The match on this page, sponsored by the Hoogovens Group and organized by tournament director Piet Zwart and others was one of six (!) quarterfinals held at the Dorpshuis de Moriaan in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, 16-23/25/27 January 1994. The other five matches were the Kramnik - Yudasin Candidates Quarterfinal (1994), Timman - Lautier Candidates Quarterfinal (1994), Kamsky - Van der Sterren Candidates Quarterfinal (1994), Salov - Khalifman Candidates Quarterfinal (1994) & Anand - Yusupov Candidates Quarterfinal (1994). The draw for pairings was made soon after the Biel Interzonal (1993). The matches were held in order to reach a final match in 1996 for the title of FIDE World Champion.

The event was opened in the presence of FIDE president Florencio Campomanes. Gelfand and Adams had both qualified for the match at the Biel Interzonal (1993). Adams was seconded by John Nunn. The match was best of eight games, or the first to achieve 4½ points. Game 1 was set to start at 1:30 pm. The match winner would receive 15,000 Swiss francs (about $11,000), the loser 9,000 (about $6,500). Chief arbiter: Mikko Markkula.

Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, 16-27 January 1994

        Age Elo   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Gelfand  25 2685  ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1  5
Adams    22 2660  ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0  3

"This match was considered by many the most interesting of the six. From a pure chess perspective, these two players were very evenly matched. Boris Gelfand must be considered slightly better, and certainly he has more knowledge of the openings, but Michael Adams has had many extremely impressive performances during the last two years, including defeating Gelfand in the final round of Tilburg '92 to win first prize! Michael also made a very good move before the match by hiring GM John Nunn to be his second, thus giving him considerable support for his openings. The even nature of the match would have been enough to make this battle very interesting, but there was another, personal aspect that heightened the interest of those "in the know." Gelfand had stolen Adams girl friend before the match! Michael had gone out with the same woman for over a year, but towards the end of their relationship she had expressed an interest in Boris. The "exchange" became official during the fall and has not done any good for the personal relations between the players. Many people wondered how this would affect the match. (And there was a cynical joke going around that perhaps there was an extra prize for the winner.) In fact, the match lived up to expectations for being close, much closer than the final score reveals. Although Gelfand won by two points, he could easily have lost the seventh game (which he drew), and only won the eighth game because Adams pressed so hard to win with the Black pieces. It must be said that while Nunn is a powerful addition to any analytical team, it seems that Adams was not able to use Nunn's expertise. Adams tried to play very sharply against Gelfand's favorite Najdorf in the first two games, but though he got good positions both times, he failed to convert either game. It was in the sixth game that he scored his first and only win, and this by playing 2. c3 against the Sicilian! Adams play with the Black pieces was abysmal. He was lucky that Gelfand played 1. e4 with his first White, as Gelfand is usually a 1. d4 player and only occasionally opens with the king's pawn, so that Adams was able to hold without too much trouble. He lost every other Black against 1. d4. It is true that he got a good position in the eighth game, but this was due at least as much to the nervousness of both players than to his opening." (Wolff)

Sources

Mark Weeks' website (https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/94...)
FIDE rating list January 1994 (https://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo19...)
Jaque 372, March 1994, pp. 14-27 (http://www.bartelski.pl/olimpbase/l...)
Sakkélet, 15 May 1994, pp. 79-82 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Sak...)
Tidskrift för Schack, 2/1994, pp. 80-90 (https://tfsarkiv.schack.se/pdf/1994...)
NRC Handelsblad, 13 January 1994, p. 5 (https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/v...)
Patrick Wolff in Chess Life, May 1994, pp. 41-47 (https://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/C...)
Hans Ree in NRC Handelsblad, 17 January 1994, p. 18 (https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/v...)
Hans Ree in NRC Handelsblad, 26 January 1994, p. 12 (https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/v...)
Hans Ree in NRC Handelsblad, 31 January 1994, p. 18 (https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/v...)
Paul Boersma in Algemeen Dagblad, 15 January 1994, p. 17 (https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/v...)
Paul Boersma in Algemeen Dagblad, 21 January 1994, p. 25 (https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/v...)
Leontxo Garcia in Jaque 371, February 1994, pp. 10-30 (http://www.bartelski.pl/olimpbase/l...)

Original collection: Game Collection: WCC Index (Gelfand-Adams 1994) by User: Hesam7 and Game Collection: Gelfand - Adams Candidates Quarterfinal by User: Tabanus. Game dates (January 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27) are from Dutch newspapers at https://www.delpher.nl/.