Alexander Khalifman

Infobox chess player
playername = Alexander Khalifman


caption=
birthname = Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman
(Александр Валерьевич Халифман)
country = RUS
datebirth = birth date and age|1966|1|18
placebirth = Leningrad, RSFSR, Soviet Union
datedeath =
placedeath =
title = Grandmaster
worldchampion = 1999-2000 (FIDE)
womensworldchampion =
rating = 2634
(No. 94 on the July 2008 FIDE ratings list)
peakrating = 2702 (October 2001)

Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (born January 18, 1966, in Leningrad) is a Jewish [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_k.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ] Russian chess Grandmaster and former FIDE champion.

When he was 6 years old, he was taught chess by his father.

He gained the Grandmaster title in 1990 with one particularly good early result being his first place in the 1990 New York Open ahead of a host of strong players.

His most notable achievement was winning the FIDE World Chess Championship in 1999, a title he held until the following year. He was rated 44th in the world at the time, [cite web|url=http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic243.html|title=The Week in Chess 243 - 5 July 1999] which some compared unfavourably to "Classical" World Champion Garry Kasparov being rated #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." [ [http://www.chessscotland.com/archives/lasvegas99.htm Chess Scotland - Las Vegas World Championship] .] Perhaps in response, Khalifman was invited to the next Linares chess tournament, and performed creditably (though placing below joint winner Kasparov). [cite web|url=http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic273.html|title=The Week in Chess 273 - 13 March 2000]

He also won the 1982 USSR Youth Championship, 1984 USSR championship, 1985 and 1987 Moscow championships, 1990 Groningen, 1993 Ter Apel, 1994 Chess Open of Eupen1995 Chess Open St. Peterburg, 1996 Russian Championship, 1997 Chess Grand Master Tournament St. Peterburg, 1997 Aarhus, 1997 World Team Championship Luzern, 1998 Bad Wiessee, 2000 Hoogenveen, Netherlands, and 2000 Chess Olympiad tournaments.

With his trainer Genadi Nesis he runs a chess academy in St. Peterburg, called "The Grandmaster Chess School." There he trains players from all over the world following the motto: "chess = intellect + character."

References

External links

*
*chessgames player|id=11645
* [http://www2.hu-berlin.de/EUNIS2001/hauptseiten/chess/khalifman.html bio]