Russian Yan Nepomniachtchi, who twice participated in the matches for the title of world champion in classical chess, spoke about expectations from the first ever World Team Rapid Championship, assessed the chances of winning, shared his impressions about the burnout after the title match and performance at the World Cup.
The tournament will be held August 26-28 in Dusseldorf. 44 teams will compete for the awards. The prize fund of the competition is 250 thousand euros, the winner will receive 100 thousand. Nepomniachtchi will play for the WR Chess team, which will also include, in particular, Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Wesley So (USA), Hou Yifan (China), Alexandra Kosteniuk (Switzerland), Vadim Rosenstein (Germany).
— Yan, how is the mood after the World Cup in Baku (the grandmaster finished the fight at the 1/8 final stage — ed.)?
- In the chess world, new organizers of major tournaments rarely appear. How are your relations with WR Logistics and its leader Vadim Rozenshtein?
— We met somewhere in August-September of last year. And at certain stages he took part in my preparation for the match with Ding Liren. I must say that Vadim is not a typical sponsor, because we are practically the same age. He himself loves chess very much and plays a lot on the Internet. And we have developed friendly relations, which is quite rare with sponsors and patrons.
— How do you assess the unusual way of forming teams? How surprising or perhaps logical is it, since it evens the odds?
— Indeed, it turned out to be a kind of mixed chess. But not so long ago, a similar mixed team tournament was held in Dubai, both men, women and juniors played in it. Maybe it's a trend of the times. In this regard, in my opinion, this is a step forward.In team tournaments, very often there is one game in which your partner stands suspiciously, and this changes the strategy of all other team members. There will be a women's board, and sometimes male colleagues make fun of women's chess — it's painfully unpredictable. But amateurs will also play for the teams, which will add additional action to the tournament. The main thing is that it was not only fun, but also the result was good. But it will be fun for sure.
— Did you coordinate the composition of the team with you, were you interested in preferences?
— I told the organizers that, in general, I had quite good relations with many grandmasters. Guessing who will play well on a particular day in rapid chess is guessing on coffee grounds. Perhaps everyone will play brilliantly, or perhaps vice versa. higher is good too. But to say in advance who will play successfully is a rather controversial assumption. Those who finished playing at the World Cup earlier will have more time to rest. But after all, those who play there longer are on the move.
— Did you name the players you didn't want to see in the team?
— No, I didn't set such conditions.
— Won't there be pressure in the games against the «Chess Pensioners» team, when losing seems to be insulting and embarrassing?
— Losing is always unpleasant, and it doesn't matter to whom — «pensioners» or, conversely, juniors.
strong >- Do you have any principal opponents, such as Richard Rapport, who helped Ding Liren in the recent match?
— I did not play with him, but with Ding Liren. It looks like there will be no Chinese team at the tournament in Düsseldorf. For me, the stronger the opponent, the more interesting. And there will be a lot of them in Germany. To be honest, I don't even know what board I'll be playing on yet.
— A lot of time has passed since the championship match in Astana. Were you able to move away from those troubles and experiences?
— Physically and morally — to a greater extent. And in terms of chess, it is difficult to evaluate. At the World Cup in Baku, I cannot say that I fully enjoyed the game. This is a prestigious and very important tournament, but the same Carlsen, after one of his victories, said: «I don't understand at all what I'm doing here.» I can’t say that I had the same thoughts, but in general, his words found a certain response. He seemed to have won the game, so it was strange that he was complaining. But the map loves a tear, as you know.
After the match, I played in a tournament in Bucharest, and then I had a month break, during which I recovered and tried to establish some kind of routine. But when I agreed to participate in the World Cup, I thought that two months later I would play with taste, with pleasure, with interest. I can’t say that in Baku I played with strength, that I experienced some kind of fatigue, but I didn’t feel lightness in the game. In terms of creativity, there is nothing to brag about, although I have not lost a single game in the classics.
— It is clear what happened after the match in Astana. And I fully experienced a similar feeling in Bucharest, when there was no strength and it was not possible to play with full dedication. And when your opponents feel such a state of yours, they understand that they need to play longer. And in Romania I had several such parties.
There was no such thing as not wanting to look at chess at all. But choosing between them and other activities, I understood that I had to refrain and unload my head and nervous system a little. I didn't play very well in June, a little better in July, and at the World Cup I didn't seem to be completely terrible, but again it is clear that it takes time to fully recover.
— Was there some devastation that often comes after major wins or losses?
— It's hard to say, I did not document what was happening, there were different stages of acceptance of what happened. It is clear that this is a big, serious negative experience, but there is no getting away from it. But the main start will be in April 2024 (candidates tournament — ed.), there is still time to rest, and get in shape, and prepare.
— How do you communicate with chess players from other countries, given the political tension in the world after the start of the CBO?
— Honestly, I would not say that something has changed a lot. It is clear that relations with chess players from Ukraine have generally become worse. But with those with whom I communicated before, I also continue to communicate. And with those who did not have relationships, with those reasons to start them did not increase.
But if you take the World Cup, this is a very big start, and I really missed this atmosphere. After all, there were many people in Baku whom I had not seen for a long time. And it was nice to meet many old acquaintances.
— Lately, the topic of handshakes has become very topical. It seems to be a symbolism that is easy to avoid, but scandals and disqualifications occur on this basis. In tennis, they solved the problem calmly, in fencing it has not yet worked out. What is your attitude to this?
— They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Here it is exactly the same, everything depends not only on the desire of the athletes, but also on the presentation of information. Say, when there was a pandemic, handshakes were not welcome and we greeted with fists or elbows. It was less of a problem then than it is now. Now the connotation is different, but I would not draw far-reaching conclusions from a single case, introduce any new rules. Because there are rules, and there are reasonable exceptions to them. And sometimes you have to go towards the athletes and enter into their position.
