The ranking favorite of the Men’s Cup of Russia stage, one of the leaders of the tournament answered the questions of the correspondent of the official Moscow Open website Eteri Kublashvili.
- Anton, tell us please about your victory over your fellow countryman Oleg Ivanov.
- It was quite an ordinary game today. I was putting some pressure all the time but my opponent was uncertain, and it just grew up. I centralized the king in the end-game, created problems and won.
- Can you designate any creative successes in the course of the five rounds?
- I work very hard, like a miner, all of my games are very long and they finish only after the check, that’s why I can’t designate anything. But I’ve got will to win, and this is the main achievement.
- You’ve played several times in the Moscow Open. Why do you choose this tournament and not the one in Gibraltar, for example?
- Gibraltar has its own conditions. It’s not so easy to go to this tournament. For many years I’ve been thinking of going there, but there are so many difficulties with the British visa processing, and I simply don’t want to worry about that.
I came back here as last year I won the second place, and as Vladimir Burmakin said: “As long as you are showing good results in one of the tournaments, you should continue to participate there. But when there is a misfire, then it’s better for look for alternative variants.”
This is my fifth Moscow Open.
- Where do you plan to play after?
- I’d love to play in the Aeroflot Open but I have to cover a fee there (laughing). I’ve got such a wish. But the calendar is really tough. I hope, I’d have enough energy.
- Do you follow the games in other competitions during the tournament?
- Yes, of course but usually I find out the information when I talk to my friends and they tell me what’s going on. Sometimes I can watch something by myself.
- The festival in Wijk aan Zee has completed recently, and Magnus Carlsen wins this tournament for the fifth time already. In your opinion, what’s the secret of his almost constant victories?
- He’s just a very strong player, and that’s it. As a matter of fact we are looking for some secrets of success, but in reality he spoils something very seldom, that’s why everything is logical. I was following the Wijk aan Zee tournament and I can state, Carlsen deserved the victory, there can be no doubt about it.
- Then I have a question on his recent opponent in the game for the World Champion title Viswanathan Anand, who always plays badly in Gibraltar. What’s the reason of his misfortune?
- Now there is an interesting tendency: great people leaving in the heaven start to play in the open tournaments.
Boris Gelfand is among the participants of the Aeroflot Open, Anand plays in Gibraltar, and a lot of strong chess players participated in the tournament in Qatar. It’s interesting to follow the dynamics of their performance.
I saw the end-game, which Anand lost to the young Hungarian Benjamin Gledura, and it’s clear, something goes wrong with him. Maybe, he’s just too lazy to strain himself.
- As Anand is playing in the Candidates tournament, I’m interested in your forecast.
- I don’t know. Maybe, Anand again. When there is some strong irritant, the tournament is always treated in a different way. Though, taking into account the level of the game, he usually shows in Gibraltar, I hardly believe it.
As a matter of fact, Sergey Karyakin can do it too, as he usually plays successfully in the tournaments that require much effort. The World Cup is symbol of will to win. If to speak about the will, I think it’s ranked first among other Candidates tournaments. That’s my forecast.