Karjakin reflects on moving up in the world
Sergey Karjakin recently finished joint top with Magnus Carlsen at the Kings Tournament in Bazna, and moved up to fourth on the July 2011 FIDE rating list. In an interview with Yury Vasiliev he talked about his ambitions, his rivalry with Carlsen, the Candidates Matches and the future of classical chess.
Ilya Levitov: “For me, classical chess is opera”
And he isn’t an opera buff. If you’re wondering why that matters, it’s because Levitov is one of the most influential men in chess: President of the Russian Chess Federation Board, a FIDE Vice President and part of the new Foundation for Modernisation. He gave his verdict on the current state of chess.
It’s the end of classical chess as we know it (and I feel fine)
Alexander Grischuk was the focus of controversy over the recent Candidates Matches. His route to the final, winning no classical games and sometimes agreeing to short draws with White, seemed to highlight the format’s problems. Grischuk himself, however, welcomed the difficult times for classical chess.
Grischuk: I was worried I’d forgotten how to play chess
Just before the closing ceremony of the Candidates Matches in Kazan, Alexander Grischuk gave a fascinating interview to Yury Vasiliev of ChessPro, where he talked about tactics, his fear he’d forgotten how to play chess, Gelfand’s play in the final, and the “burial of classical chess” due to draws.
Kramnik: I thought of banning castling before the 10th move
The short draw between Grischuk and Kramnik has already sparked debate and criticism, but the most interesting contributions actually came from the players themselves in the post-match press conference which, as Mark Crowther notes, was almost longer than the game itself.
Vassily Ivanchuk: I can still become World Champion
Vassily Ivanchuk’s stunning win in Gibraltar reminded us all of his enormous chess talent, while his recent long interview with the Ukrainian Zaxid.net addressed the missing piece of the jigsaw – why is it that a genius like Ivanchuk has failed to mount a serious World Championship challenge?
“One of those things that distinguish us from the Neanderthals”
This is how Grandmaster Michal Krasenkow describes chess in his wide-ranging responses to reader questions at the Crestbook website. Other topics include phoney titles, the “theorisation” of chess and Krasenkow’s thoughts on emigrating from Russia to live in Poland.
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.
