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Jose Mourinho says he is playing a chess game without pieces at Tottenham as he does not have the players I want.

Injury struggles are handing the Spurs boss a serious selection headache at present.

Giovani Lo Celso and Erik Lamela have joined the likes of Harry Kane, Moussa Sissoko and Ben Davies in the treatment room.

Mourinho was also denied the opportunity to call upon January signing Steven Bergwijn for an FA Cup fourth-round replay with Southampton on Wednesday as the Dutch winger was ineligible.

The Portuguese claims he is working with one hand tied behind his back at present, with the progress he was hoping to oversee in north London impossible to implement.

Mourinho told reporters after seeing Spurs edge out Southampton 3-2 on Wednesday: "I had to manage this chess game without pieces. You know. No bishops, no kings, no queens. Very, very hard with so many injuries and problems. No Bergwijn.

"I cannot speak about the progress I want to make because I don't have the players I want.

"And the team needs players to progress, collectively, tactically and dynamically. We need to have the players but we don't have the players.

"We lose so many. Sissoko, Harry, and today Lamela, Lo Celso and Bergwijn. It is so difficult.

"One game we have players A, B and C out and then the next game we are without D, E and F. It's been a very difficult season.

"So everything was like when you pull a blanket up and your feet are left out and then you cover your feet but half of your body is out. That's us. But amazing spirit, and that is something I like.

"The best team lost (referring to Southampton's 3-2 defeat to Spurs on Wednesday night). The best team on the pitch lost."

While frustrated at seeing his plans torn up on a regular basis, Mourinho has guided Tottenham back up to fifth spot in the Premier League table four points adrift of his former club Chelsea.

He also has them chasing down FA Cup glory, with a fifth-round date booked against Norwich, while a Champions League last-16 showdown with RB Leipzig is also fast approaching.

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Mourinho playing chess without pieces as he doesnt have the players he wants at Spurs - Yahoo Sports

Jan-Krzysztof Duda, the youngest player in the worlds top 20, speaks to David Cox about his experiences of Polish reality television, being superstitious, and why he cant stand it when other players dont observe the dress codes in chess.

A new generation is beginning to make their mark on the chess elite. With Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Vladislav Artemiev, Wei Yi, and Alireza Firouzja all in the worlds top 30, the coming decade could see the emergence of a host of new pretenders to world chess biggest crowns.

Duda has long been a serial winner. A former world junior champion, he won more than 100 different tournaments before he even turned 18 and scored 8.5/11 on board two in the 2014 Olympiad. Now 21, he achieved a career-high FIDE rating of 2758 in December after reaching the final of the Hamburg Grand Prix.

In a few days from now, the second edition of the Prague Chess Festival starts. Duda is the top seed in the Masters, a 10-player round-robin with an average rating of 2708.

Dudas success continues a proud tradition of Polish chess which goes all the way back to Boleslaw III, the 12th-century Polish king, who learned the game from Crusader knights returning from Jerusalem. More recently, Poland has produced some of the most well-known players of the 20th century. Most notable is Akiba Rubenstein, who was poised to challenge Emanuel Lasker for the world title in 1914 before the outbreak of World War I. Duda will hope to go one better.

The interview was conducted via phone. Text may have been edited for clarity or length.

Chess.com: To start with, tell us how important your mum has been to your career. We know she played a particularly instrumental role in helping you take up the game.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda: Unfortunately, my dad passed away when I was two, and so my mum was raising me at the same time as running her own business. She wanted to find where my talents lay, and so when I was five, I tried many activities from sports like swimming, table tennis, tennis, gymnastics, and chess as well as music. I fell in love with chess, perhaps because I was capable of staying focused for a long time even as a child. I was always like this. I could play with a toy for many hours. And then when I started traveling to competitions, my mums job allowed her to travel with me. Until I was 18, she came with me everywhere all over the world. I owe her a lot.

A rare appearance from Duda's mother on stream.

Weve seen this theme with many of the top players. Theyve often benefited from the support of a parental figure traveling everywhere with them. Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana had their fathers for instance, and Wesley So still travels with his stepmother Lotis. Given that chess can be such a tough game psychologically, can you tell us more about the benefits of this parental support?

