Ponomariov: "I am on my way back"
By Olena Boytsun
During the Golden
Blitz tournament in Moscow a number of journalists came to the winner,
Ruslan Ponomariov, to congratulate him on his victory and to ask him some questions:
"What do you think about the Argentina tournament? How do you feel about it?"
Indeed, people are interested to know the reaction of the youngest world champion
in the history of chess, who is not among the participants of this world championship.
In most cases the 21-year old Ukrainian refused politely to give any comments.
I too asked him for details, but he said that the subject was still too delicate, too controversial. But it is important to discuss these things, I insisted? Ponomariov thought for
a while, and than suddenly said: "Ok, let's do it, for the ChessBase news
page. Go ahead, you can ask anything you want". So, I asked everything
I wanted. Only one clear answer you will not find below – why precisely
the Yalta match was cancelled in the end. But one can read between the lines.
The most important thing is: Ruslan is playing chess again. Good chess.
I hope you find the following interview illuminating. If you have additional
questions, you can ask Ruslan directly, using the Guestbook of the new Ponomariov.com
web site (all links are given at the bottom of the page).
Interview with Ruslan Ponomariov
Question: Ruslan, we are talking with you in September 2005. The FIDE
Championship in Argentina is going to start soon. A lot of chess players expressed
their concern as to why Ponomariov wasn't invited to be part of the
unification process. You haven't yet commented this event officially.
Ponomariov: To discuss the subject of the tournament in Argentina
is not so easy for me. It was exactly in that country that the match between
Ponomariov and Garry Kasparov was supposed to be held. After this experience
I cannot be sure that the tournament will take place until I see the first
games played there. On the other hand, as a chess player, I am deeply interested
in the stabilization of the situation around the world championship title.
What are your feelings about the canceled match Ponomariov vs Kasparov
today?
Life experience is the most valuable thing a person can get. Especially such
an enlightening experience (smiles). I have thought a lot about everything
and have come to some, as it seems to me, valid conclusions. Now I am looking
forward to the future only. That is why I am reluctant to answer these questions.
For the past three or four years I hardly had one interview without the question
in the end: what do you say about your match with Kasparov? Why did you destroy
all the unification plans?
The official photo of Ruslan Ponomariov (from Ponomariov.com)
It is true, such opinions do exist. Is it right, did Ponomariov play a
leading role in the negotiation process that led to the end of the reunification
plans?
Well, if that were the case I should be feeling great… (laughs). But
seriously, if we review that situation one more time, we see that the main
actors were: the very experienced Garry Kasparov, a number of high-level chess
managers, and an 18-year-old grandmaster – me. Some people, I wonder
why, would like to think that it was me who changed all the plans – cynically,
carefully considering every step, tricking that illustrious group of adults.
That it was me who upset the well advanced negotiation process, and kept the
whole world in suspense while they waited with bated breath for my decision,
whether the match would take place or not. If people really still believe this,
it means they must think that I am some kind of a genius. I am grateful to
them for showing such a very high estimation.
In the chess scene one can also hear the version that Ponomariov "was
afraid to lose to Kasparov". How would you comment on this?
I heard these versions as well, in most cases expressed by grown-up experienced
men. I was impressed by its illogicality. Don't they remember what it is like
to be an 18-year-old? When you are drunk with your success, and want more and
more? You want to show everyone, to prove something to the world. Are young
people able to say "stop, it might be too hard"? That is more the characteristic
of experienced adults. I am extremely ambitious now, four years later. At that
time my level of adrenaline was much higher. Of course I wanted to play, I
wanted to beat Kasparov.
Ruslan Ponomariov and Nigel Short, during preparations for the r
eunification match Ponomariov vs Kasparov in Yalta
... and playing sandglass blitz for the photographer three years later
What was your reaction to the FIDE World Championship in Tripoli in June
2004, which took place without world champion Ruslan Ponomariov?
If I had been a hardened and experienced schemer, I would have tried to make
the situation as unclear and obscure as possible. I would have started an independent
sponsor seeking process, I would have appointed a challenger, organized a union,
etc. Instead I simply felt perplexity and irritation.
There is a real confusion, because of the fact that my title was not mentioned
in any of the documents. Let me describe the situation that has arisen, for
instance in Ukraine. I am giving a press conference. The questions are from
journalists of popular mass media. They ask: "Are you the ex-World Champion?"
That would appear to be true, I answer. The next question: "Who won the title
from you?" And now I have no idea what should I answer. And then comes the
next question: "So why you are ex-champion?" What should I answer? By
the way, it still happens until now that in some official circles in Ukraine
people come to me and ask: "Why shouldn't we organize a world championship
here, in Ukraine? You are our champion, aren't you?"
And what do you answer on such suggestions?
Well, obviously no, we shouldn't. I am just Ruslan Ponomariov, not Niccolo
Machiavelli. I do not want to bring additional confusion into the chess world,
because I have great respect for this ancient and wise game.
In Moscow in 2002 Ponomariov became the
youngest World Champion in the history of chess
Let us go back to the situation with the match. What was your opinion
about Kasparov that time?
I started to play chess when I was seven. Kasparov was 27. While I was growing
up Kasparov was playing and winning great tournaments. For me he was from a
different world, he had elements of something "untouchable". For example, in
2000 I gave an interview to Alex Baburin from Chess Today. We spoke about the
problem of the devaluation of the grandmaster norm. I said: "I am a grandmaster
and Kasparov is a grandmaster. But it is a big difference!" I found this interview
while reviewing my archives for the web site Ponomariov.com.
