Boris Abramovich Gelfand is an outstanding chess player who has gone from a talented Minsk boy to a candidate for the world chess crown. His career is an example of perseverance and dedication to the game, allowing him to remain in the world elite for decades.

Early Years and Rise to Fame

Boris Gelfand was born on June 24, 1968, in Minsk, in a family of engineers. He was introduced to chess by his father, Abram Izrafilovich, who gave his son a book \"Journey to the Chess Kingdom\" at the age of four. The boy quickly mastered the game and started training in a circle at the age of six.

From 1980 to 1983, Gelfand studied at Tigran Petrosian's chess school, the ninth world champion. His first professional coach was the well-known Belarusian theorist Albert Kapengut.

Boom and First Titles

Gelfand made a quick name for himself. At the age of fifteen, he won the Sokolsky Memorial, and in 1984 and 1985 he became the champion of Belarus. In 1985, he won the Soviet Union championship among juniors, and in 1987 — the European championship under twenty years old.

In 1989, a key breakthrough occurred: he received the title of International Grandmaster, skipping the master step, and entered the top ten strongest chess players in the world by rating. In 1990, as part of the Soviet Union team, he became an Olympic champion and took second place at the Linares tournament, losing only to Garry Kasparov.

Maturity and Peak of Career

In 1998, Gelfand moved to Israel and changed his sports citizenship. In the 2000s, he continued to remain in the world elite, but his main success came when many already thought his career was over.

In 2009, he won the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, which gave him a ticket to the Candidates Tournament. In 2011, in Kazan, Gelfand sensationally won the Candidates Matches, defeating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Gata Kamsky, and Alexander Grischuk. At the age of forty-three, he earned the right to a world championship match.

The title match against Viswanathan Anand took place in 2012 in Moscow. The main part ended in a draw with a score of six to six, but on the tie-breaker Gelfand lost with a score of one whole five tenths to two whole five tenths. Despite the defeat, he forever entered history as one of the oldest candidates for the world crown.

Legacy and Current Activities

In addition to chess, Boris Gelfand is known as an author and theorist. His book \"Positional Decision Making in Chess,\" co-authored with Jacob Aagaard, was recognized as the best professional chess book of the year in 2016.

In 2026, Gelfand was inducted into the Chess Hall of Fame, becoming the first representative of Israel to be honored with this distinction.

Throughout his career, he has won over thirty international tournaments, twice became the world vice-champion, won the full set of Olympic medals (gold with the Soviet Union, silver and bronze for Israel) and remains one of the few chess players who maintained a rating above two thousand seven hundred at the age of fifty.

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