In general, it meant I didnt have to think about other things, only chess. She was kind of my manager as well, so she organized coaches, flights, everything. I just played chess, and that was that. But she also knew what to do when I lost a game. Because I was young, I wasnt always capable of dealing with losing. I would react very badly afterward, like in a physical way, jumping on the bed and stuff. Some old friends of mine still tell me stories! But she always knew how to calm things, before I grew up and this kind of thing stopped!

Thats pretty funny. We heard that alongside your chess career youre also studying physical education. How important is staying in shape for a chess player?

Yeah, at present Im studying at the Academy of Physical Education in Krakow, and through this, I have an opportunity to work with top Polish trainers and sports specialists, for example, the physiologist of former Polish tennis star Agnieszka Radwanska. Without this, I would just be a weaker player because I wouldnt be capable of withstanding the tension. I think being in shape is a must for a very, very top player. Magnus is a good example of this because hes a very sporty guy, and he was capable of getting rid of the pressure in his World Championship matches against Anand, better than Vishy. Ok, he was a lot younger, but I think it was one of the reasons why he won so apparently easily.

Do you have any other ways of coping with the tension?

In general, Im kind of superstitious; many chess players are. I dont really believe in superstitions, but I like to have them just to be sure! So I used to have my lucky pen, and now I have my lucky shirt. But if you win too many games in a row, that can be a problem! For example, when I won the Polish Championship in 2018, I drew four games in a row pressing in most of them but not able to convert the win. Then after I won my first game, I won the next three, all wearing exactly the same clothing. The worst part was I was eating the same things as well. And Id had steak on the day of the first win, so from then on, it was two steaks a day. It was kind of expensive, but whatever! I love steak, anyway.

Wow, thats a lot of steak. Any other vices?

I tend to sleep for too long, or in other words, I manage my rest well! I think most chess players are night owls, and Im not sure why. As a child, Id go to sleep very early and wake up early, but now Im more efficient in the night. So during the Hamburg Grand Prix, I was waking up at 11.30 and getting to bed around 2-3 am. But this can be a problem. When the last round is in the morning, its not so easy to cope with. During the European Team Championship in November, the last round was at 10 am, and I was hoping the captain wouldnt select me! Unfortunately, he did, so I had to play Dmitry Andreikin with Black. I was sleepy, but somehow I managed to draw quite easily. In general, I think my last rounds are a bit below par.

Talking of shirts, you always tend to be very well dressed. Is this something you pay a lot of attention to?

Completely the opposite. Im actually surprised to hear this. Its the FIDE dress code to wear a suit. I used to dislike playing in a suit a lot, but Ive got used to it, although I really dont like situations where Im wearing one, and other players arent respecting this rule. It kind of makes me angry. Perhaps because of this, I lost to Wesley So in the Moscow Grand Prix when he wasnt wearing a proper shirt, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in Riga who was wearing jeans, and Jeffrey Xiong in the World Cup who was in a t-shirt! Im the kind of man who follows the rules, even if Im not happy with them. It is a sign of professionalism.

Lets talk about the Hamburg Grand Prix where you made the final, losing to Alexander Grischuk. Afterward he gave an interview where he compared the experience of playing you to playing an old Fritz, where the machine had no opening book, but yet still managed to slowly outplay him.

I like it. Grischuk always has a good mouth! But its actually kind of true because my openings were not very good in this tiebreak. Basically I was playing some random stuff. If my openings were better, then I would have had a much greater chance to win. But I think intuition is one of my strengths. When I was very young, I studied a lot of classical games. I grew up with Garry Kasparovs book 'My Great Predecessors,' a bible for chess players, and I think that might be the reason why my intuition is so strong. As a player, I wouldnt say Im a particularly good calculator.

I believe that was the biggest final youve been in so far. What was that experience like?

It was very stressful, but I didnt expect to get to the final. It was a bit unpleasant that it was against Grischuk because in the Grand Chess Tour before, I had crushed him 3-0 in rapid and blitz. And while I was aware that I wouldnt crush him in this match, it was kind of stressful knowing that I had such a good score against him. Psychology is a funny thing. Hes very strong, and I possibly could have done better, especially after winning the first game, but it wasnt a disaster. I could have been eliminated earlier in the tournament, for example when I lost with white to Daniil Dubov in the first game of the semi-final tiebreak. Its knockout so theres a lot of pot luck.

