Masterclass with GM Boris Gelfand
A six-time World Championship Candidate, and 2012 Challenger, GM Boris Gelfand, is hosting a 3-part Masterclass, to teach us how pieces play in the middlegame, starting on the 22nd of October.
For decades Boris Gelfand has been one of the best chess players in the world. He is known for his deep analyses, passion for chess, and his admiration for Akiba Rubinstein.
In an interview with ChessBase Gelfand said:
“Many things have changed. Nowadays everyone has access to huge databases. A lot of high-level chess has been played in these 30 years and it helped to reassess a lot of positions. Engines have become an important part of chess and helped to open the boundaries of a chess game.
30 years ago it was important to get information. Nowadays we are overloaded with it. It is much more important to analyze it and to make correct conclusions. However, the key factors to success are the same: talent, work ethic, a strong character, and believing in one’s vision of chess.”
Boris Gelfand is a six-time World Championship candidate (1991, 1994–95, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2013), Boris won the Chess World Cup 2009 and the 2011 Candidates Tournament, making himself a challenger for the World Chess Championship 2012.
Gelfand has also won major tournaments at Wijk aan Zee, Tilburg, Moscow, Linares, and Dos Hermanas. He has competed in eleven Chess Olympiads and held a place within the top 30 players ranked by FIDE from January 1990 to October 2017.
The Soviet-born Israeli GM has a tough-to-pin-down style. He has been praised for positional chess and the endgame alike but doesn’t seem to shy away from other areas.
As he hinted in an interview with ChessPro, a Russian chess website, the most accurate answer may be that he has no singular style at all when he said:
“My approach is very simple. Each position requires the strongest move, and you need to try and find it. That’s an illusion, of course, because very often you have several moves which are all good and even. Perhaps it’s more practical not to spend too much time and make one move out of three-five possible moves and save time. Of course, when you can find the strongest move, the game is wonderful, and you feel proud to create such an artistic performance. You haven’t simply won an ordinary game but the one that is going to become a part of chess history, I would rather say.”
Gelfand’s Masterclass Schedule:
October 22nd, 2021 — How to get the best squares for your pieces
November 2021 — How to play against opponents pieces
December 2021 — Original routes for the pieces
