First Israeli in History Elected to the World Chess Hall of Fame
Grandmaster Boris Gelfand has become the first Israeli chess player to be inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis, recognizing his extraordinary contributions to the game.
Grandmaster Boris Gelfand is the first Israeli chess player ever to be elected as a member of the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis, USA. This Hall of Fame brings together the most prominent figures in the chess world who have made an extraordinary contribution to the development of the game. Among the members of the Hall are world champions, as well as historians and promoters of the chess field, all of the highest caliber.
Gelfand immigrated to Israel from Belarus in 1998 and is the only Israeli chess player to have won an Olympic champion title in chess. In 1990, he won the gold medal at the World Chess Olympiad as a member of the USSR team. In addition to this, he is the only Israeli in history to have won the World Cup in 2009 and the only Israeli to have won the Candidates Tournament in 2011.
In June 2026, Gelfand was awarded an honorary doctorate by Ariel University, and for many years he has been among the top chess players in the world.
In 2012, he competed against the Indian world champion Viswanathan Anand in a match for the world championship title. The match ended in a 6:6 tie, and the champion was decided only in the tie-break.
For over two decades, Gelfand was the leader of the Israeli national chess team (playing on its top board) and played a central role in its greatest achievements, including the silver medal at the World Chess Olympiad in 2008 and the bronze medal in 2010. Following a prolonged dispute with the Israel Chess Federation, Gelfand was forced to retire from the national team.
The induction ceremony for the new Hall of Fame members will take place this coming October at the Hall of Fame museum in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. His name will henceforth be displayed alongside the greatest Jewish chess players such as Emanuel Lasker, Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, and Judit Polgár, the strongest female chess player in history, who a few weeks ago declined the Hungarian Prime Minister's offer to serve as President of the country.
