Sergey Shipov on Ukraine’s other chess genius
Andriy Slyusarchuk’s blindfold victory over Rybka last week earned him his 15 minutes of chess fame, which is not at all bad for someone who took up the game 8 months ago! GM Sergey Shipov has written surely the most eloquent assessment of the ‘trick’, and of the current state of man-versus-machine contests.
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 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?
Bits and Pieces #1
Boris Spassky on his recovery, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov on Carlsen, Veselin Topalov on his fear of Santa Claus, and Darek Świercz makes Wijk-aan-Zee, with a little help from his trainer. Chess stories from Russia (and “Eastern Europe”) in brief.
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.
