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Alexander Khalifman

{{short description|Russian chess grandmaster (born 1966)}}

{{family name hatnote|Valeryevich|Khalifman|lang=Eastern Slavic}}

{{Infobox chess player

| name = Alexander Khalifman

| image = Alexander Khalifman.jpg

| caption =

| birth_name = Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman

| country = {{ubl|Soviet Union (until 1990)|Germany (1991–1992)|Russia (since 1992)}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1966|1|18}}

| birth_place = Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

| death_date =

| death_place =

| title = Grandmaster (1990)

| worldchampion = 1999–2000 (FIDE)

| rating =

| peakrating = 2702 (October 2001)

| peakranking = No. 10 (July 1991)

| FideID = 4100115

}}

Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman ({{langx|ru|Алекса́ндр Вале́рьевич Халифма́н}}; born 18 January 1966) is a Russian chess player and writer. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1990, he was FIDE World Chess Champion in 1999.

Early life

Alexander Khalifman was born in St Petersburg into a Jewish family of engineers. Khalifman's grandfather was the director of the Chaliapin Museum; the other half of the family came from the Baltics. According to family legend, Khalifman's ancestor was one of the commanders of Russian monitor Rusalka.{{cite web

|language = ru

|url =https://ruchess.ru/persons_of_day/khalifman/

|title =Alexander Khalifman

|publisher =Russian Chess Federation

|date = 2023-01-18

|accessdate = 2023-03-08}}

Tournament career

Khalifman won the 1982 Soviet Union Youth Championship,{{cite web|url=http://al20102007.narod.ru/ch_urs/1982/ch_jun82.html|title=31st Soviet Union Junior Chess Championship, Yurmala, January 4–17, 1982|publisher=RusBase|access-date=2009-07-31}} the 1984 Soviet Union Youth Championship,{{cite web|url=http://al20102007.narod.ru/ch_urs/1984/ch_jun84.html|title=33rd Soviet Union Junior Chess Championship, Kirovabad, January 1984|publisher=RusBase|access-date=2009-07-31}} the 1985 European Under-20 Championship in Groningen, the 1985 and 1987 Moscow championships, 1990 Groningen, 1993 Ter Apel, 1994 Chess Open of Eupen, 1995 Chess Open St. Petersburg, the Russian Championship in 1996, the Saint Petersburg Championship in 1996 and 1997, 1997 Chess Grand Master Tournament St. Petersburg, 1997 Aarhus, 1997 and 1998 Bad Wiessee,{{Cite web|url = http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/twic417.html#13|title = TWIC 417: Forthcoming Events and Links – 6th Open International Bavarian Masters|date = 2002-11-04|access-date = 1 November 2015|publisher = The Week in Chess|last = Crowther|first = Mark}} 2000 Hoogeveen.

He was a member of the gold medal-winning Russian team at the Chess Olympiads in 1992, 2000 and 2002, and at the 1997 World Team Chess Championship.{{cite web

|language = en

|url = https://ruchess.ru/en/persons_of_day/alexander_khalifman/|title =Alexander Khalifman

|publisher = Chess Federation of Russia

|date = 2023-01-18

|accessdate = 2022-03-08}}

Khalifman gained the Grandmaster title in 1990 with one particularly good early result being his first place in the 1990 New York City Open ahead of a host of strong players. His most notable achievement was winning the FIDE World Championship in 1999, a title he held until the following year. He was rated 44th in the world at the time,{{cite web|url=https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic243.html#9|title=The Week in Chess: FIDE July Rating list|last=Crowther|first=Mark|date=1999-07-05|publisher=London Chess Center|access-date=2009-06-25}} 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."{{cite web|url=http://www.chessscotland.com/archives/lasvegas99.htm|title=Las Vegas World Championship, July 30 – August 29, 1999|last=Luchan|first=Jason|author2=Aird, Ian|publisher=ChessScotland.com|access-date=2009-06-25|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907200840/http://www.chessscotland.com/archives/lasvegas99.htm|archive-date=September 7, 2009}} Khalifman played in the Linares chess tournament next year, and performed credibly (though placing below joint winner Kasparov).{{cite web|last=Crowther|first=Mark|url=https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic279.html#2|title=TWIC 279: Linares 2000|date=13 March 2000|access-date=5 August 2020}}

Coaching

With his trainer Gennady Nesis (de) he runs a chess academy in St. Petersburg, called "The Grandmaster Chess School", since November 1998.[http://www.gmchess.com/gmschool/ About GMChess School] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213195117/http://www.gmchess.com/gmschool/ |date=2013-12-13 }} Khalifman has been coaching Vladimir Fedoseev since 2011.{{Cite web|url=http://chess24.com/en/read/news/fedoseev-on-crossing-the-2700-barrier|title=Fedoseev on crossing the 2700 barrier|website=chess24.com|date=2017-06-01|access-date=2018-01-07}}

Khalifman has been coaching the Azerbaijani national team since 2013{{cite web|title=The Members of Azerbaijani Team Will Train With Alexander Khalifman for Ten days|url=http://chess-news.ru/en/node/11353|website=chess-news.ru|access-date=11 October 2015|date=2013-03-12|archive-date=2015-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119235649/http://chess-news.ru/en/node/11353|url-status=dead}} and is its captain.{{cite web|title=Alexander Khalifman: "I don't set sporting goals, but I strive to win"|url=http://vrnchessfestival.org/en/news/108|publisher=Voronezh Chess festival|access-date=11 October 2015}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|title=Success but no medals|url=http://regionplus.az/en/articles/view/2630|publisher=regionplus.az|access-date=11 October 2015|date=2014-08-26}}{{cite web|title=Shahriyar Mammadyarov: "Rauf is my friend, but I had to win him"|url=https://www.shamkirchess.az/news/105/113|publisher=Shamkir Chess|access-date=11 October 2015|date=2015-04-24}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He acted as a {{chessgloss|second}} to Alisa Galliamova in the Women's World Chess Championship 1999 and to Anna Ushenina in the Women's World Chess Championship 2013.{{cite web|title=After game five it could start from the beginning|url=http://en.chessbase.com/post/after-game-five-it-could-start-from-the-beginning-250913|publisher=ChessBase|access-date=19 November 2015|date=2013-09-25}}{{cite web|last=Schipkov|first=Boris|title=Women's World Chess Championship 2013 Match|url=http://www.chessib.com/women-world-championship-taizhou-2013-opening.html|publisher=Chess Siberia|access-date=8 October 2015}}

