich Gufeld was born on March 19, 1936 in Kiev and later on moved to Tbilisi where he married Eleonora Vissarionovna Babalashvili who had the son Besik of her first marriage. At present time the 46-year-old Besik with his wife Anna and daughter Rebecca reside in New York on Staten Island. The grandmaster’s widow lives there as well. 

Gufeld emigrated in USA in August 1995 and settled down in Los Angeles where his mother Khaba Novak-Fishman lived. She is 92 years old now. The family of Valdman – husband and wife Eduard and Lidia and their sister-in-law Klava live there as well. Lidia Valdman-Mestechkina is Gufeld’s cousin. This is the list of characters of this drama. The grandmaster had no brothers and sisters.

After being married Gufeld, Eleonora Babalashvili adopted his surname. Upholding doctoral thesis she worked in the Georgian Science Academy and always helped her husband in his chess career. Besik graduated from the Tbilisi Polytechnic Institute with the diploma in architecture. He also helped his stepfather. In particular he translated into English his book “My life in chess” which was published in Seattle.

Gufeld immigrated without problems while his wife and son had to wait. In May 2002 trying to get their entry permit the grandmaster addressed to the Senator from California Dianne Feinstein noting that Eleonora Vissarionovna is descended from a rabbi family way back to the fifth generation and that her farther, rabbi Vissarion Babalashvili had emigrated to Israel in 1972 where he served faithfully preaching Judaism, died in 1994 and was buried with religious honors.

In this and other letters Eduard Gufeld constantly pointed that the matter concerns his lawful wife and son with whom he lived for many years in peace and harmony. Not yet becoming the US citizen, on October 8, 1996 he conveyed her wife a letter of attorney which gave her the right to dispose of his estate and to inherit it. On December 16, 1998 he registered officially the general letter of attorney. Besik and his family have green cards now while Eleonora uses a guest visa to visit the USA.

The last time Eleonora Gufeld talked to his husband who lived in Los Angeles was a telephone conversation from Tbilisi on September 8, 2002 and according to her, Eduard was deeply depressed by a tactless reply of the immigration service official whom he addressed with her cause. The next day he had a stroke, sank into a coma and was hospitalized and on the second day he died.

His wife and son claim that during that period Valdmans who were related only through Adam got an access to the family archive of Gufeld (who was still alive then) and as it said in judicial documents “obliterated all the significant correspondence, photos, audio and video records” and also “misappropriated several bank accounts and fees”.

It is said there as well that Valdmans had got to know about the existence of the personal safe in the Bank of America branch, Sunset Blvd. 7800 where Eduard Gufeld “kept his cash money earned in 38 years of marriage i.e. joint estate” that is owned by him, his wife and their son Besik. Allegedly in the safe there were “the means brought from the former USSR received from the realization of over 3 million copies of books published and sold worldwide. Eduard Valdman as well as the bank employees knew very well that all this money was owned by the Gufeld family and was willed to Besik Kekelishvili.

How much money was there isn’t officially known but I was told that at least 250.000 USD.

And then that what I called the fight without rules has begun. It was clearly printed in Gufeld’s death certificate that he is divorced while the relatives were named as the father Efim Gufeld, the mother Khaba Fishman and the sister Lidia Valdman. The death certificate points Jane Jana Kaufmann as attending physician and Gufeld’s widow claims in the judicial documents that “with her help Valdmans concocted the obviously false State (California – A.G.) Document viz. death certificate. Later on this false document signed by the officials passed through several state official channels and nobody asked documents that verify the information it contained or at least a document signed by the late that would confirm the fact of his non-existent divorce.

In November 2002, as Eleonora Gufeld states in her petition No. BP 078542 sent to the California Supreme Court department in Los Angeles on November 9, 2004, “Valdmans came to the Bank of America on Sunset Blvd. together with the 88-year-old mother of Gufeld whose senile age, an illness and what’s the most important the death of her only son didn’t prevent from committing a crime for the sake of money”. According to Eleonora Gufeld contrary to laws and common sense the malefactors got an access to the safe and emptied it.

If it’s really so than something unheard-of happened as a safe can be opened by two keys one of which is kept in a bank while the other one – by an owner. In the Manhattan bank Chase where I turned to for a consultation I was told that apart from an owner and a person pointed by him in a special card a safe won’t be opened for anybody even owner’s mother had it not been a special court order. At the same Bank of America branch Eduard Gufeld held a pension account willed to his wife Eleonora.

The authenticity of Gufeld’s death certificate had been called in question. On October 21, 2002 Eduard’s mother’s name was changed from Khaba to Khava. On July 7 2004 the family status of the late was changed from “divorced” to “married”. Lidia Valdman became not “sister”, but “cousin”, and his “surviving spouse” Eleonora Gufeld was included as a lineal relative.

Searching for justice Eleonora turned to lawyers, wrote to all instances, but she was in USA by flying visits only and therefore hasn’t achieved anything. Nobody wanted to institute criminal proceedings against Valdmans and in March 2003 the grandmaster’s widow appealed to the State Supreme Court. On November 9, 2004 the judge Thomas Stovor decided the case not in her favor as Eleonora Gufeld didn’t appear at the hearing of the case for the eleventh time.

On November 29, 2004 Gufeld’s mother who turned 90 testified under oath that her deceased son had neither living nor dead children and she was formally right as Besik Kekelishvili isn’t grandmaster’s own son. Khaba Novak also states that at the moment of his death Eduard Gufeld was divorced and so his wife can’t claim for a significant part of his estate. On March 9, 2005 the California Supreme Court in Los Angeles assigned Khaba Novak as a person in charge of Eduard Gufeld’s estate.

Apart from the safe’s content, stated Eleonora Gufeld, Valdmans acting on behalf of the old lady Novak made off with the dead grandmaster’s bank accounts and fees in particular misappropriating “huge insurance amounts”. According to the plaintiff they acknowledged only two cheques in Gufeld’s name received in three days – one for $58000, another for $39000.

Proving that Valdmans really have come into possession of huge amounts Eleonora Gufeld lists that they bought three graves at the prestigious cemetery close to the grandmaster’s grave, hired expensive lawyers who successfully pled their unjust case, and rented an expensive apartment for Khaba Novak in Los Angeles.

What is the dead grandmaster’s widow striving for? She wants to get back the money robbed from Eduard’s safe, and to receive her share for the apartments in Russia and Ukraine. She wants all the savings of the late including pensions, funds, accounts and insurance policies to be handed over at the disposal of the heirs named by him. In particular Eduard Gufeld’s account in the London National Westminster Bank, where he had $57000 as of December 28, 2001. Et cetera, et cetera plus compensation for the moral and material damage caused to Eleonora Gufeld by the Valdman family.