Head to Head
Jan Gustafsson
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- Born:
- Jun 25, 1979 (Age 39) Hamburg, Germany
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- FIDE Title:
- Grandmaster
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- FIDE ID:
- 4625498
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- Federation:
- Germany
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- Peak Rating:
- 2652 (November 2010)
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- Rating:
- 2641 (October 2018)
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- Rank:
- 126 (October 2018)
- Links:
chess24 co-founder Jan Gustafsson was first introduced to chess on a boat, when sport options were limited. His father had been a world-class sailor in his youth and Jan’s parents decided to take a break from their careers as teachers to spend a few years sailing around the Mediterranean. The family also lived in Spain until returning to Hamburg, Germany, where Jan became a regular at the local chess club. His progress was rapid, and he won the U13 German Team Championship and then the U15 and U17 Individual German Championships. He gained the IM title in 1998 but didn’t make his next big leap until a year as an exchange student in Madrid, where with little else to do he “just got good”, pushing towards 2600 and the GM title.
Back in Germany he made his debut for the German national team and finished runner-up in the 2004 and 2005 German Championships, but the next few years saw chess play second fiddle to poker, with Jan even co-authoring a German book on the game with Marcel Luske. He proved he hadn’t forgotten how the chess pieces move by finishing joint second at Dortmund 2008, a full point ahead of Vladimir Kramnik, and spent most of the next year working as a second for the winner, Peter Leko. His coaching CV also features coaching the Danish team.
In 2009 Jan switched his allegiances in the
German League to play for the all-conquering Baden-Baden, while in 2011 he was
part of the German national team that won gold medals at the European Team
Championship. His best individual achievements in recent years include tying
for first place with a 2769 performance at the 2010 Gibraltar Masters and
winning the 2011 Thailand Open.
Check out some of Jan's video series for chess24!
- How to build your 1.d4 repertoire
- On Magnus Carlsen (with Artur Jussupow)
- Learning from Capablanca (with Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Paco Vallejo)
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Comments 7
Thank you!
AltZulu, the chess24 app currently does not support challenges. So you will need to challenge him in the browser during Banter Blitz. Please check our Shows page (Watch > Shows) in the main menu for show announcements.
Jan! You’re the reason I joined Chess 24. I need information as to how I’m supposed to know when your next Banter Blitz is coming up. Also, I’m I able to challenge you and others players through the Chess24 app, or only through the PC?
Thanks in advance,
Alt Zulu
YAWN! Good job on chess24! Your banter blitz shows crack us up! Where and when are the best blitz games in Hamburg? :)
Hello Mr Gustaffson, I'm just a chess fan from Minnesota, USA enjoying the WCC. I wanted to thank you for your very entertaining WCC coverage with Mr. Svidler. I look forward to each broadcast here at chess24. Thanks for all the great content outside of the match. I recently finished the Taimonav article and enjoyed it very much. Tainmanov made many poignant comments, one of which, pertains the Golden Age of chess where the greats were found to be also quite interesting beyond the chess board. Watching you and Peter interact brings that human element to light. I've definitely become a Gustaffson fan and a Svilder fan!! thank you for all your hard work in making such a great site for chess fans.
I'm in love with Chess24. So many nice features and commentators like Peter Svidler and Jan Gustafsson. I just love em, Everyone should!
After the ridiculous ban by staff on this site you may cancel my premium subscription application. Im done with the treatment of staff on this site. If youre allowed to discuss Van Kampen's looks compared to Bieber why am i banned for half an hour if i just say "such a prettyboy". You're a bloody disgrace and I will take my money somehere else.