Author: Jorge Pichard
Date: 13:42:52 08/11/03
Thanks to Twins I am back in the top Ten
Peter Svidler is one of the most original Grandmasters in chess – at the board
and besides it. At the end of the century it looked like the three-times Russian
champion from St. Petersburg was able to challenge the 'Big Three' (Anand,
Kasparov and Kramnik). However, Svidler suffered some setbacks and had to wait
three years for his comeback in the top ten of the world rankings. Hartmut Metz
talked to the 27-year old world’s no. 8, who will play a Chess960 match at the
Chess Classic Mainz (13-17 August) vs. Peter Leko of Hungary.
- In 1999 you were world’s no. 8 with 2713 Elo. After that you lost several
ELO-points but in the last months you recovered with a personal record of 2723.
Can you tell me what happened?
- It took me a while, but it seems that I am finally playing decent chess again.
I guess being content with your life outside the chess world helps a lot.
- Were there any dramatic changes in your life? Last year your second wife had
twins just a few days before the tournament in Mainz and that could have
inspired you to win the first Chess960 Open.
- I normally prefer not to talk too much about my private life, but I must say,
that fatherhood is absolutely fantastic and I love every minute of it (when I’m
at home, of course – which the first six months of this year was not very
often).
- Did Chess960 influence your play? After winning the Chess960 tournament in
Mainz last year you started your comeback and eventually came back into the top
ten.
- I think it would be more appropriate to say, that my comeback started with
becoming a Dad.
- Can you benefit from Chess960 in a normal chess game?
- So far I haven’t played enough Chess960 to draw any definite conclusions, but
it can certainly help develop intuition and tactical alertness, since you can’t
rely on knowledge any more and have to improvise in every game.
- Do you see any efforts from players to get back to 'normal positions' as soon
as possible playing Chess960?
- You see a few 'normal' positions in almost every game – but it can be a
'normal' endgame position by that time. My intention in CCM2 was to try to avoid
playing symmetrically with Black, because I wanted to have as much fun as
possible – but this may explain why on the first day White won all five of my
games!
- In your opinion, what is the main difference between Chess960 and 'normal'
chess?
- Some of the opening positions are much better for White, and some are almost
equal – so there is a certain amount of luck involved in the position you will
get. And the absence of opening theory is an important factor, of course.
- You are considered being one of the most original players in the world. Is
this one of your big advantages in Chess960?
- Let's not overrate my result in last year's CCM. So far I have only done well
in one Chess960 event, and it is too early to tell, whether I have any
advantages over other players in this chess variant. But I always like to be
creative on the board, and Chess960 gives me a lot of opportunities to do so.
- Peter Leko beat Michael Adams in the first unofficial Chess960 World
Championship Match in Mainz 2001.What do you predict for your match vs. Leko?
- I hope it will be a very tight and interesting match. Peter has to be
considered the favourite. He is in the form of his life and is also a very
creative player, who enjoys new challenges, e.g. he is an experienced Janus
Chess player and has even been world champion in that variant. (Note: Janus
Chess is a chess variant, played on a 8x10 board, with two additional pieces to
widen the possibilities).
- Do you have any goals for the next months and years, except getting the new
Chess960 world champion? Are you able to break into the top five or three of the
rating list?
- I never set myself specific goals – especially now, when nobody knows what is
going on in the chess world. I want to continue to improve my play - and wait
and see where it can get me.
- Your new team-mate in Baden-Oos is Alexei Shirov, number 5 in the world. What
differences do you see between him, Peter Leko and yourself? Maybe you would
like to compare your own playing style and strength to the top three Anand,
Kramnik and Kasparov as well.
- The main difference is consistency, I guess. I have a decent score against all
of them, but I’ve had more bad periods than they have. I think it is impossible
to compare our playing styles, because you can’t be a top-10 player without
having an universal style. Alexei is considered to be the best attacker of his
generation – but in recent years he may have gained more points by being an
excellent endgame player. One should not overrate those clichés.
- Baden-Oos seemed to have a lack of 'killers' in the team last season, behind
the top boards Anand, Krasenkow and yourself, but with Shirov and Vallejo Pons
the team seems to be strong enough to challenge Luebeck and Porz. Are there real
chances to win the Bundesliga title next year?
- We just had one killer last year – our top board Vishy, but we had problems on
the lower boards. This year however, with Alexei and Francsico we will have a
stronger team overall, and the young guys – Fabian Doettling, Andreas Schenk and
others – will be more experienced after the last season. I hope we will do
better than last year. Winning the title won’t be easy – but if key matches go
our way, anything can happen.
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