World Championship Moscow – Interview with Andrey Filatov

Andrey Filatov, sponsor of the World Championship

Andrey Filatov was born in 1971 in Krivoy Rog, Ukraine. He is a USSR Candidate Master of Sport in chess. In 1993, he received a sports teaching and chess coaching degree from the Academy of Physical Education and Sport of the Republic of Belarus. In April 1996, jointly with his partners Andrey Filatov founded Severstaltrans (now the N-Trans Group of Companies). Today, N-Trans is Russia's largest privately owned group that provides services in transportation and infrastructure, including rail freight transportation and port asset management. Andrey Filatov is a member of the Economic Council of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce (CCIFR).

Andrey Filatov is the initiator and sponsor of the 2012 World Chess Championship Match to be held in Moscow. In May 2011, the Russian Chess Federation supported Filatov's proposal to organize the match in the Russian capital.

He actively participates in social assistance programs and is engaged in philanthropic activities. Filatov has financed the restoration of the tombstone and monument to the legendary Russian-born chess player Alexander Alekhine in Paris. He provides financial support for children’s and young people’s sports school No. 9 in Dnepropetrovsk. He founded the Sinitsin Memorial international children’s chess festival, which has taken place in Dnepropetrovsk since 2001, in memory of his teacher, the chess teacher Alexander Valerianovich Sinitsin. The tournament plays a notable role in the chess life of Ukraine.

Andrei Filatov helps the Morozov Children's City Clinical Hospital in Moscow. He is a member of the Valaam Monastery Board of Trustees. He provides funding for the restoration in Estonia of burial sites and monuments to the Soviet soldiers who fought in World War II. Filatov actively supports contemporary Russian literary and artistic figures and participates in financing of a number of humanitarian programs. Andrey is married with three children. His hobbies are chess and history. On January 21, 2011, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit of the President of the Russian Federation.

Interview with Andrey Filatov

The following interview was conducted by our colleague GM Robert Fontaine, who is in Moscow reporting on the World Championship for the French chess magazine Europe Echecs.

Transcript of the highlights

After he won the [Candidates] tournament in Kazan Boris Gelfand came to visit me. He told me about the match, and I wanted to know where the World Championship would be held. When I found out that it wasn't quite clear – one of the reasons was that the President of FIDE had played chess with Muammar Gaddafi many investors decided not to participate. And so I decided that I would [bid to organise] this event and thought to myself: if I win it is good, if I lose it will be better for my friend, because then he will get more money, since the other bidder would have to offer a bigger amount.

Actually we were looking at two possible venues: the Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Art. The latter is a famous museum of Western art in Russia and is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Looking back in history, in 1935 Stalin organised a chess tournament right there, to show off their collections of Western art, so that nobody could think that the Soviets had sold out the paintings. But we decided to look at the Tretyakov Gallery, because it has the biggest collection of Russian art of the 20th Century...

For a match of this scale the site should be neutral. I believe that Moscow fulfils that criteria – we are hosting an event here that is the symbol of two great nations, two great chess schools.

Everyone knows that Anand is a great chess player, but I can also share my impressions of him as a human being. When you talk to him or his wife you feel the very positive energy of very good people. I have not met many people in my life that make you feel like that, who radiate such positive energy.

I believe that this is going to be a great match because it is between two real gentlemen, two great players in a great museum and a wonderful city. So all the ingredients are there for a great event.

World Chess Championsip 2012 – match details

The World Chess Championship 2012 will be a match between the current World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India and Boris Gelfand of Israel, winner of the Candidates tournament. The match will be held under the auspices of FIDE, the World Chess Federation. The prize fund is US $2.55 million, the winner getting $1.53 million (60%), the loser $1,02 million (40%).

Schedule

Days of play, with live commentators on Playchess.com. Note that the games start at 15:00h local time = 13:00 CEST, 07 a.m. New York or here in your location.

Links

• Official web site of the World Championship match
• All ChessBase reports on the World Championship
• Official web site of the World Championship match (report)
• Bios of the players Anand and Gelfand
• Rules and regulations for the match (PDF)
• Pre-match statistics
• Leading player on the match (opinions of Svidler, Kramnik, Karpov, Averbakh, Korchnoi)
• Accreditation, travel and accommodation details

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