He placed first at Cienfuegos 1972, first at Novi Sad 1972 and 1973, and equal first at Grand Manan 1984.

In 1976 Lein emigrated to the United States, finishing equal first with Leonid Shamkovich in the U.S. Open, and equal first with Bernard Zuckerman in the World Open that year.

[3] Among his notable victims were two world champions, Mikhail Tal and Vassily Smyslov.

Lein also scored wins against such world class grandmasters as David Bronstein, Lev Polugaevsky, Leonid Stein, and Mark Taimanov.

[1] A tribute to Lein by Internet Chess Club (ICC), in the form of a video, was presented by Joel Benjamin on March 5, 2018.