“It’s genuine class” – Bareev on Grischuk’s Houdini act
Evgeny Bareev once more dismissed all concern for political correctness in his account of the Russian men’s teams’ wins against Italy and Peru. He focussed on how Alexander Grischuk snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, but also found time to make a perhaps overly sweeping generalisation about the Peruvian nation.
“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.
“Svidler is Svidler” – Bareev on the Russian team’s start
Russian first team captain Evgeny Bareev, not a man to mince his words, gave a refreshingly blunt assessment of the first day’s play at the Olympiad. The Russian press also included some excellent photo reports, with Vladimir Barsky’s description of his “chess flight” particularly memorable.
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.
“Kirsan released into space”
That was one of the many headlines that greeted Ilyumzhinov’s announcement last week that he was stepping down as Head of Kalmykia. Many of the reports in the Russian press might be characterised as political obituaries, but without the inconvenient obligation to speak well of the dead.
Gashimov left out of Azerbaijan team for Olympiad
In an ugly turn of events, Azerbaijan, previously real contenders for a gold medal at the Olympiad, have chosen to leave out Vugar Gashimov, one of their star players. This follows a bitter conflict with the team management and a nationalistic campaign against the 2719-rated player.
Karpov hits back
Today, in his Echo of Moscow blog, Anatoly Karpov responded fiercely both to FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s explanation for stepping down as Head of Kalmykia, and his statement attacking the “political” actions of the Karpov campaign, and especially Gary Kasparov.
Voices from Kalmykia
For all the attention devoted to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as FIDE President, his role as Head of the Republic of Kalmykia remains more of a mystery. Daria Aslamova’s recent two-part report offered a fascinating glimpse into everyday life in the small steppe republic.
Kamsky on the Candidates Matches
Gata Kamsky, in Azerbaijan for the Baku Open which starts on Sunday, gave an interview to T. Tushiev for extratime.az. The conversation inevitably centred around the uncertainty over the Candidates Matches, with Kamsky coming out against any last-minute changes to the line-up.
