I had breakfast this morning with Aronian and his second (who just turned 25 yesterday). They are both very nice people. We talked about SPICE and scholarship opportunities for chess players.
Aronian said that he is not a big fan of the gym. However, he likes swimming and walking. He said his German is not very good because he only spends about two month of the year in Germany. He uses any free time he has to go back to Armenia and train with his friends.
It is interesting to see how all the players develop their daily routines / rituals during the tournament. I know I had mine when I was active.
For example, Topalov is first to come down (by himself) to the lobby to wait to be driven (along with the other participants) to the playing site. As he is always early, he then goes for a short walk to get some fresh air around the park behind the hotel.
Ivanchuk with his second Mexican GM Manuel Leon are usually next to come down and they always have the last minute coffee before the game.
The organizers invented a very practical system to transport the players in a way where no opponents have to ride in the same vehicle on the day of their encounter. They do that by having a White car for the players who have White on that day and a Black car for the players who Black.
When asked what else he does besides chess, Ivanchuk said he spends time with his family, plays tennis, badminton, soccer, and he also likes the theatre and walking in the park, etc.
Before today’s game (while waiting for our transportation), Topalov and I had a nice chat about chess in America. He was quite interested to learn about the potentials of making chess more popular in the U.S. He was stressing the point that chess is (still) inexpensive comparing to other sports.
After his game, Topalov said that he was surprised to see Magnus’s 15.b4. He had to take the Pawn but felt that he was in no danger at any point in the game. If instead of 16.Bc7, Magnus would have played 16.Rc7, he planned 16…Rb8 and then b6-b5, followed by Nd7-b6.
Carlsen’s big mistake was 19.Qb2. He should have maintained pressure on the Queenside with Nd2-b3 and doubling the Rooks on the c-file according to Veselin.
When asked about his 2005 form (when he won the WC in San Luis), Topalov said it is very hard to maintain the same energy, motivation and concentration for a long time comparing to those younger players of 20-25 years old. In addition, he is missing the aid (and fresh ideas) of Grandmaster Cheparinov, his second in 2005.
As of his outside of chess interests, Topalov said he follows news, politics and sports (especially soccer) daily. He likes to swim and do cardio exercises to improve endurance which is so important at high level chess competition.
Who wrote this article?
Very interesting background infos, thanks!
Chess is not inexpensive as it demands a lot of time to study and practice if you want to be above club player standard.
Chess, as with many games (on and off the web), also poses a risk in that children can become unhealthily obsessive about it.
This means that they may not have the time and opportunity to develop in other ways which are needed to support their success in and enjoyment of life in the future.
I do not subscribe to a ‘bucket theory’ of the brain – “If you fill it with chess, what room is left for anything else?” – but I do subscribe to the idea that if you do not take time to exercise your mind and body in a variety of ways, there could be unhelpful underdevelopment as a result.
Chess is an interesting aspect of ‘life’ but it is not life itself. It also supports a ‘zero sum’ view of life which does not demonstrate the benefits of social co-operation in team situations.
Just because chess does not involve the obvious financial downside of obsessive gambling, let us not make the mistake of believing that it cannot involve enormous personal cost.
Anon 4:11, did you smoke something?
“Anonymous said…
Anon 4:11, did you smoke something?”
Pass it around! Grass Party!
Chess is actually a very expensive game. To play properly you need books, a good computer, good computer software etc.. It is in fact probably more expensive than any other sport.