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Alexander Khalifman
Khalifman 
 

Number of games in database: 2,058
Years covered: 1982 to 2021
Last FIDE rating: 2597 (2522 rapid)
Highest rating achieved in database: 2702
Overall record: +525 -175 =1124 (59.6%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 234 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (116) 
    B92 B30 B90 B84 B62
 Queen's Indian (88) 
    E12 E15 E17 E14 E16
 Slav (71) 
    D15 D11 D18 D17 D16
 Ruy Lopez (70) 
    C91 C92 C67 C80 C95
 King's Indian (66) 
    E97 E94 E98 E60 E67
 French Defense (63) 
    C11 C18 C07 C02 C13
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (200) 
    B62 B58 B30 B33 B22
 King's Indian (80) 
    E60 E97 E92 E81 E94
 Ruy Lopez (78) 
    C84 C89 C67 C78 C90
 Slav (72) 
    D17 D18 D14 D15 D10
 Queen's Indian (52) 
    E15 E17 E12 E14 E13
 Grunfeld (43) 
    D85 D92 D78 D79 D94
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   B Lalic vs Khalifman, 1997 0-1
   Khalifman vs Seirawan, 1991 1-0
   Khalifman vs Serper, 1994 1-0
   Z Almasi vs Khalifman, 1997 0-1
   Khalifman vs E Ermenkov, 1994 1-0
   Khalifman vs Sveshnikov, 1996 1-0
   Khalifman vs Bareev, 2002 1-0
   J Polgar vs Khalifman, 2000 0-1
   Khalifman vs Nisipeanu, 1999 1-0
   Khalifman vs Adams, 1997 1-0

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (1999)
   FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (2000)

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Dordrecht (1988)
   European Junior Championship 1985/86 (1985)
   London WFW (1991)
   Groningen Open (1989)
   New York Open (1990)
   Sochi Juniors (1984)
   Bundesliga 1992/93 (1992)
   URS-ch54 First League Kuybyshev (1986)
   Seville Open (1993)
   Vidmar Memorial (1991)
   Agzamov Memorial (1987)
   Linares Anibal Open (1997)
   URS-ch53 First League Minsk (1985)
   Tilburg Interpolis (1994)
   Bundesliga 1998/99 (1998)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Match Khalifman! by amadeus
   1999 - FIDE World Championship KO Tournament by amadeus
   1999 - FIDE World Championship KO Tournament by Noob1701
   Reykjavik World Cup 1991 by suenteus po 147
   USSR Championship 1990 by suenteus po 147
   Linares 1995 by Tabanus
   Corus Group A 2002 by Tabanus
   Wijk aan Zee Corus 2002 by suenteus po 147
   Linares 1995 by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1991 by suenteus po 147

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 I Blechzin Memorial
   Khalifman vs E Romanov (Apr-14-21) 1/2-1/2
   Khalifman vs I Can (Oct-13-19) 1/2-1/2
   K Shubin vs Khalifman (Oct-12-19) 1/2-1/2
   Khalifman vs A Aleksandrov (Oct-11-19) 1/2-1/2
   A Mikaelyan vs Khalifman (Oct-10-19) 0-1

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Alexander Khalifman
Search Google for Alexander Khalifman
FIDE player card for Alexander Khalifman

ALEXANDER KHALIFMAN
(born Jan-18-1966, 59 years old) Russia
PRONUNCIATION:
[what is this?]
Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman, born in Leningrad, was taught chess by his father when he was six years old. He achieved the IM title in 1986 and became a GM at the New York Open in 1990. He is best known for becoming FIDE World Champion in 1999 by winning a knockout tournament in Las Vegas. He lost the title in the next knockout, held the following year in New Delhi. Viswanathan Anand eliminated him in the quarterfinals.

Khalifman's other successes include the Russian Championship of 1996 and first place in Essent 2000 with 5.5 points out of 6. In 2010 he came =1st (2nd on count back) with 7/9 in the Minsk Open in Belarus, and won the International Bavarian Open in Bad Wiessee in Germany with 7.5/9 (+6 =3). He came 4th at the Aeroflot Open (2012) with 6/9.

