Mark Taimanov at 85
For someone perhaps best known for spectacular failure – losing 6:0 to Bobby Fischer – Mark Taimanov has had the most successful of lives. A top Soviet grandmaster and a successful concert pianist, he’s now the happy octogenarian father of 6-year-old twins. He talks about his life and contemporary chess.
Remembering Smyslov
The death of the 7th World Champion, Vasily Smyslov (1921-2010), was one of the greatest chess losses of the last year. He featured in two year-end interviews: one with FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who claimed Smyslov also encountered aliens, and the other with GM Sergey Shipov, who recalled the Smyslov he knew.
Analysing by the riverside with Bobby Fischer
In a remarkable interview given to Yury Vasiliev of Sport Express, the 87-year-old GM Svetozar Gligorić talks about some of his career highs and lows, his friendship with Fischer and the unlikely new career he took up, aged 81.
Karpov on the Pozner show
Anatoly Karpov gave an almost hour-long interview on Russian prime-time television, discussing his candicacy for the position of FIDE President, and much else besides.
Karpov on the World Champions
Anatoly Karpov gave a long interview to the Russian RIA News. The most fascinating section is his assessment of his own place in the pantheon of Chess World Champions, including his controversial opinion that Anand and Topalov would have been unable to achieve the same success without computers.
Ivanchuk on chess genius
Ivanchuk’s surreal reply to an odd question on chess genius was one of the highlights of the Nalchik Grand Prix.
