18 January 2016
Alexander Khalifman Turns 50
The ex-World champion celebrated his birthday on January 18.
The FIDE World champion Alexander Khalifman celebrates his 50th birthday on January 18.
He was born in Leningrad and lives in St. Petersburg. In his childhood he expressed interest in math and was attending the same math class and famous mathematician Grigory Perelman. However, love to chess took the upper hand, and at the age of 16 Khalifman won the USSR Junior championship for the first time, and repeated the success in two years. In another year he won the European Junior championship.
In 1990 Khalifman won a very strong and highly popular New York open. In 1996 he became the champion of Russia. Playing for Russian national team, he won three Olympiads (1992, 2000, 2002) and the World Team championship (1997).
His biggest individual success came in 1999 in Las Vegas, where he won the FIDE World championship in a knock-out format, defeating Vladimir Akopian in the final match.
Alexander Khalifman is not only a very strong player, but also a respected coach. He organized a chess school in St. Petersburg, is a trainer of Ugra team, which won the European club cup in 2010. In 2013 Khalifman started coaching the national team of Azerbaijan, and won the European Team championship in Warsaw.
Alexander Khalifman is a well-known chess theoretician, author of popular opening manuals, and an excellent commentator.
Russian Chess Federation congratulated the outstanding grandmaster on his birthday, wishes him good health and new sporting and creative achievements!
