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“I do not claim that I am the world's best chess player, but I am the FIDE World Champion, the only championship of the world that we have now”… That is how one of the most confident chess players in the world wrapped a cover of modesty around his achievement after winning the World Championship title. Winner of the FIDE World Chess Championship, Alexander Khalifman has a different take altogether when it comes to Chess. His untamed passion for chess has been his motivation and helped him topple hurdles to prove his brilliance in what he does. Chess = Intellect + Character… and that his what totes up his profession to him. “Chess is a unique game that helps a person, especially in childhood, to develop harmoniously” that is what he has always believed.
Alexander Khalifman, originally named Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman, was born on 18th January in the year 1966 in Leningrad. He was just a boy of 6 when his father started giving him chess lessons at home. All his initial years he saw and learnt the game through his father’s eyes. With the course of time as he decided to take up chess as his career and profession, he went on to learn all the right moves of chess with chess master Vassily Byvshev as his trainer. He was also a student of Genadi Nesis. It is with him that Khalifman now runs a chess school at St. Peterburg. It is known by the name of ‘The Grandmaster Chess School’. Children and players from all over the world come to his academy to learn chess and Khalifman makes it a point to attend to everyone of them individually and nourish the best in them.
Early Career:
It was in the year 1986 that he won the title of an International Master. After four years from that, in the year 1990, he won the title of Grandmaster at the New York Open Tournament. He came into the limelight with his win in the FIDE World Championship in the year 1999. He was rated and ranked 44th in the world by the FIDE at that time.
Besides playing chess, Khalifman spends his time at his chess school playing with young children. He also spends a good deal of his time writing chess books that, he feels, will help the budding chess professionals. He is at good pace with the events occurring in the chess world, and has always made it a point to speak his mind aloud. He also loves watching films and enjoys various kinds of sports.
He has also achieved success in other tournaments namely the USSR Youth Championship in the year 1982, the USSR Championship in the year 1984, the Moscow Championships in the years 1985 and 1987, Championship in Groningen in the year 1990, Ter Apel in 1993 and lot more. His most notable win had been in 1997 at the Chess Grand Master Tournament held in St. Peterburg. His win in the Russian Championship in the year 1996 is also counted amongst the most successful games of his career. It is said that his winning of the Grandmaster title in the year 1990 was remarkable as he played and won that against many strong players from all across the world. |