— Are there people in the world of chess who are not shaking hands for you?
— Just like everyone, there are people whom, let's say, I will not invite to dinner. But in games I don't have such a problem, because shaking hands is part of the ritual and the rules.
— Ukrainian Olympic fencing champion Olga Kharlan refused to shake hands with Russian Anna Smirnova. Could the conflict have been avoided?
— I don't think there was any malicious intent in it. We must enter into the situation of each person. From her point of view, as from the point of view of her countrymen, Harlan did the right thing. And the Russians, I think, have a different opinion. I did not go into details, but a suspension for several months is probably too much. I do not think that too serious sanctions should be applied.
In chess, for example, there is such a problem: Iranian chess players are forbidden not only to shake hands, but even to sit at the same board with the Israelis. Therefore, the Iranians over and over again do not come out to the parties and get defeated. At the World Cup, a situation could arise when in the second round one of the Iranians went to Boris Gelfand. And he would have advanced to the next round without a game.
— Not exactly on a sporting basis, although there are no complaints against Gelfand.
>- We live in a diverse world where the principle of sport is important, but not always the determining factor. It would be possible artificially to prevent such cases during the draw. I don't know why, but FIDE still ignores this problem and does not look for a solution that would suit both parties.
— Harlan was disqualified. Did the President of the IOC act after this Thomas Bach, assuring Olga that she would be invited to the Olympic Games anyway? br>
— In my opinion, this is a political decision to reduce media and reputational losses from a possible disqualification, which hastened to be announced. Disqualification is too much, but giving a place without selection is not an indisputable decision. Immediately after the incident, a real storm broke out in the media, and thus the IOC decided to calm him down. Now life is subject to information flows, by redirecting which, you can make a molehill out of a fly, or push really important issues into the background.
— How can our sport in this difficult time not quarrel with the whole world, insisting on its principles?
— I think that it depends not so much on us, but on the rest of the world. Our sports functionaries, I'm sure, are doing everything they can. At least, I hope for this, as well as for the fact that a certain compromise will be found. In any decision, common sense must be maintained. Each athlete, of course, decides for himself, but not only the Russian flag next to the surname determines belonging to the country. Alas, this is a forced measure. If the flag is neutral, this does not mean that this or that athlete no longer represents Russia, and our fans will support girls and boys less than before.
— We have a chance to perform at the Paris Olympics?
— I think that the situation can still change many times. As far as I understand, the organizers are ready to accept part of our athletes in a neutral status. But every day new statements are heard, for example, if the Russians speak, then we, representatives of this or that country, will not come to Paris. This is not a new story, there were political boycotts both in 1980 and in 1984.
I believe that eventually some reasonable solution will be found. I would like to hope so, but in the current situation no one can give guarantees.
— How much did you lose because the Russians did not play at the World Chess Olympiad last year?
— In terms of personal tournaments, it’s a sin for me to complain, I can’t say that I suffered a lot. At least no one tried to exclude me from the title match. But team competitions are always important and interesting for me, and these tournaments are now very lacking. Of course, I really wanted to play at the Olympics, especially since it was originally supposed to be held in Moscow.
— The head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, responding to the call of the deputy and leader of the Just Russia party, Sergei Mironov, to leave the Olympic movement, said that such people should not speak out whether we should be in the world Olympic movement or not. Mironov does not let up and insists that the leaders of Russian sports are pursuing personal interests. Do you think that individual MPs who want to stand out on the current agenda harm our sport?
— I think MPs want to stand out regardless of the agenda, it happens 365 days a year. And for them there is nothing more important than the number of mentions of their name for potential voters. I would sift such statements through a sieve. Fortunately, an extremely modest percentage of high-profile statements entail any consequences.
And such a statement is unlikely to lead to key changes in our relationship with the IOC. He has the right to say this, and Pozdnyakov has the right to answer him one way or another.
— What do you think about the decision of the Ukrainian authorities, who at first did not let Vassily Ivanchuk participate in the World Cup because of the participation of Russian chess players?< /strong>
— This is again a somewhat bloated story. After all, in addition to Ivanchuk, other Ukrainian chess players were supposed to play in Baku. But it often happens that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Maybe some official decided to do something resonant again or create some kind of newsbreak. The main thing is that in the end Vasily Mikhailovich got to Baku and performed with dignity, losing only to Carlsen.
— Anatoly Karpov said that he did not see a greater patriot of Ukraine than Ivanchuk. Is it felt in conversations with him?
— In Baku, I did not communicate with him, because each of us had something to do. I am not free to evaluate his degree of patriotism, but I think that Vasily Mikhailovich, like many athletes, loves his homeland.
— You said earlier that you do not want to play for the Russian team for relations with the Russian Chess Federation. What is the reason for this, with material motivation or lack of sponsors for you from the federation?
— No, not with this. At this stage of my career, I do not need material or technical support from the federation. The time when I would need financial support from the FSR has either not come yet or has already passed. In general, I would like the fruits of the federation's work to be visible in the rating lists and tournament tables, and not in numerous interviews with its employees.
— Now you are ready to play for the Russian national team or time hasn't arrived yet?
— Lately I haven't had any contacts with the Russian Chess Federation. As Sasha Grischuk rightly said, there are no team tournaments now either.
— What tasks does your team set for the tournament in Düsseldorf?
— We have a very good international team. There are more experienced chess players, there are very strong and talented young people. When you go to any start, the task is always the same — only the first place. I hope that with such a strong line-up we will have chances to win.