- Boris Gelfand
Infobox chess player
playername = Boris Gelfand
caption=
birthname = Boris Abramovich Gelfand
country = ISR
datebirth = birth date and age|1968|6|24
placebirth =Minsk ,Belarussian SSR
datedeath =
placedeath =
title = Grandmaster
worldchampion =
womensworldchampion =
rating = 2720
(No. 18 on the July 2008 FIDE ratings list)
peakrating = 2737 (January 2008)Boris Abramovich Gelfand (born
24 June 1968 ) is achess grandmaster. Born inMinsk ,Belarussian SSR , he emigrated to Israel in 1998, and now lives inRishon LeZion , and isIsrael 's number 1 ranked chess player. He has had several strongWorld Chess Championship performances, without ever winning.Chess career
Gelfand was Junior Champion of the
Soviet Union at 17, and European Junior Champion two years later. In 1988 he tied for first in the World Junior Championship, the title however going toJoel Lautier . The next year he earned the GM title. He has won about 30 tournaments in his professional life, including tournaments at Wijk Aan Zee (in 1992 and 1994) and first places in Biel (1993), Dos Hermanas (1994), Belgrade (1995), Tilburg (1996), and Malmo (1999). In 2004 Gelfand won thePamplona ,Navarra tournament, held fromDecember 20 toDecember 29 .World Championship Candidate
Several times Gelfand has qualified for
Candidates Tournament s for theWorld Chess Championship .In the
World Chess Championship 1993 , he qualified for the Candidates via theInterzonal . He won his first Candidates match, but was knocked out in the second (quarter-final) round byNigel Short .In the
FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 he won the Interzonal, then won his first two Candidates matches, before being eliminated in the semi-final byAnatoly Karpov .He had numerous strong results in the knockout tournaments for the
FIDE World Chess Championships 1998-2004 , with his best result being a semi-finalist in 1997.He played in the 8-player 2002
Dortmund Tournament, which was the Candidates for theClassical World Chess Championship 2004 , but failed to reach the semi-finals.He finished in the top 10 in the 2005 FIDE World Cup, which qualified him for the Candidates for the
World Chess Championship 2007 . He won his Candidates matches againstRustam Kasimdzhanov (in rapid tie-breaks) andGata Kamsky (+2-0=3), to qualify for the championship tournament in September 2007.Gelfand was not one of the favourites for the
World Chess Championship 2007 , but he surprised most observers by finishing joint second (third after tie breaks).Chess titles
*European Youth Championhip, 1989
*Majorca (GMA), 1989
*Moscow, 1992
*Manila, 1993
*Chalkidiki, 1993
*Dos Hermanas, 1994
*Debrecen, 1995
*Vienna, 1996
*Tilburg, 1996
*Polanica Zdroj, 1998
*Polanica Zdroj, 2000
*Cannes, 2002
*Biel, 2005Playing style
Gelfand is notable as a 1.d4 opener as white and as a Najdorf Sicilian specialist as black, and is noted for his strong positional awareness.
Chess author
*cite book | author=Gelfand, Boris | title=My Most Memorable Games | publisher=Olms | year=2005 | id=ISBN 3-283-00453-6
External links
*fide|id=2805677|name=Boris Gelfand
*chessgames player|id=13847
* [http://chess.vrsac.com/search/player_e.asp?FC=2805677 Rating data]
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