Время публикации: 01.05.2014 16:41 | Последнее обновление: 03.05.2014 21:24

E.SUROV: This is Chess-News from Shamkir and the world champion and the winner of the competition Magnus Carlsen is now with us. Here’s also Tamara who will be translating for us. My first question is connected to the recent information announced today, perhaps you’ve already heard of it – FIDE got no bid for the world title match. Why do you think no one wants to hold the match?

M.CARLSEN: At the moment I have to speak with my manager first. I cannot say anything right now.

E.SUROV: So, you can’t even state your personal opinion on the matter?

M.CARLSEN: Well, I mean usually I try to speak as freely as possible but this time I’ve been specifically told not to say anything, so I am sorry about that. But I am sure that either me or someone from my team will make a statement about that really soon.

E.SUROV: So maybe then the question on which you could answer freely: if for instance Azerbaijan, specifically Shamkir or any other city here, will bid will you be happy to come back here or would you have any objections?

M.CARLSEN: Well, I will be delighted to come here again.

E.SUROV: You already stated several times that you liked here and that the competition was well-organized. What is the most memorable thing from your stay in Shamkir?

M.CARLSEN: Well I liked that there was a TV and HDMI cable that you can plug to the computer.

E.SUROV: What did you watch? What kind of movies?

M.CARLSEN: Well… Actually I haven’t even turn on my computer while I am here, so it’s been Peter Heine’s computer. There have been different football matches, we’ve been following basketball NBA playoffs everyday and also some different movies, TV series and so on. It turned out that Peter Heine had not seen the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail so I had to show it to him as well.

E.SUROV: It seems that you don’t spend a lot of time on preparation for the chess games, could you share the secret and tell us approximately how much time do you spend on preparation for the games during the tournament?

M.CARLSEN: It was different from game to game. At the start I thought everything was going well; for the first two games I got excellent positions, actually I got excellent positions from the opening in first three games. And this was basically based on work that we did before the tournament in the training camp. And then, yeah… As I said at the press conference today, I thought I had a brilliant idea in the Grunfeld defence before I went to sleep and then it turned out it was not so; today it was a bit embarrassing in a sense that I hadn’t a clue what to do in the opening but it somehow worked out well. It’s clear that there’s room for improvement – in some of the games it is working well, in others not and I am getting some bad positions.

E.SUROV: Two losses in a row in such competition must be a new experience for you. How did you feel? What did you coach tell you? How did he and your father cheer you up?

M.CARLSEN: I mean at the middle of the tournament I was a little bit tired and a little bit indifferent, so to be honest after I lost two games in a row, I was of course not happy but at that point I was already prepared to let the tournament go to hell and just not to care about it. And then I think the football was important because I got everything out, I probably wasn’t behaving so well during the football…

E.SUROV: Did you talk to Faiq Hasanov after that and what did he say?

M.CARLSEN: No, he is a nice man, so he was not so upset, but obviously after it happened I thought – what am I doing? But I think for me and my team it was important in a sense that somehow we took it seriously and it was something we wanted to do well because everybody needed a positive experience, we needed to win and have some fun. So, after we won everybody was very happy and it got me in a good mood for the next games.

E.SUROV: Do you know that there exists an Association of Chess Professionals?

M.CARLSEN : Yes, I know that there is one. I know that Peter Heine was member of the board at some point, but to me… well, I don’t know. I guess I am not yet a member, so…

E.SUROV: Do you think there’s a need in having any kind of unions of professional chess players?

M.CARLSEN: I think that in chess we need some more stable tournament circuit like they have in tennis or in golf. For instance, there are tennis players’ association and golf players’ association and they organize tournaments, so I think it is a good thing for that, but chess players are difficult people and it is not easy to get everyone to agree or something… for me, I am a chess player not a chess politician, so…

E.SUROV: So what would you be your answer – more yes or no?

M.CARLSEN: As an idea yes.

E.SUROV: But in reality?

M.CARLSEN: In reality it is difficult but also yes.

E.SUROV: Before you became the world champion you had some concerns about the world championship system, the rules, etc. Now when you are already the champion are there the things that you would like to change in the chess world?

M.CARLSEN: Well, it is a difficult question and it is not so easy to change and it sounds, and is, self-serving, but I would say it should be easier to accept me as a world champion in a sense that I am waiting for the next challenger and so on; since I am also winning the tournaments and holding the highest rating. I think it is still not the ideal system but then it is at least easier to accept the system.

E.SUROV: Thank you Magnus.