WR Chess: interviews with the winners

by Sagar Shah
2/27/2023 – We have reported extensively on the WR Chess Masters 2023, which ended on Sunday in Düsseldorf, Germany. Today we bring you unique impressions of the opinions and mood of the participants on the final days of this wonderful event. They were recorded by IM Sagar Shah, who runs ChessBase India and one of the biggest video chess portals in the world. Just sit back and enjoy.
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As we reported, Levon Aronian made a quick 18-move draw against D Gukesh in the final round of WR Chess Masters 2023. Ian Nepomniachtchi won a long battle against Vincent Keymmer to make the Playoffs a three-way battle. Aronian won all three Playoff games to win become champion. Gukesh beat Nepomniachtchi and shared second place with him.

Levon Aronian on how he felt winning the WR Chess Masters 2023: "I am very, very happy. It's a great thing to win tournaments, very enjoyable. I recommend it. I thought if I am not in the right mood to play for a win, you know to give it all, and I wasn't because I had two very stressful days. I thought you know I should make a short draw, and then I will be more relaxed in the rapid section." 

"I think it's rather stupid to consider that you are better than anybody in rapid. You know, we are all good players, but I thought I will be more relaxed, so this was my plan,"  he added on whether he thought he is bettter than Gukesh in Rapid.

ChessBase India interviews by Sagar Shah

The following interviews were conducted by our colleague immediately after the tournament. They give you an impression of the opinions and mood of the participants of the WR Masters.

Levon Aronian wins WR Chess Masters 2023 | Interview with the winner

"Learnings from Wijk Aan Zee helped me a lot" - Gukesh on finishing joint second

"For the first time I saw Gukesh as a human!" - Anish Giri 

Wesley So videobombs Praggnanandhaa's WR Masters 2023 Round-up interview

"Can we make the tiebreaks for tomorrow?" - Nepo after winning a marathon against Keymer

A closing ceremony like no other! Extremely relaxed at WR Chess Masters 2023

A fan meets Yasser Seirawan after 40 years 

Live commentary of WR Chess Masters 2023 R9 by GMs Yasser Seirawan and Elisabeth Pähtz

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Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.