Wikipedia article: Alexander Khalifman


Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 83; games 1-25 of 2,058  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Dautov vs Khalifman 0-1451982USSR Junior ChampionshipE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
2. I Naumkin vs Khalifman 0-1461982USSR Junior ChampionshipE90 King's Indian
3. Khalifman vs Salov  ½-½411982Sochi U20 selectionB82 Sicilian, Scheveningen
4. A Wojtkiewicz vs Khalifman  1-0451982Sochi U20 selectionC73 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense
5. A Kuzmin vs Khalifman  ½-½231982Sochi U20 selectionB89 Sicilian
6. Rozentalis vs Khalifman  ½-½481982Sochi U20 selectionB22 Sicilian, Alapin
7. A Sokolov vs Khalifman  1-0351982Sochi U20 selectionC89 Ruy Lopez, Marshall
8. Khalifman vs A Sokolov  0-1331982Sochi U20 selectionB82 Sicilian, Scheveningen
9. Khalifman vs V Malykin  0-1341983LeningradC03 French, Tarrasch
10. Khalifman vs K Aseev  0-1341983URSC91 Ruy Lopez, Closed
11. Khalifman vs S Ionov  1-0331984Leningrad MastersE42 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 c5, 5.Ne2 (Rubinstein)
12. A Vitolinsh vs Khalifman 0-1301984URS-ch sf BorzhomiC42 Petrov Defense
13. Khalifman vs S Savchenko  0-1301984USSR Junior ChampionshipB72 Sicilian, Dragon
14. Shabalov vs Khalifman  0-1311984USSR Junior ChampionshipA49 King's Indian, Fianchetto without c4
15. Dreev vs Khalifman 0-1391984USSR Junior ChampionshipC25 Vienna
16. I Naumkin vs Khalifman 0-1471984Sochi JuniorsE92 King's Indian
17. Dautov vs Khalifman  0-1661984Sochi JuniorsE60 King's Indian Defense
18. Oll vs Khalifman  1-0331984Sochi JuniorsC43 Petrov, Modern Attack
19. S Zagrebelny vs Khalifman 0-1351984Sochi JuniorsB76 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack
20. Khalifman vs G Giorgadze  1-0321984Sochi JuniorsB40 Sicilian
21. D Komarov vs Khalifman  0-1461984Sochi JuniorsA48 King's Indian
22. Dautov vs Khalifman  ½-½41198413th Soviet Team CupE12 Queen's Indian
23. Goldin vs Khalifman  ½-½36198413th Soviet Team CupA45 Queen's Pawn Game
24. M Iailian vs Khalifman  1-048198413th Soviet Team CupE88 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox, 7.d5 c6
25. Khalifman vs I Ratkovich  1-040198413th Soviet Team CupC07 French, Tarrasch
 page 1 of 83; games 1-25 of 2,058  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Khalifman wins | Khalifman loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 6 OF 6 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jun-20-12  TheVillageIdiot: <Alexander Khalifman & Rustam Kasimdzhanov are the Weakest Fide Champions They won on a pure luck and were not able to dominate a single tournament after their wins>

What about Ponomariov?? Is he considered to be weak too?

Jun-20-12  King Death: < TheVillageIdiot: <Alexander Khalifman & Rustam Kasimdzhanov are the Weakest Fide Champions They won on a pure luck and were not able to dominate a single tournament after their wins> What about Ponomariov?? Is he considered to be weak too?>

Not really but I won't rush to say that his resume compares to Kramnik Kasparov or the champions that came before them. In that kind of company Pono gets lost in the shuffle fast even though he's a tough player.

Jun-20-12  Petrosianic: Khalifman was the World #32 in January 2000, and Kasim was World #54 (!!) when he won the FIDE Title. By comparison, Pono was in the Top 10 or 20, which is fantastic by comparison, but he still had no real claim to being the world's best player. He won a lottery tournament, didn't beat the best, and avoided a match with the best.

He's a tough player, of course, most people in the Top 20 are. (This whole question of "Was he the world champion, or was he weak?" is a wild faulty dilemma fallacy). But that doesn't make one world champion.

The only FIDE Champion with any plausible claim to being the best was Anand. He was World #2 when he won the title. But again, a) his title wasn't undisputed, and b) he didn't beat anyone in particular to win it. Calling him world champion would be like naming Fischer world champion by virtue of sweeping the US Championship.

