Welcome back everyone, this month we are examining the games of GM Alon Greenfeld. Greenfeld has a FIDE rating of 2546 and is 14th highest rated player in Israel. He earned the IM title in 1983 and the GM title in 1989. He is still somewhat active and plays a couple of rated games a month. According to Wikipedia, he is focusing more on coaching now. He’s played on the Israeli Olympiad team five times. The first being in 1982 and the most recent was in 1994. He was the Israeli junior champion twice and in 1984 he won the Israeli national championship. I couldn’t find any information about his ICC handle. To my knowledge we haven’t played any games.
His most notable students include GM Emil Sutovsky and Indian IM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi. There isn’t much more to say about GM Greenfeld. He’s written some articles for new in chess and done some articles in the Yearbook. He wrote an interesting piece on Carlsen called, “Carlsen On The Roof.” Without further ado let’s take a look at some notable games he’s played.
The first game I chose to look at is his game against Boyce. I read in a few places that he considers this game to be his best game and it’s easy to see why. Greenfeld finds a nice forcing combination at the end of the game that nets a rook in a couple of different ways.
On chessgames.com they called this game, “Leaves of Grass.” It was the game of the day on 1/24/06. In the game Greenfeld acquires a lot of space in the opening and runs his opponent off the board. The game ends when Black realizes he cannot stop the mate threats against his king.
This next game against former FIDE Champion Alexander Khalifman played in 1988. I liked this game because I think it represents Greenfeld’s style well. He’s a solid technical player and he isn’t afraid to enter complex tactical positions.
In this game Greenfeld plays a fantastic game against Evgeny Postny. Take note of the patience and restraint that Greenfeld demonstrates in his attack. He sets up Postny and eventually delivers the knockout blow.
In this final game, I liked the Zwischenzugs that Greenfeld employs. It’s incredible how after white obtains the initiative, black goes down in flames. Every move starting from move 19 seems so powerful and forcing.
Tune in next month for the next GM spotlight!