Gelfand and Grischuk’s press conference
After yesterday’s dramatic tie-breaks the two winners talked to the press. Although they both made short statements in English, the most interesting comments were in Russian. Grischuk, in particular, tried to explain his time trouble and match strategy, and defended the format of the event.
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.
Grischuk and Aronian’s views on their match
Although the tournament favourite was knocked out, Aronian and Grischuk’s tie-break was somewhat overshadowed by events in the other match. In fact, it turned out afterwards that the players had been disturbed by the “bam-bam-bam” of Kramnik and Radjabov playing blitz!
Birth of a Supernova: Vasiliev reports from Wijk aan Zee
Hikaru Nakamura’s tournament victory was described as “the birth of a supernova” by Yury Vasiliev in two final reports from the Tata Steel 2011 Tournament. The Russian journalist was on the ground in Wijk aan Zee to provide photo reports and comments from players and observers throughout the event.
Radjabov decides not to tilt at FIDE windmills
One of the last obstacles to the Candidates Matches going ahead in May this year in Kazan appears to have gone, with Teimour Radjabov deciding not to dispute the decision to replace Magnus Carlsen with Alexander Grischuk. He made the announcement in an interview with Teimour Tushiev for Extratime.az.
Radjabov to challenge Grischuk’s place?
After his impressive second-place finish in the Blitz World Championship, Teimour Radjabov talked about the event, but also the issue of Grischuk replacing Carlsen as his opponent in the first round of Candidates Matches.
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.
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.
Grischuk interviewed at Crestbook
Alexander Grischuk, one of the most interesting characters at the top of world chess, responded to reader questions at Crestbook. Topics included his preference for blitz and rapid chess, his other career as a poker player… and almost everything else under the sun.
Kramnik: For now Magnus is my “client”
Fresh from his smooth win in Bilbao, Vladimir Kramnik gave an interview where he talked about the situation at the top in world chess, Magnus Carlsen’s recent loss of form, and his own hopes of regaining the top spot on the rating list.