In March 2022, he signed an open letter of Russian GMs

to Vladimir Putin urging him to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite web

|author=Метлёва, С.

|language = ru

|url =https://www.championat.com/other/news-4626621-veduschie-shahmatisty-rossii-napisali-obraschenie-k-prezidentu-rf.html

|title =Ведущие шахматисты России написали обращение к президенту РФ

|trans-title =Russia's leading chess players appeal to the Russian president

|publisher = Championat

|date = 2022-03-03

|accessdate = 2023-03-08}}

Books

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Sergei Soloviev

| author3=Olga Krylova

| title=Mikhail Tal Games 1949–1962

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=1994

| isbn=978-1-199-58317-8}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Sergei Soloviev

| author3=Olga Krylova

| title=Mikhail Tal Games 1963–1972

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=1995

| isbn=954-8782-02-2}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Sergei Soloviev

| author3=Olga Krylova

| title=Mikhail Tal Games 1973–1981

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=1996

| isbn=978-954-8782-03-6}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Sergei Soloviev

| author3=Olga Krylova

| title=Mikhail Tal Games 1982–1992

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=1996

| isbn=954-8782-04-9}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Leonid Yudasin

| title=Jose Raul Capablanca – Games 1901–1926

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=1997

| isbn=9548782065}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Leonid Yudasin

| title=Jose Raul Capablanca – Games 1927–1942

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=1997

| isbn=9548782065}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Sergei Soloviev

| author2=Alexander Khalifman

| title=Emanuel Lasker 1 – Games 1889–1903

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=1998

| isbn=9548782073}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Sergei Soloviev

| author2=Alexander Khalifman

| title=Emanuel Lasker 2 – Games 1904–1940

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=1999

| isbn=9548782103}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Sergei Soloviov

| title=Mikhail Chigorin – The First Russian Grandmaster

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=1999

| isbn=9548782111}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Sergei Soloviov

| title=Mikhail Botvinnik – Games 1924–1948

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=2000

| isbn=9548782138}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Sergei Soloviov

| title=Mikhail Botvinnik – Games 1951–1970

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=2001

| isbn=9548782170}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Sergei Soloviov

| title=Alexander Alekhine – Games 1902–1923

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=2002

| isbn=954-8782-21-9}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Sergei Soloviov

| title=Alexander Alekhine – Games 1923–1934

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=2002

| isbn=954-8782-23-5}}

  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| title=Opening for Black according to Karpov

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=2002

| isbn=978-9548782166}}

  • Alexander Khalifman (2000–2002). Opening for White according to Kramnik 1.♘f3 (5 volumes). Chess Stars
  • Alexander Khalifman (2003–2012). Opening for White according to Anand 1. e4 (14 volumes). Chess Stars
  • Alexander Khalifman (2006–2011). Opening for White according to Kramnik 1.♘f3 (revised edition, 5 volumes). Chess Stars
  • {{cite book|author1=Alexander Khalifman|author2=Sergei Soloviov|title=The Modern Scotch|publisher=Chess Stars|year=2019|isbn=978-6197188240}}
  • {{cite book|author1=Alexander Khalifman|author2=Sergei Soloviov|title=Squeezing 1.e4 e5: A Solid Strategic Approach|publisher=Chess Stars|year=2019|isbn=9786197188264}}
  • {{cite book

| author=Alexander Khalifman

| author2=Sergei Soloviev

| title=Squeezing the Sicilian Alapin Variation

| publisher=Chess Stars

| year=2020

| isbn=9786197188288}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{FIDE}}
  • {{Chessgames.com player|11645}}
  • {{365Chess.com player|Alexander_Khalifman}}
  • {{Chess.com player|alexander-khalifman}}
  • [http://www.wtharvey.com/khal.html Chess puzzles from the games of Alexander Khalifman]
  • {{web.archive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123081453/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/EUNIS2001/hauptseiten/chess/khalifman.html |title=Biography}}
  • {{web.archive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710162037/http://mail.e3e5.com/article.php?id=1060 |title=Interview with Alexander Khalifman (2005)}}
  • [http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4850 Interview with Alexander Khalifman (2008)]
  • Two part interview with Alexander Khalifman (2010): [http://www.crestbook.com/node/1233 Part 1], [http://www.crestbook.com/node/1273 Part 2]

{{s-start}}

{{s-sports}}

{{succession box

| title = FIDE World Chess Champion

| years = 1999–2000

| before = Anatoly Karpov

| after = Viswanathan Anand

}}

{{succession box

| title = Russian Chess Champion

| years = 1996

| before = Peter Svidler

| after = Peter Svidler

}}

{{s-end}}

{{World Chess Championships}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khalifman, Alexander}}

Category:1966 births

Category:Living people

Category:World chess champions

Category:Chess Grandmasters

Category:Chess Olympiad competitors

Category:Russian chess players

Category:Soviet chess players

Category:Jewish chess players

Category:Russian chess writers

Category:National team coaches

Category:Russian Jews

Category:Chess players from Saint Petersburg

Category:Chess coaches