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Live from the Hipp Theater in Malmo each day from May 4th–8th, beginning at 14:00 CEST. Organised by the Limhamns SK chess club and sponsored by the law firm Sigeman & Co, and the company TePe — Sweden’s leading manufacturer of dental products.
ChessBase Account Premium annual subscription
At the airport, in the hotel or at home on your couch: with the new ChessBase you always have access to the whole ChessBase world: the new ChessBase video library, tactics server, opening training App, the live database with eight million games, Let’s Check and web access to playchess.com
Commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan and GM Stellan Brynell
The official site published interesting short interviews with all six players, and we've selected a few highlights. The full interviews by Ingemar Falk are well worth a read. You'll find links from the "Participants" tab or just click or tap the player name links below to go directly to the full interview.
You have had an excellent boost in your chess career. You won Tata Steel Challengers 2018, and earlier you also crossed the 2700 barrier as the 4th Indian player in history. How do you explain this success?
I managed to cross 2700 Elo rating in August 2017 and then increase it all the way to 2723. I think the main reason for my success in Tata Steel was my consistent play. I got a bad position in one game only, where I managed to make a draw, and in most of the other games, I was pressing for a win. Whereas my competitors lost more than one game.
What is your strength as a chess player?
I feel that I am an intuitive chess player with a good feel for placement of the pieces. That is why I play quite well in blitz.
What are your expectations for TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament 2018?
As the top seed of the tournament, I am definitely aiming for first place!
Do you have any superstitions when you sit down at the chessboard before a tournament game?
Every chess player has. Some of them are crazy. I used to think if I see an Audi before the game I will win!
What is your goal as a chess player nowadays?
I stopped playing professional chess at the beginning of 2015, so as a chess player, I have no goals. As a chess master, I still have goals and duties — to share my knowledge to raise my students, to contribute to the popularization of chess all over the world. As well as with the other board games.
You are famous for your unorthodox playing style. Shall we prepare for that also in TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament?
Popular opinion about my play, but strangely enough, I always considered myself to be a classical and positional player. Maybe the Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament will give us an answer?
You have the ranking of 2 kyu in Go, and you beat Tiger Hillarp Persson in a Go game in 2016. How much Go do you play nowadays?
That match in 2016 was really something historical and I am happy to be part of it. I am also very grateful to Tiger for making it possible, hope that despite the result he enjoyed it too. Recently I moved even to the 1 national dan but overall Go is my hobby and I was never very serious about it. It’s just another brilliant and very deep game which I can compare with chess. I did play lots of small tournament in Russia for the last 1½ years but in 2018 I have another calendar with almost no Go events and with bridge and archery tournaments most likely to come.
What was your favourite chess opening when you were twelve years old?
Alekhine's Defence, especially from the white side.
And your preferred chess opening nowadays?
Albin counter-gambit, even though this objectively loses.
The Amazing Albin Counter-Gambit
On this DVD IM Trent shows the Albin Counter-Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5). Trent found a number of extremely dangerous Theoretical Novelties which will truly put the Albin Counter-Gambit back on the map.
Describe the atmosphere in the tournament last year. The pictures of you and the other participants looked like you were a big happy family.
I’ve played in all editions since 2009 and I must say that every one of them has been most excellent socially. Somehow the atmosphere is always friendly and relaxed, which however doesn’t stop us from trying to win at the board.”
The last 3-4 years, you have been Sweden’s no. 1. Your rating is now steadily around 2650. Have you changed your training methods since the last Tepe Sigeman Chess Tournament?
Trompowsky for the attacking player
Tap into your creative mind and start the game on a fresh note. The Trompowsky (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) is an opening outside of conventional wisdom. Create challenges and make your opponent solve problems early on.
In general, I have tried taking a broader perspective on all aspects of chess. There is a great difference between knowing a lot about chess and playing well; something I previously didn’t appreciate enough.
What was your favourite chess opening when you were twelve years old?
With white — the Trompowsky. With black — Alekhine's Defence.