I know you were worried about doing this interview in English. What made you more nervous, this interview or playing Grischuk in a Grand Prix final?

Haha, my English is terrible! Its so, so different in comparison to Polish. Its sometimes difficult. Ive studied for so many years in school, but Im too lazy to try and improve it on a daily basis. When I flew to St. Louis, it wasnt great. But its all relative. When I speak to some Chinese players, I dont feel such misery about my English. Its funny though because sometimes I end up saying things in English that are quite different from what I actually mean. For example, I did an interview after my Chess.com Speed Chess Championship win over Anish Giri last year. I read the story a couple of days later, and there was a quote which had come out completely different to what I meant to say. It made me laugh.

English issues aside, do top chess players ever hang out at tournaments and perhaps speak about things other players have come out with at the press conferences?

Actually I dont talk much with these guys, only after the games, and then its mainly about the match we just finished. But sometimes I do like to watch interviews with other players because usually chess players are not very good at them! And generally I tend to overestimate the top players at everything in life, so when I see theyre not good at something, it makes me feel better.

Why do you think you tend to overestimate them?

I dont know. Ive always had this. You read about guys like Magnus who crossed 2880, won so many tournaments in a row, and you see him as this kind of god. It doesnt help because then you have to face him, and hes creating pressure with every move. Ive never won a match against him, but I think I just need to play him more. When I beat him, I will feel like, Ok Im at the very, very top. Basically playing Magnus is like playing Leo Messi when you compete for a team in the Polish football league. But I dream to be like a Polish Robert Lewandowski, so I must play on Messis level more, much more.

Whos the most intimidating to face out of all the top players?

There are always some players who play particularly well or badly against you. Ive always had a hard time playing against Wesley So. For some reason, he doesnt suit me very well, but at the same time, Ive also won several miniatures against him. I crushed him once in 17 moves, and in last years Grand Prix, I also beat him in 25 moves in one game. But if he survives the opening, hes an unpleasant player to face!

Duda's 25-move victory against So.

But in the past, I also used to be afraid of Chinese players. I would always play badly against them. I remember playing Wei Yi in the World U14 Championship. I got an entirely won game and could have forced victory in 2-3 moves, but I missed a combination. Then I was two pawns up in a queen endgame, but I still didnt convert it, and he went on to win the tournament and became a superstar in his country. I always felt guilty that because of me, this guy became a big star, as without this victory, he could have become lost in China. There are so many talents out there.

Anyway this has changed after the Chinese Federation invited me to play a tournament in China a couple of years ago, and after having good games against all the Chinese super-gransdmasters, I learned I am not different. This was a time when I realized I can do more. On the other hand, I like to play with Russian players. They represent a kind of chess culture, and every game is more than just a competition, it is an experience of all elements of chess the art, science, and sport in one.

For many years, Radosaw Wojtaszek has been the strongest Polish chess player. Has he helped you at all in your rise to the top?

When I was younger, the Polish Chess Federation developed a special program around Radek for the most promising juniors. I was a part of that program and had an opportunity to learn from him. We are two totally different players with totally different approaches. He was a second for Anand, and after that, he crossed 2700 and basically became an opening freak. He puts a lot of effort into checking, checking all the time, memorizing lines, while I dont at all. But I also have some skills he does not possess. For example, he cannot bluff. Especially in the opening. He would never play something he hasnt checked, even in blitz, and I think that if he develops more courage and takes more risks, he might reach the very top. To compete with the top ten, you need to be capable of playing almost anything and having a wide knowledge.

Finally, we heard that in 2017 you won a reality TV show in Poland called The Brain A Brilliant Mind. Tell us about that experience?

