New In Chess Podcast

#90. Boris Gelfand, Live From Cyprus!

April 10, 2026·41 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with grandmaster Boris Gelfand.Today’s interview reaches you from Paphos, in Cyprus, on a rest day of the Candidates tournament, after ten of the fourteen rounds have been played. With four rounds to go it looks like Uzbek star Javokhir Sindarov is heading for first place and a World Championship match against World Champion Gukesh from India at the end of this year.Boris has himself successfully played in the Candidates, won Interzonals and a World Cup and was the Challenger of Vishy Anand in the World Championship match in Moscow in 2012. Together with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Boris reflects on his own participation in the Candidates tournament and the unique pressures of playing at such high stakes.0:10 - Intro 2:47 - Boris reflects on his own experiences at the Candidates Tournament14:48 – AD BREAK 15:19 – Qualifying for the World Championship in 2012 23:50 – The difficulty of dedicating one’s self completely to one chess tournament 27:51 – Jakovhir Sindarov’s performance 34:56 – How did Boris psychologically deal with losing his lead over Anand in 2012? 35:43 – AD BREAK 36:42 – Boris thinks Fabiano has taken too many risks in this tournament 38:34 – Boris’s current chess life 40:38 – Outro

Podzilla Summary coming soon

Sign up to get notified when the full AI-powered summary is ready.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.

Listen to This Episode

Get summaries like this every morning.

Free AI-powered recaps of New In Chess Podcast and your other favorite podcasts, delivered to your inbox.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.