Jun-20-12  dx9293: Khalifman himself said that he didn't claim to be the strongest player in the World, but he claimed to be World Champion, because he won the only World Championship that there was at the time. He was right.
Jun-20-12  dx9293: In former days, and in Fischer's time, there was a World Championship system, so no one would claim Fischer the World Champion by winning the US Championship (which was infinitely weaker than the Soviet Championship anyway).
Jun-20-12  Petrosianic: <because he won the only World Championship that there was at the time. He was right.>

He was wrong. The title was disputed at the time and pretty much everyone except FIDE itself regarded the FIDE title as the less credible of the two, simply because the last undisputed champion still held the other one.

Jun-20-12  Petrosianic: But on the other hand, there's nothing bad to say about Khalifman per se. He played chess, he won a tournament. The world organization called it a world championship. He's not lying when he says that they did. It's maybe a slight fudge to say that that was the only championship in existence, but we can massage that statement a bit to make it technically true. Khalifman certainly didn't do anything wrong by playing and winning.
Jan-18-13  talisman: happy birthday.
Jan-18-13  cunctatorg: Alexander Khalifman is (or was...; it's up to him of course!) one of the most original, ingenious, resourceful and impressive chess-players I've ever seen.
Jan-20-13  gars: As a confirmed chess rabbit I shall not engage in any kind of judgement about Khalifman's qualifications for the World Championhip. I prefer to see him as a very strong player who spent a lot of time and effort to author or co-author books about Chigorin, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botninnik, Tal and Shirov, besides books about the openings Anand and Kramnik use.
Nov-17-13  RookFile: An absurd discussion. Khalifman won the tournament in 1999 under the rules of the time. He had a moment in the sun, don't deny him that. Nobody is asking that he be declared the greatest player ever.
May-04-14  cplyakap: Ex-world champion.I think he retired.
Mar-13-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <Did I ever tell you about the time I became world champion?> http://s1.uploads.ru/t/e6v4K.jpg
Apr-05-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Penguincw: Uh, interesting tournament for Khalifman at the Aeroflot Open (2015). He won the first game against a 2465, but then drew the remaining 8 games (all against players rated higher than him) to finish the tournament as one of the few (if not only) players to not drop a single rating point from any game. The average rating of his opponents was 2691 (excluding the first one) but his 8 draws averaged 23 moves (16 excluding the longest one).

Overall, he gains 11.4 points (2613 -> 2624) and finishes in 26th place (he was the 29th seed).

May-22-15  TheFocus: <Chess is fairly unique for the precise reason that it teaches you to think. Most subjects taught in school only weigh your memory down with information, without giving you the skills of independent mental work. Even the solution of physical or mathematical problems most of the time can be reduced to one standard algorithm or another. But chess teaches you to think, and not only that, it does so in a playful form that is very natural for children. And at the same time, it brings you face to face with a very concrete result - either you win or you lose> - Alexander Khalifman.
Dec-05-15  Sularus: or you draw
Jan-18-16  TheFocus: Happy birthday, Alexander Khalifman.
Jan-18-16  john barleycorn: <RookFile: An absurd discussion. Khalifman won the tournament in 1999 under the rules of the time....>

Yes, Khalifman deserves more respect. Only 4 world class players were missing in that event. The rest of the elite was there and it is not his fault that they failed. M. Adams commented that the system is ok and if Kramnik or Shirov had won everybody would have admitted that it works.

Jan-18-16  sonia91: A tribute article by the Russian Chess Federation on his birthday (you can use Google translator): http://ruchess.ru/news/all/18_janva...
Jan-18-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  Penguincw: Happy Birthday to ex-FIDE Champion, Alexander Khalifman.

Nice to see he's still active.

Jan-01-20  cunctatorg: An extremely creative and original super Grand-Master! Happy New Year!
Apr-17-23  theagenbiteofinwit: Khalifman, Ponomariov, Kasimdzhanov, and Topalov can all say they were world champions and be correct.

However, none of them could claim to being the best chess player in the world at that time.

Apr-17-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Topalov and Danailov could make that claim.
Apr-17-23  stone free or die: The bumption of <Missy>'s conjunction.
Apr-17-23  theagenbiteofinwit: <Topalov and Danailov could make that claim.>

Only when WC stands for Water Closet.

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