It was quite a stressful experience for me because Im not a showman or a TV guy, and I was aware that all my friends and even teachers would be watching this! But it was enjoyable because in the end I won. The producers asked my mum, and we werent initially aware of what Id got myself into. But then they sent me a 20-page contract. I found out it was being held in Warsaw, and I realized it was a serious thing, and it was too late for me to get out of it! But it was a good thing to do as it promoted chess a little bit. Its funny how stress affects the mind as part of the contest required me to solve ten mates in one within 60 seconds without knowing who is to move. And everything is going on live, so 60 seconds hero or zero! For one of them, I looked and looked, and I couldnt see the mate! I was panicking like, What the hell? Should I tell them that something is wrong with the exercise? But in my panic, Id seen one of the pieces as being the opposite color in my head! In the end, I realized and managed to solve it.

It was an interesting experience as this kind of reality show stress is different to chess. And competing with other talented people was very interesting. All my competitors were equivalent to top grandmasters in their own specialist area.

Originally posted here:
Jan-Krzysztof Duda: 'When I Beat Magnus, I Will Feel Like Im At The Very Top' - Chess.com

The Bangladesh Chess Federation is set to organise its first Grand Master Chess tournament in 11 years after the government has approved its budget for the birth centenary celebration of countrys founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Federation said it had planned two GM tournaments, one each in Dhaka and Chattogram and a youth tournament across the country as part of the celebration.

The first Bangabandhu GM tournament is scheduled from April 15 to 23 while the Federation said it will host the second tournament in June.

The ministry for youth and sports has already approved a budget of worth Tk 2.35 crore for three tournaments two GM tournaments in Dhaka and Chattogram and a youth championship across the country, said BCF general secretary Syed Shahabuddin Shamim.

We have already informed about the GM tournament to FIDE and are waiting for them to confirm the final schedule, which we hope will come by February 15, he said.

The Federation hoped that 15 to 20 GMs from India, Russia, Hungary, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Malaysia and Indonesia along with GMs and rated players of Bangladesh will take part in the Dhaka competition.

BCFs chief arbiter Haroon-Ur-Rashid informed that they were yet to start sending the invitation letters to the foreign GMs.

Five GMs and above 2,000 rating players from hosts Bangladesh will be given opportunities to take part in the tournament, so that the local International Masters and FIDE Masters can get their chances to gain norms.

The last time a GM tournament was organised by the chess federation was the United Insurance and Leasing GM Chess Tournament in 2009.

However, four more GM tournaments were held later by other oganisations two by Six Seasons and two by Chittagong Jilla Krira Sangsha.

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Chess Fed to hold 1st GM tourney in 11yrs - newagebd.net

Gibraltar has been one of the top world open tournaments for nearly two decades, and its 2020 edition kept up its high reputation. After a close race, a seven-way tie was resolved by a speed play-off.

David Paravyan, 21. was the surprise winner. The Russian is a new name, and the 30,000 first prize is by far his biggest success to date. Luck favoured him against Andrey Esipenko, 17, a rising star who has been compared to the legendary Anatoly Karpov.

The next major chess event is the eight-man world championship candidates at Ekaterinburg starting March 15. The favourites are the world Nos 2 and 3, Fabiano Caruana of the US and Ding Liren of China, and the winner will meet Magnus Carlsen for the global crown over 14 games in November.

There must be a slight question mark over Ding and his candidate compatriot Wang Hao, who also reached the final against Paravyan in Gibraltar. Six weeks away, could the coronavirus epidemic affect their participation?

If any player at Ekaterinburg should withdraw, the replacement would bring a change of fortune for Frances Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The world No9 from Lyon narrowly missed qualifying by three different routes for the candidates, and had more bad luck when he missed the Gibraltar tie-break by a fraction.

2353

White mates in four moves. Ukraines Vassily Ivanchuk has defeated many grandmasters with this puzzle, which has just a single forced line of play and no side variations. Can you crack it?

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Chess: what is the single line checkmate in four that defeated grandmasters? - Financial Times

Anatoly Karpov was the guest of honour at the 2020 edition of the Gibraltar Masters. The former world championopened the festival with a simultaneous performance on 29 boards, in which he got 25 wins and 4 draws. The Russian legend also talked with Tania Sachdev.During the20-minute interview, they went through some of his experiences inworld championship matches, paying special attention to the one that did not take place (against Fischer) and his first encounter againstGarry Kasparov. Karpov also gave his opinion regarding theFIDE administration and the current world championship cycle.

