One of the most strongest chess-players speak about chess, current situation; comments on the events related to this branch

Veselin Topalov is a famous chess player from Bulgaria who’s been treated as part of the world’s elite for some years now. V. Topalov became firmly established on the list of five best chess players of the planet a few years ago. The chess player who resides in Spain occupied the 9th place (2707 points) as was rated by the International Chess Federation this year. He’s also one of the best masters of this sport branch in the world. This 25-years-old international master kindly agreed to give interview to Roman Burstein, the journalist of the www.chess.lt web site.

"How do you feel about these Olympic Games? What are they like as compared to the former ones?"

"These are the fourth Olympic Games that I participate in. I think the Olympic Games have become more professional. Many teams started to treat the event more seriously since some players used to come over to have some fun only. There’s nothing bad I can say about the organization either. It’s a lovely place; we live in the center of the city. There’s always something to improve but it’s the first time Turkey has organized such huge contests and they did it quite well."

"In three of four Olympiads the Bulgarians managed to prevail over the Russian team, which used to be the favorite. But, anyway, there have never been any terrific results your team could be proud of."

"It was this way because we have no good reserve players. Kiril (Kiril Georijev - author’s note) and me usually rest the first two-three games to play of the rest of the games. As contests draw to the end we get tired and so we can’t play as` well as we do it at the beginning."

"You beat Garry Kasparov who was champion of the world back then at the Olympic Games in Moscow in the year 1994. You also prevailed over another world champion - Alexander Khalifman at the current Olympic Games. Is there any special way you get prepared for playing with world champions?"

"No way. I’ve prevailed over every one of them at least once. And I’ve sure never trained myself to beat the champions. Moreover, if we can say about G. Kasparov that he was both world champion and also the best chess player of the planet, there’s nothing like that we can say about A. Khalifman. There are at least dozen of chess players who play better than he does. I don’t think his name obliges him to win every game."

"What do you think about current chess situation in the world?"

"Garry Kasparov is the strongest chess player in the world. A. Khalifman is FIDE world champion. It will be clearer what we can say about Vladimir Kramnik after he plays his riposte contests with Garry Kasparov. There’re two options: either V. Kramnik stands up for his name, or G. Kasparov’s going to win."

"Is there a way to have one chess and thus choose one champion of the world?"

"I don’t think it’s possible. It actually is possible theoretically, but it will be a challenge to do it on practice. G. Kasparov will never agree to participate in the world championships, the organization of which is based on the Olympic system, since he has many privileges as champion of the world. Moreover, his interest as chess player and also individual who has lots of money will never match the interests of other chess players. It doesn’t mean he’s bad or good, it’s just a natural thing: interests of the most famous, strongest and richest chess player and also interests of other players will always be different."

"Is it possible that you shortly become the world champion at the world championship in India?"

"I don’t think it’s not possible; many sportsmen have quite a few possibilities. Strong nerve system and good self-control will play the crucial role. It is sure not only good play one needs but also success. For example, we can’t say A. Khalifman had much success. However, he had some complicated situations, in which he experienced some success. Although the victories he had were well-deserved."

"Are you going to give all your life to chess , or you are going to choose the way of Gata Kamski who after he earned pretty much money got involved in some other things?"

"If I were in Gata Kamski shoes I would not refuse a serious game; however, I would decrease the number of contests. It’s a little bit too early to think about it since I’m only 25 years old so far. I think I’ll be actively involved in chess playing for the next few years."

"What characteristics one must have to become a powerful chess player?"

"One needs lots of characteristics - almost all of them. One little inaccuracy is enough to be never able to reach the goal. Good characteristics are important since very early age. There’s strong character one needs, also physical self-control, talent, and many other virtues."

"We’ve heard some stories of how you accidentally took your own Queen with knight when you played with Peter Svidler at the Elistos Olympic Games in 1998, is it true?"

(Laughs for some time) "When making the last move I offered to exchange our Queens and then I stood near the board waiting for the answer. At one moment I thought that I saw how P. Svidler took my Queen, so I approached the board and hurried to take the Queen, because I thought it was the opponent’s Queen. I moved my queen so I had to make a move with it. It was a luck I could find a free field to place the piece in; otherwise, it would be so easy to lose."

"What would you like to wish to the Lithuanian chess fans?"

"Happiness and optimism."