Kramnik: Tseshkovsky “loved chess too much”
Vitaly Tseshkovsky, who died on the 24th December, coached the young Kramnik in the years when he broke into the World Top 10. Kramnik has now shared his recollections of Tseshkovsky, noting his talent was comparable to Timman’s, but he lacked the sporting and political skills required to top world chess in that era.
Magnus Carlsen: Not a child of the computer era
After the Tal Memorial in Moscow Magnus Carlsen gave a long interview that provided a remarkable insight into what makes the Norwegian stand out in world chess. He claims to have essentially developed as a player without computers, and to barely work on the game outside of tournaments.
Svidler: “I’m not prepared to become someone else”
Peter Svidler has had a stellar last couple of months, winning the Russian Championship, the World Cup and now the European Club Championship. He recently gave an interview where he talked about his World Cup victory, and also what he isn’t willing to do to become World Champion.
Grischuk on the World Cup
Shortly after the World Cup was over runner-up Alexander Grischuk gave an interview to Maria Fominykh. He talked about his route to the final, the “fair play” incident between Navara and Moiseenko, and how chess players approach chess – noting that usually it’s as if they’re going to a factory.
Svidler on his path to the World Cup
After an utterly deserved victory at the World Cup (picking up 20 rating points and moving into the Top 10 in the process), Peter Svidler gave an interview to Yury Vasiliev of Sport Express. He discussed a number of old scores he’d had to settle along the way.
World Cup Finals, Day 4: Svidler claims the Cup
After two final draws the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk is over. Peter Svidler ran out a more-than-convincing winner after not losing a single game at the event. Ivanchuk, meanwhile, banished the spectre of his 2002 loss to Ponomariov by winning their rematch and has qualified for a Candidates for the first time since 1991.
World Cup Finals, Day 3: The show goes on
The third games of the final matches at the World Cup could have been the last if Peter Svidler and Vassily Ivanchuk had won, but instead there were two hard-fought draws. That means we’re all set for one last battle in classical chess – Alexander Grischuk and Ruslan Ponomariov have to win to force tiebreaks.
World Cup Finals, Day 2: Ivanchuk strikes
The second day of the Khanty-Mansisyk final matches couldn’t live up to the first. It had great sporting significance, as Ivanchuk took the lead, but neither game will live long in the memory. Ponomariov stumbled into a bad opening line before blundering in a difficult ending. Svidler and Grischuk agreed a draw on move 16.
World Cup Finals, Day 1: Svidler lands the first blow
Any fears of dull chess in the final 4-game matches in Khanty-Mansiysk soon vanished as they got off to an exciting start. Peter Svidler won his fourth classical game in a row with the black pieces to take an early lead against Alexander Grischuk, while Ruslan Ponomariov’s bold opening play nearly backfired against Vassily Ivanchuk.
World Cup Semis, Day 3: Grischuk wins thriller
On a day of high emotion Alexander Grischuk beat Vassily Ivanchuk to qualify both for the World Cup final and the next Candidates Tournament. Grischuk will now play his friend Peter Svidler, while Ivanchuk takes on Ruslan Ponomariov in a repeat of their World Championship match from a decade ago.
