GM Ruslan Ponomariov answers your questions: Part I
Answering reader questions almost a decade after becoming FIDE World Champion as an 18-year-old, Ruslan Ponomariov provides both a revealing insight into the life of an elite player, and a damning indictment of the chess politics that saw his match against Garry Kasparov collapse.
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?
Rauf Mamedov on the Chinese School
Rauf Mamedov lost to a Chinese player in the first round of the World Cup, but was far from singing the praises of Chinese chess.
Highlights from extratime.az’s World Cup coverage
Eljanov on Ukrainian players wanting to abandon their federation and Shirov’s unusual training methods, Gashimov on “incorrect” Chinese chess, and more: the Azerbaijan site was on hand to report a lot of interesting material from the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk.
Karjakin on his rivalry with Carlsen
At a press conference at the World Cup Karjakin pointed out that while Kasparov was training Carlsen he was being trained by Kasparov’s old trainer.