The full video can be replayedat the end of the transcription.

TS: Anatoly, let's start with what it's like to be in Gibraltar.Your first impressions.

AK: It's an interesting place. I think chess players are delighted to play here, at the corner of Europe. For many years already, Gibraltar has become one of theimportant chess centres in the world.

You started playing chess when you were 4years old it's been a long journey, which continues.I have to ask you what is it that you love the most about the game after all these years.

I was growing up as a chess player, and at the age of 11 I became a Candidate Master in the Soviet Union. Then I was the youngest National Master at the age of 15. I just liked to play chess and to produce some ideas results became importantonly much later. First, I just loved to play and to compete with people.

Growing up, were there masters you idolized? Who had a great impact on you in your growing up years?

I think Capablanca was one of the most important world champions for me. I studiedhis games,anda good book about Capablanca's games waswritten by International Master Vasily Panov, a Russian master. There was quite a strong influence of Capablanca's style.

The most exciting is all the world championship matches that you have played, and I want to start with the 1975 matchwith Fischer, which did not happen. Do you remember the first time you heard about Bobby Fischer? What was your feeling about it then?

Of course I knew his name and his games when I was very young, because I followed the Candidates Tournament in Yugoslavia. At that time, it wasa very long competition, 28 games with adjournments, so it was like 45 days,it was very difficult to play [Ed.The tournament ran from September 7th to October 31st, 1959]. Fischer played this Candidates Tournament, and he qualified when he was 15, and at that time he became a grandmaster at the age of 14, very young, the youngest...not in history,butof coursethe weight of the grandmaster title was much more important than nowadays.

Master Class Vol.1: Bobby Fischer

No other World Champion was more infamous both inside and outside the chess world than Bobby Fischer. On this DVD, a team of experts shows you the winning techniques and strategies employed by the 11th World Champion.

Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco delves into Fischers openings, and retraces the development of his repertoire. What variations did Fischer play, and what sources did he use to arm himself against the best Soviet players? Mihail Marin explains Fischers particular style and his special strategic talent in annotated games against Spassky, Taimanov and other greats. Karsten Mller is not just a leading international endgame expert, but also a true Fischer connoisseur.

When Fischer was going to the 1972 match with Boris Spassky, how did you feel the match would turn out? What were your predictions of the match?

Fischer achieved fantastic results in Candidates matches:against Taimanov and Larsen, 6:0 and 6:0, and then against Petrosian with a four-point advantage, which was a great sportive result. Of course, everybody was impressed with thoseresults, as Fischer dominated. He had a very strong personality, and these players I think mostly missed thepsychological factorduring these games.

When I had to play Fischer, I prepared [a lot], and I think I had chances. I can't say I had better chances [than him] I considered it would be a tough match.

Was that a bit disappointing for you after Fischer's demands were not met and the match did not takeplace? Was it bittersweetto be world champion without a match?

No, I prepared for the match, I was ready to play, but of course I could not force Fischer to play. If he didn't appear, he didn't appear. I wanted to play and to defeat Bobby. It was my personal aim to win that match, but the leaders of my country didn't like the idea.They said, you are world champion, why to take the risk to play Fischer, you are world champion, what else do you want? I said, I want to play the strongest player of the time, I want to beat him, I have chances. And then they asked, are you sure you can win? I said, I have good chances, but it's asport, how can you be sure that you'll win?

That's why I had problems to negotiate. They said, if you guarantee [a win]. I said, are you crazy? I cannot guarantee I'll win, but I have good chances to beat Fischer.

Talking about good chances, there were a lot of mixed views.Kasparov felt that you probably would have won that match, considering that you were very active you were at your toughest, you were peaking, while Fischer hadn't actually played for three years, after 1972. On the other hand,Spassky said that maybe Fischer would have won that match, but you would come back and win the next cycle.

Fischer had a big supporter in Spassky.Probably because of this admiration Spassky missed his chances to play more successfully against Fischer in the match. If you analyse that match, Fischer won with a big gap, but in the middle of the match they both lost energy, so they were playing like boxers fighting in the last round of the battle. From game 11 or 12, I think forsix games both sides could win, so the match could have continued in a different direction. In game 13, Spassky was winning almost by force, and he missed it, in the middle of the game. Actually, I got a lot of respect among our top players, when I showed during the game Petrosian and Keres how Spassky could win the game.

