6/27/2012 – Gelfandmania has officially taken over Israel after Boris Gelfand's title run. He has appeared on TV, met the prime minister, given countless interviews and even been parodied by a famous comedy show. More importantly, he has sparked a huge interest in chess, leading to the match between Israeli and Spanish schools made possible through Playchess. GM Boris Alterman shares all.
new: ChessBase Magazine 225
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
2025 European Championship with a German double victory and analyses by Bluebaum, Svane, Rodshtein, Yuffa, Navara and many more. Opening videos by Engel, King and Marin. Training sections “The Fortress”, “The Trap” and “Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" etc.
€21.90
The Show Goes On
By Boris Alterman
After his impressive attempt to wrest the world title from Vishy Anand, resulting in a draw in their classical match, Boris Gelfand has become a national hero in Israel. In fact, he is now a super star in Israel with numerous TV appearances, newspaper interviews, and meeting with the Prime Minister etc.
Recently Boris became even a more popular as a parody star in one of the most popular comic show on Israeli TV,"Eretz Nehederet".
This is how a satirized Gelfand looks- Click here for the actual episode
In fact, on the recent TV show "Dancing in with the Stars (Israel)", chess was one of the main items.
Israeli TV Channel 10 has also made a nice report about "chess in school program" in its Prime Time News:
Gelfandomania in Israel - "More and more schools and kindergartens in Israel include chess into their curriculum".
In this video you may see one of the most famous Savyon "Chess in school program"
Adi Tzimmerman, the Israeli Under 12 Girls Champion and product of the Savyon "chess in school program" plays a journalist, while beating him in just 3 min. We also see a heavily equipped computer room where kids study chess, solve puzzles, play and work with text books, and Grandmaster Boris Alterman explains the important role of chess in the education system.
There are many Russian emigrants who are still looking for a partner in the park and watching closely after Gelfand.
At the end of the video we see a school from Tel-Aviv Jaffa, where most of the kids are Israeli Arabs studying chess. One of the kids made a great impression on journalists when was asked about a game of chess.
"Is chess a quiet game?" - "It seems quiet but my mind is athletic!"
Israel beats Spain – not in soccer but in chess!
This year Savyon "Chess in school program" made its next move - On June 18 the first Internet match between two elementary schools took place, one from Savyon (Israel) and one from Salou (Spain). Savyon's municipality is the small town near Tel-Aviv area with 3500 people. SHowing progressive thinking, it decided to include chess lessons into its education system as early as 2007. Savyon's Mayor Moshik Lipetz believes that chess improves dramatically the scoring level of the students, their mind skills.
Savyon's Mayor Moshik Lipetz
Kids study chess from the Kindergarten up to 3rd grade, when many also participate in after school chess activities once a week, participating in the regional and national school championships.
The two teams met on the Playchess server with five players playing a double round match at 20min +10 sec increment.
The children from the Salou school in Spain smile for a picture of their online match
Grandmaster Arthur Kogan, captain of Salou team, with his class
GM Arthur Kogan reported:
We lost the first round by 4.5-0.5, but in the second round our youth nearly caused a sensation (versus experienced Israel's school!).
We began with two big wins and 2-0 scoring for Salou and ... a good advantage in the other games ... only at the last moment the advantage of experience helped and Savyon turned the tables and won all three games, so we lost by the minimal score 3-2 and an overall 7.5-2.5.
Players from both teams were happy and excited. Bravo to all children of the Savyon School and School of Salou and thanks to the council and club members for helping make this wonderful initiative! Until next time!
The computer room of the Sayvon school
GM Boris Alterman
The match was projected onto a screen so the children could follow
Of course, some preferred to just walk around
The children loved the idea and had a great time
Playchess sysop, Holger Lieske, was a key figure in ensuring a fluid event
Savyon Players: Adi Tzimmerman, Or Ben Shahar, Nitzan Roi, Tom Broyda, Daniel
Moldavsky and the Reserve were Simovich Ariel and Daniel Tzimerman together with their teachers.
Deepest thanks Holger Lieske and the Playchess/ChessBase team for the great help in organizing the event.
In almost every chess game there comes a moment when you just can’t go on without tactics. You must strike to not giving away the advantage you have worked for the whole game.
Opening videos: Daniel King presents new ideas against Caro-Kann with 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+. ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’: Najdorf, Petroff and Scotch. ‘Move by Move’ with Robert Ris. ‘Lucky bag’ with 37 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
Instead of forcing you to memorise endless lines, Raja focuses on clear plans, typical ideas, and attacking motifs that you can apply in your own games without delay. A short, focused, and practical repertoire.
FIDE World Cup 2025 with analyses by Adams, Bluebaum, Donchenko, Shankland, Wei Yi and many more. Opening videos by Blohberger, King and Marin. 11 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
I am FRITZ, and I have been redefining the world of chess for over 30 years.
€19.99
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