And your preferred chess opening nowadays?
Anything non-standard and complicated!
Who is your best chess fan?
My girlfriend Ellen!
You played for Hungary in the Olympiad 2016. Where you surprised to be elected to the team, and how was the tournament for you and the team?
Yeah, it was a little bit surprise also for me, the thing is that I was 17, I had about 2600 in ELO rating and our captain Judit Polgar invited me to play for Hungary, which was mind-blowing of course! Our results were unfortunately not the best, because in the last round we had no luck, I lost a winning position and we made 2–2 against Greece. If we could have won then, I think we would be in 6–8th place. I think I played quite decent chess, except for the last round.
You will celebrate your 19th birthday this year, and has already climbed over 2600. What are your future goals in your chess career?
My best games in the Grünfeld by Alexei Shirov
The Gruenfeld Defense is an active and dynamic reply to 1.d4 which can lead to complex and extremely sharp positions. So it’s no wonder that also Alexei Shirov included this opening into his repertoire. At the candidates’ final against Vladimir Kramnik in Cazorla in 1998, he exclusively – and successfully – trusted the Gruenfeld Indian with Black; the victory over Kramnik gave him the right to play a WCh match versus Kasparov.
My future goal is to be a 2700 player and to play for the Hungarian national team.
What was your favourite chess opening when you were twelve years old?
Sicilian Dragon with black.
And your preferred chess opening nowadays?
Grunfeld defence.
Do you have any superstitions when you sit down at the chessboard before a tournament game?
Yes, I always write with the same pen during chess games.
When you think of Sweden, which three things pop up first in your mind?
Beautiful girls, nice cities, nice people.
You became World Junior champion this autumn. Describe your first days as a new world champion?
Master Class Vol.8: Magnus Carlsen
Scarcely any world champion has managed to captivate chess lovers to the extent Carlsen has. The enormously talented Norwegian hasn't been systematically trained within the structures of a major chess-playing nation such as Russia, the Ukraine or China.
My first days after I won the World Juniors were amazing, as I was so happy and thrilled. It was a dream come true. And I think it is the best feeling when you work for something and spend time on it, and then you achieve something big. That gives happiness.
What is your connection with Magnus Carlsen? Only messages, or perhaps some training sessions?
We have a good relation. He is nice and funny. We have played the Olympiad and European teams together, and he is a good teammate. We had a training camp some months ago, which was great.
What’s your best tip to more easily fall asleep at nights during a chess tournament?
My best tip to fall asleep is to go for a walk outside 30 minutes before you go to bed, and don’t use social media. Just think about life and walk. After the walk, you will find it easier to sleep.
How much chess do you study an average day?
That really depends. I’m not so structured, I work as much as I feel like. Sometimes I don’t work if I don’t want to work with chess that day. Other days, it might be that I’m very motivated, and work 8 hours. But usually, there is not passing a day without me looking at chess. It varies from 1 to 8 hours.
When you think of Sweden, which three things pop up first in your mind?
Candy, girls and chess!
You are hunting the GM title. Please tell us more about your progress when it comes to reaching your goal?
Last year was a splendid year for me. I took my first GM norm in the Bundesliga, had a no loss streak of 23 games (Michael Adams took me down), and I placed shared third in the Nordic chess championship.
What are your biggest strengths as a chess player?
I would say endgames and my fighting spirit.
And maybe something to work more on?
Definitely my openings, they could be much more consistent and form a better repertoire than I have now.
Are you 100 % chess pro or do you have any occupation beside chess?
I feel like I am not even close to being a chess pro, even though it was a dream when I was a kid. Today I am occupied studying computer science at Chalmers, and most of my chess ’training’ comes from blitz games online, at the tram or at home, but also from playing in the Swedish and German league”.
What is your greatest achievement so far?
If I had to choose something from last year, it is definitely being unbeaten in 23 consecutive games. That made me feel that my chess and solidness improved a lot over the year.
And what place in this year´s TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament would top that?
1st place!