Were you at the venue at that time?

No, we were preparing for the Chess Olympiad in Skopje. We were together, and I just analysed and showed that Spassky missed a clear advantage, almost winning. And then he lost that game. It was an Alekhine Defence. He missed chances and lost opportunities to win.

After you became world champion, you went on to play many tournaments, you were a very active world champion. Was there some sort of motivation to prove thateven though the match did not happenyou were the best in the world?

I always played a lot, but not too much. I normally played around 80 games a year, but I played of course much more than any other world champion. Probably because I accumulated a lot of energyand my preparation was very serious for the match with Fischer so I could play almost without preparation any tournament with any list of players.

You wanted to make the most of that preparation so it wouldn't go to waste?

Yes, I used all my preparation of course.

My Life for Chess Vol. 1

Victor Kortchnoi, two-times contender for the world championship, is a piece of living chess history. He is known as one of the greatest fighters in the history of chess. On this DVD he speaks about his life and shows his game.

You played these matches with Korchnoi, then with Kasparov, and even the ones you played later with Kasparov were very close matches 11 to 11, they were very tough fights. Which World Championship match you think had the biggest impact on you?

I don't know. But Korchnoi reached his peak in '77-'78, which I didn't expect, but I was sure I had better chances in the match. In '78, it was almost a repetition of our match in '74.I won three out of eighteen games andKorchnoi didn't succeed to win even one, so it was a huge advantage:three points before the end and we needed to play six more games. And then, suddenly, I lost two games almost in a row I lost game 19 and game 21. Suddenly Korchnoi recovered, and it was a big competition in the last three games, but I had two Whites and one Black, so I succeeded to get three draws. Even the last game was completely winning for me, but of course Korchnoi had to win to equalize the score, so he played a little bit risky, and then I offered him a draw in a winning position. I needed just a draw, and I didn't make the mistake to try to win, because I didn't need it. Then Korchnoi realized he was losing when I offered a draw and he didn't take the chance to lose another one.

The last title Iwonwas against Anand. It was a very exciting match.

Thefeature documentary "Closing Gambit" reviewed the major rivalry between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi |Photo: Screenbound Pictures

For the chess world, it was a big moment for how rich these world championship matches were the match with Korchnoi, and then in '84 the match with Kasparov, which you were leading after 48 games and it was stopped...

We both lost. We waited...but still we had to continue according to the regulations. There was a big pressure by Kasparov's supporters. At that time, they took very high positions in the Soviet Union, so Campomanes could not resist. He made a crazy decision, which separated the world in two parts.

Actually, if I would have won that match especially if I got a 6:0...I got chances Kasparov would have never become world champion. He would have been completely destroyed, psychologically destroyed, because he's very emotional, so I don't think he would have become the strongest player in the world.

How I became World Champion Vol.1 1973-1985

Garry Kasparov's rise to the top was meteoric and at his very first attempt he managed to become World Champion, the youngest of all time. In over six hours of video, he gives a first hand account of crucial events from recent chess history, you can improve your chess understanding and enjoy explanations and comments from a unique and outstanding personality on and off the chess board.

Would have Garry Kasparov won the world championship after a 6:0 loss in his first match against Karpov | Photo: Owen Williams, The Kasparov Agency

Everybody who studies games, whether from the world championship matches, or the Alekhine Memorial which you won, or the Linares tournament, you want to see the games again to see what really happened, andyour opponents had this feeling of helplessness. Recently, I think it was Yannick Pelletier who said he was playing against you many years ago, and he has never felt so helpless in his life. How would you describe your style of play? What was it that left your opponents so helpless?

I was playing for a win the whole game. Even when I had problems, figuring out how to defend, I was still looking how to defend andhow to counterattack.I could find additional possibilities to create problems to my opponents.

But also a very strong positional style, it was an aggressive positional style.

