Boris Gelfand – The Professional

Boris Gelfand is a Soviet-born Israeli Grandmaster. He is one of the most respected figures in chess history due to his incredible longevity, remaining a top-tier player from the late 1980s well into the 2010s.

Winning the 2011 Candidates Tournament to qualify for a match against Viswanathan Anand. He tied the Classical portion of the 2012 World Championship match 6-6, showing he was the equal of the champion.

He treats chess with immense seriousness and discipline. He does not play for "swindles" or cheap traps; he believes in finding the correct move in every position through hard work.

Yes, his books "Positional Decision Making in Chess" and "Dynamic Decision Making in Chess" are considered modern classics, offering deep insight into the mind of a GM.

At age 43, when most players are retiring, Gelfand won the Candidates and played Anand for the title, proving that experience matters.

He won the massive FIDE World Cup knockout tournament, defeating Ruslan Ponomariov in the final.

He defeated Mamedyarov, Kamsky, and Grischuk in matches to win the right to challenge Anand.

He entered the World Top 100 in the late 1980s and stayed there for over three decades, a feat of longevity rivaled only by Kasparov and Anand.

He is considered one of the greatest experts on the Sicilian Najdorf in history, defending it against the world's best for 30 years.

He won Team Gold with the USSR in 1990 and later led the Israeli team to Silver (2008) and Bronze (2010) medals.

He dominated the junior circuit in the Soviet Union, signaling his arrival as a future star.

His style involves accumulating small advantages and converting them with flawless technique, similar to Akiba Rubinstein.

He won the prestigious Tata Steel tournament (then Hoogovens) early in his career, finishing ahead of Anand.

With Black, he is a leading authority on the Grunfeld Defense, proving it can be solid yet dynamic.

Born in Belarus, he immigrated to Israel in 1998 and became a national hero, boosting the country's chess profile immensely.

His books reveal his thought process: he breaks positions down into logical components rather than just calculating variations.

He reached the Candidates stage multiple times in the 90s, defeating players like Kramnik and Adams in matches.

Gelfand is famous for his grueling training regimen, studying chess 6-8 hours a day even into his 50s.

He constantly studies the classics (Rubinstein, Capablanca, Polugaevsky) and advises all students to do the same.

His match against Anand was incredibly tense. Gelfand won Game 7, taking the lead and shocking the world, before Anand struck back in Game 8.

Just a year after losing the World title match, he won one of the strongest tournaments in history, ahead of Carlsen, Kramnik, and Caruana.

He rarely plays "sidelines." He engages opponents in the absolute main lines of opening theory, testing who understands chess better.

He is often called "The Last Mohican of the Soviet School," embodying its values of discipline, culture, and logic.

He now trains the most promising young talents in the world, passing the torch of classical chess to the next generation.