Russia-USA in the Russian press
Russia’s 3:1 victory over the USA in round 4 saw some of the best Olympiad coverage yet. Bareev’s traditional commentary (read on for what Malakhov could learn from a cleaning lady!) was joined by Karjakin’s overview of the round, two photo reports and live and post-game insight on Kramnik-Nakamura.
“If it comes to an endgame the trainers need Validol”
That comment on the endgame prowess of female chess players was one of the highlights of Evgeny Bareev’s assessment of the Russian performance in round 2 of the Olympiad. He also describes the non-chess factors behind Kramnik’s win, and how Svidler was permitted to offer a draw before things went from bad to worse.
Kramnik: “99% of the chess world was rooting for Anand”
With chess about to start in Khanty-Mansiysk, Vladimir Kramnik gave an interview to Yury Vasiliev of Sport Express. As well as expressing his hopes for the Russian team in the Olympiad he talks about how he helped Anand in Sofia, the glass cube in Bilbao, and gives a damning assessment of Topalov and Danailov’s recent comments about the Candidate Matches.
Ponomariov: “Since becoming World Champion I haven’t worn that lucky sweater once” *FAKE*
Fresh from his victory in Dortmund, ex-FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov gave an interview to GM Dmitry Komarov of the Ukrainian Fakty, where he talks about chess and music, the upcoming Olympiad, some of the secrets of his recent success, and a valuable preparation tip from Veselin Topalov.
Khalifman: “Anand’s a genius. He emanates light”
While on his way to winning the Minsk Open, former World Champion Alexander Khalifman gave a long and thoughtful interview to Elena Klimetz for the openchess.by website. Topics include why his career tapered off after winning the world title, parental pressure on young chess players, and the match in Sofia.
The great Anand’s little ideas – part I
Grandmaster Radosław Wojtaszek, one of Viswanathan Anand’s seconds in Sofia, annotated the games from the recent World Championship Match for the Polish “Mat” chess magazine.
“The Russian player we played a match against in 2006 in Elista doesn’t exist for us!”
Yury Vasiliev of Sport Express broke the news yesterday that Veselin Topalov would, after all, be willing to play Candidates Matches in Russia. Today, in the full version of the interview, Silvio Danailov goes into much greater detail on his feelings towards Kramnik, his disapproval of FIDE’s conduct during the match in Sofia, and the upcoming matches and Olympiad.
Wojtaszek on being Anand’s second
Radosław Wojtaszek, one of Anand’s seconds in Sofia, gave an interview to the Polish chess magazine “Mat”. Topics included the help provided by Kramnik & co., the enigma of Topalov’s “weak” play but stellar rating, and the effect of the volcano on Anand’s plans.
Kramnik on competing with Carlsen
In something of a media blitz around his 35th birthday, Vladimir Kramnik gave another interview, this time to Evgeny Gik of the Moscow-based “Moskovsky Komsomolets”. He talks about Magnus Carlsen’s threat to his chances of reclaiming the title, chess politics and how age has affected his chess.
Kramnik: “Kasparov took that sporting defeat as a declaration of war”
For his 35th birthday (see Alexandra Kosteniuk’s birthday wishes), Vladimir Kramnik was interviewed by the popular Russian weekly newspaper, Argumenty i Fakty. He talks about whether friendship is possible in chess, and his troubled relationship with Gary Kasparov.
