Boris Gelfand

Born June 24, 1968 in Minsk.
International grandmaster since 1989.

Member pretendenskih cycles (semi-finalist 1995), and the FIDE world championships
. Winner of international tournaments Debrecen (1989), . Mallorca (selection GMA 1989), . Manila (interzonal 1990), . Belgrade (1991, . 95), . Alekhine Memorial (1992), . Manila (interzonal 1993), . Halkidiki (1993), . Dos Hermanas (1994), . Vienna (1996), . Tilburg (1996), . Memorial Rubinstein (1998, . 2000),
.

Professional rating of 1 June 2001. - 2688
FIDE rating of 1 April 2001. - 2712


Boris Gelfand - one of the brightest representatives of modern chess, which began ticking with Kasparov (some believe that with Fisher). By winning the USSR championship among juniors in 1985, Boris was considered one of the greatest hopes of the largest chess powers. Then followed the successful performances in various international youth competitions (in the account Gelfand win the European championship in 1987-88 and the division of first place in the World Cup 1988). His transition to adult chess went surprisingly smoothly. Already at the USSR championship semi-finals he made a strong impression not only high results, but also the style of play.

As one of the participants in the selection of Klaipeda (1988): 'like and the board is not looking, and all somewhere on the sides, or even walking, as appropriate and makes a strong move'. By the way this style of game at all characteristic of many strong grandmasters. Remember even Ivanchuk and Svidler. Since the successful performance in Linares 1990 Gelfand firmly entrenched in world elite. Over the past decade were pretendentskie matches and victories in major tournaments. Despite the fact that sometimes rating Boris experienced fluctuations (which led to the loss of invitations to the best round robin tournament), in the minds of true lovers of chess he was and is grand master-class.

What is the strength Gelfand? To be a top-class chess player must be able to chess all, but something really nice. In my opinion, the strongest party is the debut of Boris. In this sense, he continued the classic tradition Botvinnik, Geller and Kasparov. In our digital age, it would seem, what could be simpler - start the car in the interesting position and go to sleep. Probably, so do many, but to show a deep, fundamental training debut possible only a few. Players able to generate high-quality opening ideas in modern chess is very little. Boris certainly belongs to their number. Having on hand a 'neubienny' trump card, high-class player simply can not stay long in the shadows. After a relative decline Gelfand again on the rise. His performance in recent tournaments, vivid evidence. It is hoped that the main achievements of Boris still ahead.