Alexei Shirov vs Boris Gelfand
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alexei Shirov | Boris Gelfand | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1972 | 1968 |
| Died | living / not documented | living / not documented |
| Country of birth | Spain | Israel |
| Star sign | Cancer | Gemini |
Who they are
Alexei Shirov
There is a move in a 1998 game between Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov that chess players call simply "the Shirov move." It is a bishop sacrifice — Bh3!! — made in a complex middlegame position in the Benoni Defense, in a game that Shirov was playing from behind. The move appears, at first and second and third glance, to be simply wrong. Bishops do not belong on h3 in such positions; the move gives material without obvious compensation; no computer engine of the era would have found it. Shirov found it, played it, and…
Full biography of Alexei Shirov →
Boris Gelfand
Boris Gelfand is one of the most remarkable figures in the history of chess — a grandmaster who achieved the elite level under the Soviet system, survived the collapse of the USSR, rebuilt his career representing Israel, and at the age of forty-three competed for the World Chess Championship against Viswanathan Anand in one of the most dramatic title matches of the modern era. Born on June 24, 1968, in Minsk, in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, he grew up in a chess culture of extraordinary depth and rigor, and carried that foundation across political…
Full biography of Boris Gelfand →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Near contemporaries - 4 years apart.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: Spain and Israel.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alexei Shirov or Boris Gelfand?
- Boris Gelfand. Alexei Shirov was born in 1972, Boris Gelfand in 1968.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alexei Shirov is filed under Sports (Chess). Boris Gelfand is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.