Neo-Benko

The candidates’ matches in Kazan are all over, and veteran Boris Gelfand, 42, emerged as the unlikely winner to become the oldest challenger for the world championship crown since Viktor Korchnoi. One of Gelfand’s great strengths has always been his legendary opening preparation - and we saw just how deep this was in game three in the final against Alexander Grischuk. Grishuk played a relatively rare and obscure line in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, only to get hit on move 9 by the big novelty of Gelfand’s remarkable gambit of 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Nc3 Be7 5 Bg5 h6 6 Bxf6 Bxf6 7 Qb3 dxc4 8 Qxc4 0-0 9 g3 b5!! - although the game ended in a short draw, Gelfand’s gambit did its job in wasting one of his opponent’s crucial white games. And in Gambit Guide, our guru looks at just how tricky Gelfand’s gambit is