Boris Gelfand

Israel's best player

“A takeover of chess occurred by people who have no relation to it whatsoever. The father of one of the young talents seized control of everything and built a system so that no one could surpass his son, who himself lacks the necessary qualifications.

Because of this, the entire atmosphere was poisoned. The young, ambitious generation simply wasn’t allowed to develop. Some finished their careers, some left the country, some stopped being professionals, some became coaches. And this has been going on for ten years — no one is allowed to rise. Everything comes down to “our person or not our person.” It’s a kind of contempt for professionalism: we don’t need professionals, we need “our own.”

Yet, twenty years ago, Israel consistently showed serious results at Chess Olympiads - two medals and, I think, three more top-five finishes. This was even before my arrival in 1998. And it’s not only my merit - all the guys worked. The worst place we took was tenth. And now — fifty-seventh, after Zimbabwe. Accordingly, the prospects: well, twentieth, thirtieth place, maybe.”