So, there I was, turning 18. I had become a "big" grandmaster, and was the
FIDE World Chess Champion. As World Champion (I emphasize the title) I had
to play a reunification match against Kasparov, an ex-World Champion, number
one in the world rankings, and someone whom many consider the strongest players
of all time. Does anyone seriously think, for one moment, that any chess player
in my position would say to anyone, even to himself: "I will not play this
match"?! Just the line "World Champion Ponomariov plays Challenger Garry Kasparov"
would have been enough for me to immediately agree. In addition I was in great
fighting spirit at the time.
IM Michail Podagaets helping Ponomariov to prepare for the match against
Kasparov (in the background Ponomariov's second Veselin Topalov)
I also cannot understand these claims that I was afraid to play the match.
Remember that I prepared for it for seven months. When you are 18-19 year old,
seven months are like half a lifetime. So I had been preparing for the event
for a half of my life. After that how could I decide to throw everything away
and to withdraw?? I was sure that I should go through with the process, that
I must play, without regard for the result.
Have you ever discussed the situation with Kasparov personally?
Once I took a decision and called him, in order to discuss all the aspects
of the match. But Kasparov wasn't at home, I spoke with Klara Shagenovna only,
the mother of Garry…
So you have regrets?
I can say that I regret that I wasn't able to play the match against Kasparov.
Many people say he is still young, there will be many matches in the future.
I am grateful for their moral support. However, I will not play Kasparov!
At least, in the near future.
"Pono" and friends Sergey Karjakin and Veselin Topalov sarcastically
celebrating their loss to the computers last year in Bilbao.
The match was planned for Argentina, but then something changed and the
match was moved to Ukraine, to Yalta. How would you evaluate the organization
preparations there? More precisely, did the Ukrainian authorities take the
process seriously?
Actually, by the time the match was suddenly and unexpectedly (at least for
me) cancelled, the organization committee had worked on all the details already.
For example, a special table was made for the match. Nobody was allowed to
see it that time. Now it remains in Kiev, in the chess club "Avangard", and
nobody has any idea what a gorgeous destiny the table could have had.
Also, for example, we realized that Kasparov had support from people who are
close to the oil business in Russia. We started to collect the information,
what hotels in Crimea their company owned, in order not to live somewhere close
to them. We tried to get the best rooms in the house where we were going to
play. My team even discussed what clothes would be more convenient to wear!
Loek van Wely, part of the Ponomariov's team. The above photo was made
during the preparations to the match in Crimea, near Yalta.
I must admit that planning my strategy for the Yalta match was much more pleasant
than planning for Argentina. During my preparation for Buenos Aires I had to
find a special chamber and to use it in order to simulate the climate of Latin
America, to try to acclimatize. It was much more pleasant adapting to the climatic
conditions of the match by sitting on my balcony near the Black Sea!
Ideal conditions: the seaside near Yalta in Ukraine (photo by Olena Boytsun)
When the match was cancelled, how did it affect you?
At the beginning I thought that the loss was financial only. However than
I understood that far more important was the loss of morale. For a long time
I couldn't recover as a chess player, I could not get back to my level of the
game. I performed badly and had lost my motivation. Today I can feel that I
am coming back. I have specific goals, and I am working to achieve them. My
results during the last half of the year prove that, one can say, in my chess
life there is the next "up" period.
How would you like people to see you?
I would like them not to associate my name only with the cancelled match
against Kasparov. After all I have enough good games and results to show. I
don't like it when someone only look at the past. I had the past, I
have the present and will have the future, as any person does.
Will you root for any participant of the tournament in Argentina?
I will root for chess in general. For the stability. Actually, this is the
main aim of the unification process, isn't it?
In September 2005 the youngest World Champion in the history of chess, Ruslan
Ponomariov, opened his official website Ponomariov.com. The main aim of Ponomariov.com
is to become an interactive resource that is interesting for chess fans all
over the world. The visitors of the site can get information about games and
the sporting results of this young chess player. They can read interviews and
review photos from his private archives. One of the special features of the
project is that it offers the chess public the opportunity to communicate with
Ruslan Ponomariov directly, to ask any question and get an answer.
The "Interviews" section of Ponomariov.com
Ponomariov became the youngest FIDE World Champion, when he won the title
in Moscow in 2002, at the age of 18. At the age of 21 the Ukrainian holds also
the following titles: Olympic Champion (2004) and World Champion (2001) as
a member of Ukrainian team, European vice-champion (2001).
A picture for the "Guestbook" section of the web site
Links
WIM
Olena Boytsun is the manager of Ruslan Ponomariov. She lives in Dnipropetrovsk
in Ukraine and works in the field of children's education and the benefits
of the game of chess for disabled children, especially deaf children. Olena
is a regular contributor of the ChessBase news page. Starting from September
2005 she has a column with chess stories in "Uchtishka", a popular Ukrainian
magazine for children. Apart from chess management, Olena Boytsun is doing
a PhD on "The influence of financial liberalization on economic growth" at
the International Finance Department of Dnipropetrovsk National University
(Ukraine). She also teaches courses on marketing, financial globalization,
the history of economic theories and economic development at Dnipropetrovsk
University. She is 22 years old.
