EP. 200 - GM Boris Gelfand

On episode 200 of Perpetual Chess we are joined by a legend of chess, GM Boris Gelfand! GM Gelfand has been one of the world’s top players since the 1990’s, has amassed countless tournament titles, and played a breathtakingly close World Championship match with GM Viswanthan Anand in 2012. He is also an acclaimed author, and has released recently two new books in cooperation with GM Jacob Aagaard and Quality Chess Books. The books are Decision Making in Major Piece Endings, and Technical Decision Making in Chess. Both are highly instructive reads which lay bare the thought processes of an elite chess player. In our conversation, we discuss his books and their implications for chess improvement.  GM Gelfand also  shares highlights of and reflections on his own life at and away from the chessboard. As always, read on for timestamps and related links.  0:00- We begin by discussing a few quotes from Gelfand, one of which distills his chess improvement advice to a few sentences. GM Gelfand also gives us  his opinion of how to use chess engines, a common topic in his writing.   Mentioned:  Surya Ganguly interview part 1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxjBIWngFqo Surya Ganguly interview part 2-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFlInDxHMVo   10:00- GM Gelfand tells the story of the formative experience of seeing an elite level tournament up close when he was just an adolescent in Belarus.  Mentioned: GM Mikhail Tal, GM Garry Kasparov, Boris Postovsky, GM Alexander Nikitin, GM Salo Flohr    13:30- How can up-and-coming players manage the “curse and the blessing” of great online study tools but also the potential distraction of online bullet chess?  Mentioned: GM Alireza Firouzja, GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov    18:45- What does GM Gelfand think of the increased popularity of online chess with faster time control? How did he enjoy the recent Chess24 Legends of Chess Tournament in which he competed?    23:00- GM Gelfand discusses the increased importance of organizing knowledge as compared