Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk in an interview called the title duel of Jan Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren in Astana chic, appreciated the intensity of the struggle and drew parallels between chess, tennis and football.
— Alexander, does the championship match justify your expectations?
— I have I had no expectations, I rarely have them at all. But the match is chic and interesting. It seems to me that chess lovers could not even dream of more. world champion Magnus Carlsen does not play.- How can you say that? If Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play in one Grand Slam final, and in another, say, Stan Wawrinka with someone else, it is clear that in the second case there will be less interest in the confrontation. But that doesn't mean the ending isn't real. There are different situations.
Own Goals
— Is there anything in the match that surprised or hooked you?
“I was most shocked by the state of Ding Liren at the very beginning. The level of the game is high, just the mistakes of the participants look very strange. In terms of football analogies, the two teams are doing great. There is dribbling, passes, shots, but at the same time, several times during the match, someone will cut the ball into their own net with a harmless cross or suddenly play with a hand in the penalty area. Carlsen can afford to criticize the level of the game, someone else, but not me.
— They say that the level of attack of the participants is much stronger than the defense. Do you agree with this?
— Not exactly. As in the example above: if one of your defenders cuts the ball into the goal, then you can’t say that your defense is bad? It's just that something incomprehensible to the mind is happening.- Ding Liren made it to the Candidates Tournament by playing a huge number of games in a month. Then he was lucky: he took second place, which, after Carlsen's refusal, suddenly gave him a chance to play in Astana. If you're lucky to become world champion again, will it be natural? But if he wins the match, it will remind the 2002 Olympic champion in short track speed skating (Stephen Bradbury — ed.). In addition, all four opponents in the final race fell. And this happened not only in the final, but also in the semi-final.
Some kind of rationale for what happened can be found only when everything is over. If Ian becomes a world champion, it will be the natural result of his titanic work in the last few years. >- I know that you follow the playoffs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Do you have a premonition of who will become the champion?
— No, but the playoffs are very interesting. By the way, the playoff matches of the Continental Hockey League are also exciting.
— Are you a fan of CSKA?
— Yes. I also have a six-year-old son who started to strongly root for the team, so together we watch almost all the matches of the final series between CSKA and Kazan's Ak Bars. As for the NBA, the Golden State-Sacramento tie is already a fantastic series. It's a pity that the «Clippers» all the leaders were injured, a series (with the «Phoenix»), too, could be worthy of the finals.
Let's see how things will develop. For me, the main thing is that the Los Angeles Lakers do not become a champion.
— Why? br>
I really don't like LeBron James, I don't like him. Let others pray for him. In terms of the level of the game, I might even say that he is the number one basketball player in the history of the NBA. But in general, I would still put the same Bill Russell higher.
— Who do you root for?
— Can not say. I sympathize with many, mostly teams in the West — this is Denver, and Phoenix, and Clippers, and Dallas, until I completely blown away. And I like Memphis, by the way. And I am somehow indifferent to clubs from the East.
Final forecast
— Alexander, returning to chess, what do you expect from The 14th game of the match?
— It seems to me that such a match deserves the definition of a world champion in a tie-break. Although the last game, of course, can end in any way.
— Will the variant of the 2016 match between Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin be repeated, when everyone was expecting a battle in the last game, and Magnus calmly forced a draw with White?
— Then there was a different situation, because Magnus considered himself as the clear favourite. It's not even that the time control changes in rapid, but that, by making a draw in the last game with an equal score, you get four more out of one duel. And the more games to be played, the more profitable it is for the one who is stronger. In the same confrontation, it is not entirely clear who is stronger. This option seems extremely unlikely to me.
Anything can happen in the final game, but only two cases will surprise me greatly. If Ian suddenly loses time in a good position and if some kind of masterpiece is played, but this is also hard to expect.
It's impossible to predict anything. From a relatively calm draw to such a game as the 12th, where there were blunders. Perhaps someone will simply confidently win if the opponent acts very unsuccessfully. In Jan's favor, one more scenario. I can't imagine him running out of time in a good position.