Yes, so probably this is the part of my style...it was not only positional, because Petrosian played positional chess, but this was different. Let's say, he played the Caro-Kann Defence just to make a draw, and I played the Caro-Kann Defence to win, so there's a big difference it's a very passive opening, but you play it for a win. And I won many games. Who discovered what I did was Kamsky: playing with Black, I made the move e8-e7 without castling in the middle of the game, with the queens and all the pieces on the board. It was a big surprise, and all the players of the tournament in Dortmund were coming, looking, asking what happened.

How do you assess the work of this FIDE under Mr. Arkady Dvorkovich?

I consider this to bea positive change. He's working a lot and he succeeded to organize already many top level official events, and he saved the situation with Saudi Arabia, he moved that championship to Saint Petersburg and then thepast year to Moscow. He made a decision to decrease the possibility of corruption in chess politics, because they decided in the Congress to exclude proxies,a big part of the corruptedsystem which Campomanes and Ilyumzhinov created in the chess world.

So I consider this change as a very important change, and very positive.

You're also involved with a lot of work in Russia as a member of Parliament. Can I ask about that? That must take a lot of your time.

Yes, it's a full-time job, so that's why I'm playing less and less. Now I playonly rapid chess orblitz tournaments, very seldom classical chess, because classical tournaments require moretime. But even now I'm playing quite good in blitz. For instance, Karjakin, who became world champion in blitz two years ago [Ed. Karjakin got the title in 2016], before that tournament I was almost equal with him playing blitz privately. We are friends, so weplay from time to time privately. Before that, let's say six years ago, I was stronger than him.

So you're a specialist in shorter time controls.

Yes, since a young age I play all this blitz. Even now I play quite strong in blitz.

You're also part of the organizing committee for the Candidates Tournament that is coming up. Tell us about that involvement as an organizer. What expertise will you be bringing in?

I gave them advices about how to organize things, and I believe this will be a well-organized Candidates Tournament, probably one of the best, because we have a top level hotel, and we signed an agreement already with the owners of the hotel, so participants will stay there and will play in the tournament hall, in the hotel. With the climate, [transportation] is not so easy, butif they don't want they don't have to leave the hotel. They can stay there, and of course they have a fitness centre, so they can stay there without any problems. Fortunately, we have a governor who supports chess, and I know him for a long time, so we have his support. His deputy is the chairman of the organizing committee. I'm sure it will be very well organized.

The chess world is really looking forward to it. One of the stories around the Candidates recently was the Alekseenko wildcard. In fact, Alekseenko will be here at the Gibraltar Masters. You think that in the world championship cycle there should be a wildcard?

It was a difficult decision, because we had Vachier-Lagrave, who was the main candidate for this place, but at that time Russia didn't have even one...I don't think I'm in favour of having a wildcard for Candidates Tournament, but I can hardly see organizers without their representative in the Candidates Tournament, so that's why it was a difficult decision for FIDE, but at that time Russia didn't have representatives.

And then they had two already.

At the last moment we got another two.

Anatoly, you have played so many different formats of the world championship. The one that currently exists, the world championship cycle as it is right now, do you think it's ideal, do you think there is room for improvement?

I don't like the decisions about changing the time control, I'm not in favour of this it brings classical chess closer to rapid chess, and then I don't see the reason why we have two championships. Make one.

Still, I believe the world championship match should last 16 games.

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Also, many times the world championship match is going into tiebreaks, which is then decided in rapid and blitz actually.

I'm strictly against this, because you can't combine classical chess and blitz. The world championship title is so important that you cannot decide it with blitz games.

But what do you do if the match is a tie? How do you go forward? Let's say, ifit's even 16 games and it's 8:8, how do you...?

To play until the first win.

(Laughs) Simple.Forthe classical world championship, it should be classical chess.

Yes, yes.

No conversation about the world championship match is complete until I ask you this question: who do you think will challenge Magnus Carlsen in the 2020 match?

This time I think Ding has better chances. He showed his strength last year, and I believe he's the favourite. But still, I believe Carlsen will continue to be world champion at least one more time.

It was an absolute pleasure to have you here with us. Thank you so much for your time, and thank you for inspiring us.

Thank you. Good luck.

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Karpov on Fischer, Korchnoi, Kasparov and the chess world today - Chessbase News