Boris Gelfand

The 43-year-old veteran who nearly pulled off the impossible. Won the Candidates against all odds, then pushed Anand to rapid tiebreaks in one of the most unexpected championship matches in history.

The Impossible Run

Boris Abramovich Gelfand was born on June 24, 1968, in Minsk, Belarus (then Soviet Union). He had been an elite player for decades, winning the Soviet Championship in 1989 and competing in numerous Candidates cycles. By 2011, at age 42, most assumed his championship window had closed. But Gelfand won the 2011 Candidates tournament in Kazan, defeating Mamedyarov, Kamsky, and Grischuk in matches to earn an unlikely shot at Anand.

Pushing Anand to the Edge

The 2012 match in Moscow was expected to be a comfortable Anand retention. Instead, Gelfand played with remarkable energy and precision. He won Game 7 with black to take the lead, sending shockwaves through the chess world. Anand equalized immediately in Game 8. After 12 classical games, the score was tied 6-6. In the rapid tiebreaks, Anand's superior speed and experience at faster time controls told, and he won 2.5-1.5 for an 8.5-7.5 overall victory.

Gelfand's challenge remains one of the great underdog stories in World Championship history. At 43, he proved that age and rating are not always predictive of performance on the biggest stage.