God created man, but the Queen’s Gambit made them equal
That was Alexander Grischuk’s view after the third game of the Candidates Final ended in a 14-move draw. In a press conference that mirrored the game – it was short but packed with memorable incident – Gelfand also explained how his first encounter with grandmasters ended in failure.
Gata Kamsky: I can’t play like Grischuk and Kramnik
As the press conference after the semifinals was only attended by the winners we didn’t get to hear from Gata Kamsky, but he later talked to a local newspaper. As well as discussing the games he described his approach to chess, the previous match he played against Topalov, and when he intends to retire.
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!
Kramnik and Radjabov’s post-match press conference
After a relatively dull war of attrition, the Kramnik – Radjabov match exploded into life in the tie-breaks, and particularly the incident-packed blitz games. The post-match press conference was unmissable, but was conducted in Russian. Here then, is an English translation of what they had to say.
Chess in Krakow
The 7th World School Individual Chess Championship was opened on Saturday by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Although the tournament has no household names (unless your household contains one of the 400 children!) it certainly makes for a photogenic event. As a Krakow resident, I couldn’t miss it.
Vassily Ivanchuk (2): “Flawed games are the most beautiful”
Here, as promised, is the concluding part of the recent long interview with Ivanchuk. As well as talking about women players, his favourite games, and when he might quit the game, his wife Oksana also joins the conversation. Few would disagree with her view that “Vassily’s easy to love.”
Vassily Ivanchuk: “I’m a very ambitious person”
Few would identify emotional outbursts as the quality to borrow from Garry Kasparov, but then Vassily Ivanchuk has always stood out from the crowd. In a long and fascinating interview he again displays the self-awareness and deliberate strategy that often lie behind his apparent eccentricities.
Judit Polgar: “I love chess”
While Vladimir Potkin’s transformation from coach into major tournament winner was impressive, perhaps the most popular story of the recent European Championship was Judit Polgar’s spectacular return to form. After the event she gave an interview to Evgeny Surov of Chess-News.
