Khalifman Busts Seirawan's Caro-Kann

I have long said that chess requires intelligence and character. This is the motto of the Grandmaster Chess School operated by Alexander Khalifman and Gennady Nesis. They express it as a formula, "chess = intellect + character." The school is in St. Petersburg, Russia and trains players from anywhere. Khalifman was born January 18, 1966 in Leningrad, which was the name used for St. Petersburg by the Soviet Union. Khalifman won the USSR Youth Championship in 1982, the USSR Championship in 1984, the Moscow Championship in 1985 and 1987, and the Russian Championship in 1996. In 1999, he won the FIDE World Championship.

Khalifman's opponent in the following game is Yasser Seirawan who was born March 24, 1960 in Damascus, Syria. He lived for a time in Nottingham, England, where his mother was from. When he was seven, his family moved to Seattle, Washington, USA. About six years later, he became the Washington Junior Champion. Three years later, he won the World Junior Championship. Seirawan has been a chess writer, and is known for playing and writing about the Caro-Kann Defense, which is featured in this game.

For more on the 4...Nd7 line, see http://www.chess.com/article/view/nunn-tal-caro-kann-seminar

For the 5...gxf6 variation, see http://www.chess.com/article/view/caro-kann-defense-bronstein-style and http://www.chess.com/article/view/miniature-caro-kann-tactics