Aronian: I’ve never considered myself a strong blitz player
Maria Fominykh’s final report on the Tal Memorial at ChessPro included interviews with two of the winners, Sergey Karjakin and Levon Aronian. Both players talked about the main event, but also the upcoming blitz.
Kramnik and the robot
On the eve of the World Blitz Championship an event was held in Moscow for the opening of the Russian Women’s Championship – where the women were joined by Magnus Carlsen and many of the Tal Memorial players, and Vladimir Kramnik played against a robot.
Mikhail Tal and contemporary chess
Moscow’s Tal Memorial honours Mikhail Tal, the “Magician from Riga”, who blazed a path to win the World Championship half a century ago this year. Recalling those days, and how chess has changed since, has been a theme of Ilya Odessky’s tournament reports.
Kramnik on Nakamura, blitz and Carlsen
Vladimir Kramnik, talking to Maria Fominykh for ChessPro, discussed his “unbelievably complex” game against Hikaru Nakamura, blitz and bullet chess, and once more expressed his opinion on Carlsen’s withdrawal from the Candidates Matches.
Ilya Odessky returns in style
For sad personal reasons we’ve been deprived of the work of the Russian chess journalist Ilya Odessky of late, but his reports from the Tal Memorial have been a brilliant reminder of what we were missing.
Carlsen and the Candidates – a retrospective
Although Magnus Carlsen’s decision to pull out of next year’s Candidates Matches came as a great shock, perhaps we should have seen it coming. It’s worth revisiting this summer’s press, where Veselin Topalov was making the headlines, but Carlsen’s name kept cropping up.
Kramnik: I don’t have Kasparov’s approach – first place or nothing
Vladimir Kramnik, who had a very bad day at the office in the Tal Memorial first round, was in better form in the interview he gave to Evgeny Surov before it began. His comments on ratings and the World Championship take on extra significance after Carlsen’s shock withdrawal.
Aronian interview at new Russian chess site
Levon Aronian crossed 2800 on the November FIDE rating list, and on the eve of the Tal Memorial he told Evgeny Surov of the new Chess-News website how that made him feel and what he expects from the tournament.
Your questions for GM Peter Svidler
Ever had anything you wanted to ask a super-grandmaster? Well, now’s your chance, as Peter Svidler, one of the most likeable and colourful members of the chess elite, is ready to answer reader questions as part of the Crestbook KC-Conference project.
Shirov interviewed at Crestbook
A full English translation of Alexei Shirov’s answers to reader questions at Crestbook has just been published. The Latvian firebrand is asked about chess tactics and openings but also, for instance, about “the most important thing in a woman”.
