Alexander Khalifman
| Alexander Khalifman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Full name |
Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (Александр Валерьевич Халифман) |
| Country | Russia |
| Born |
January 18, 1966 Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| World Champion | 1999–2000 (FIDE) |
| FIDE rating |
2611 (February 2014) (No. 143 in the January 2012 FIDE World Rankings) |
| Peak rating | 2702 (October 2001) |
Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (Russian: Алекса́ндр Вале́рьевич Халифма́н; born January 18, 1966, in Leningrad) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) chess Grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion in 1999.
Early life
Khalifman is of Jewish descent.[1] When he was six years old, his father taught him chess.
Tournament career
Khalifman won the 1982 Soviet Union Youth Championship,[2] 1984 Soviet Union championship,[3] 1985 and 1987 Moscow championships, 1990 Groningen, 1993 Ter Apel, 1994 Chess Open of Eupen, 1995 Chess Open St. Petersburg, 1996 Russian Championship, 1997 Chess Grand Master Tournament St. Petersburg, 1997 Aarhus, 1997 World Team Chess Championship Luzern, 1998 Bad Wiessee, 2000 Hoogeveen, Netherlands. As part of the Russian team, he won the 1992 Chess Olympiad, 2000 Chess Olympiad and 2002 Chess Olympiad tournaments.
Khalifman gained the Grandmaster title in 1990 with one particularly good early result being his first place in the 1990 New York Open ahead of a host of strong players. His most notable achievement was winning the FIDE World Chess Championship in 1999, a title he held until the following year. He was rated 44th in the world at the time,[4] while "Classical" World Champion Garry Kasparov was rated No. 1. Khalifman said after the tournament, "Rating systems work perfectly for players who play only in round robin closed events. I think most of them are overrated. Organizers invite same people over and over because they have the same rating and their rating stays high."[5] Khalifman played in the Linares chess tournament next year, and performed credibly (though placing below joint winner Kasparov).[6]
Trainer
With his trainer Genadi Nesis he runs a chess academy in St. Petersburg, called "The Grandmaster Chess School". There he trains players worldwide following the motto: "chess = intellect + character".
Notable games
- [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1293381, Bogdan Lalic vs Alexander Khalifman, Anibal Open 1997, Benko Gambit: Accepted, Dlugy Variation (A57), 0–1]
- [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1254352, Alexander Khalifman vs Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu, wcc elim 1999, Catalan Opening: Closed Variation (E01), 1–0]
- [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1241404, Alexander Khalifman vs Evgeny Bareev, Corus 2002, French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Blackburne Defense (C10), 1–0]
References
- ↑ "Russian Jewish Encyclopedia". JewishGen.org. Archived from the original on 4 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
- ↑ "31st Soviet Union Junior Chess Championship, Yurmala, January 4–17, 1982". RusBase. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
- ↑ "33rd Soviet Union Junior Chess Championship, Kirovabad, January 1984". RusBase. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
- ↑ Crowther, Mark (1999-07-05). "The Week in Chess: FIDE July Rating list". London Chess Center. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
- ↑ Luchan, Jason; Aird, Ian. "Las Vegas World Championship, July 30 – August 29, 1999". ChessScotland.com. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
- ↑ "The Week in Chess 273 – 13 March 2000".
External links
- Alexander Khalifman player profile and games at Chessgames.com
- Biography
- Chess puzzles from the games of Alexander Khalifman
- Interview with Alexander Khalifman (2005)
- Interview with Alexander Khalifman (2008)
- Two part interview with Alexander Khalifman (2010) Part 1 Part 2
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Anatoly Karpov |
FIDE World Chess Champion 1999–2000 |
Succeeded by Viswanathan Anand |
| Preceded by Peter Svidler |
Russian Chess Champion 1996 |
Succeeded by Peter Svidler |
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