When Jan Gustafsson showed up at the 1 Hotel Toronto last Tuesday alongside two-time World Cup finalist Jan Nepomnyashchi, some reporters initially believed it was a coincidence. The fact that the 44-year-old from Hamburg was working for a Russian in the Candidates Tournament, which has been running since Thursday, didn’t seem to fit.
The liaison wasn’t so far off. Last August they played side by side for entrepreneur Wadim Rosenstein’s team, which became team world champions in rapid chess in Düsseldorf. Gustafsson is considered one of the leading opening analysts in the world.
Trainer at the German Chess Federation
He dealt with Nepomnyashchi’s repertoire in detail, namely as a second of the then world champion Magnus Carlsen in his 7.5:3.5 win against the Russian in December 2021. In the following World Cup fight, Nepomnyashchi surprised Ding Liren with a rare Spanish variant , which his current second recommended in a video course.
Because Carlsen no longer wants to compete in title fights and has downsized his team, Gustafsson hired the German Chess Federation as an honorary coach for the national team, which apparently doesn’t take his time. Nobody in German chess earns as well as Gustafsson, who once dropped out of his law studies.
Stefan Löffler Published/Updated: Recommendations: 6 Stefan Löffler Published/Updated: Jürgen Kaube Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4
He also shows no scruples about getting paid from Russia, although it is fair to note that Nepomnyashchi spoke out against the Ukrainian war and refused to take part in tournaments exploited for propaganda purposes, unlike Alexandra Goryachkina and Yekaterina Lagno.
Gustafsson played professional poker on the side for several years. The capital with which he founded Chess24 in 2014 with the help of Bolivian entrepreneur Enrique Guzman also comes from online poker. His vision came to fruition. The company, which operates from Hamburg but is officially based in Gibraltar, produced the best instructional videos and live broadcasts of tournaments.
Many employees lost their jobs
As a gaming platform, however, it couldn’t keep up with Chess.com and Lichess. Chess24 never became profitable and merged with the Play Magnus Group in 2019. Gustafsson came across a block of shares that was worth millions when bought by Chess.com in 2022. At the beginning of the year Chess24 was taken offline.
Dozens of employees lost their jobs, but Gustafsson was well paid as chief commentator and also managing director. Before he left for Toronto, he stayed as a game explainer at the Grenke Classic in Karlsruhe and was a witness when his former protégé Vincent Keymer was destroyed by his former employer and later tournament winner Magnus Carlsen.
