KC-Conference with Judit Polgar for CrestBook

We’re now publishing the answers of Grandmaster Judit Polgar to the questions of chess fans posed as part of the “KC-Conference” project. This conference is the thirteenth in total since the start of the project, and the fourth with a truly international character: moreover, questions from members of the Russian KasparovChess forum and readers of the English Chess in Translation were supplemented by questions from the Spanish Ajedrez De Entrenamiento . The conference itself is being published on our site in both Russian and English, and will be published at Ajedrez De Entrenamiento in Spanish.

The material below opens with a detailed biography of Judit Polgar, followed by Sergey Shipov’s traditional essay and selected games with commentary by analysts from our site. In the main section readers will find the answers of the greatest female chess player of all time to the traditional KC-Conference questions on her personal view of chess and its prospects, her career, her chess-playing colleagues, chess politics, and chess books and journalism. Also of great interest are Judit’s thoughts on the problems of improving as a chess player, particularly at a young age, which include a description of the different aspects of the unique family system in which the Polgar sisters grew up. A separate section is devoted to Judit’s thoughts on the place of women in the fierce world of male chess. She also answers questions on her tastes and preferences in various fields of life. Finally, we’re publishing unique photographs from the private archive of this wonderful chess player.

We’re now publishing part two of the answers of International Grandmaster Levon Aronian to the questions of chess fans posed as part of the “KC-Conference” project. This conference is the twelfth since the project began and the third with a truly international character: the questions came not only from the Russian KasparovChess forum, but also from readers of the English site Chess in Translation.

Part 2 contains answers to questions on chess on the internet, chess books and journalism, the principles of preparation and improvement, openings, non-classical forms of chess, other games and also simply “on life”. Levon was also kind enough to provide us with photographs from his personal archive. Part 2 was published last week in Russian.

In the first part of the conference the popular Armenian grandmaster replied in detail to questions on his outlook on chess, his career, his chess-playing colleagues and chess politics. He also gave some reflections on the recent Candidates Matches. In part 1 you can also find an essay by Sergey Shipov, a biography and selected games of our guest commented on both by himself and analysts from our site.

Discussion can be continued: in Russian, in the KasparovChess forum thread and in English at Chess in Translation.

We’re now publishing the first section of answers by International Grandmaster Levon Aronian to the questions posed by chess fans as part of the “KC-Conference” project. This conference is the twelfth since the project began and the third with a truly international character: the questions came not only from the Russian KasparovChess forum, but also from readers of the English site Chess in Translation. The conference itself is also being published on our site in both Russian and English.

In part 1 of the conference, the popular Armenian grandmaster replies in detail to questions on his outlook on chess, his career, his chess-playing colleagues and chess politics. He also gives some reflections on the Candidates Matches in Kazan. His replies are supplemented by Sergey Shipov’s now traditional short essay, a biography and selected games of our guest commented on by himself and analysts from our site. Levon has also been kind enough to provide us with photographs from his personal archive.

Part 2, containing answers to questions on chess on the internet, chess books and journalism, the principles of preparation and improvement, openings, non-classical forms of chess, other games and also simply “on life”, will appear on our site in the near future. Discussion can be continued in Russian, in a thread on the KasparovChess forum, and in English at Chess in Translation.

We’re now publishing the second part of the answers of Grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov to the questions of chess fans, posed as part of the “KC-Conference” project by members of the Russian KasparovChess forum and readers of the English language site Chess in Translation.

In the second part of this “people’s interview” the 2002 FIDE World Champion responded in detail to questions on internet chess, chess literature and journalism, the principles of preparation and improvement, openings, non-classical forms of chess, other games and also simply “on life”. Part 2 of Ruslan Ponomariov’s KC-Conference is being published simultaneously in Russian.

Remember that in the first part of the conference the Ukrainian grandmaster responded in detail to questions on his outlook on chess, his career, his chess-playing colleagues and chess politics. It was also the first time that he gave an in-depth account of his view of the sensational cancellation of his match against Garry Kasparov in 2003. Discussion can be continued: in Russian – on the KasparovChess forum thread, and in English at Chess in Translation.

We’re now publishing the first part of the answers of International Grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov to the questions of chess fans, posed as part of the “KC -Conference” project. This conference is the eleventh since the project began and the second with a truly international character: the questions came not only from the Russian KasparovChess forum, but also from readers of the English language site Chess in Translation. The conference itself is being published on our site in both Russian and English.

In the first part of this “people’s interview”, the 2002 FIDE World Champion responded in detail to questions on his outlook on chess, his career, his chess-playing colleagues and chess politics. For the first time he also gave an in-depth response to questions on the sensational cancellation of his match against Garry Kasparov in 2003. This is supplemented by a biography, the best games of our guest commentated on both by himself and analysts from our site, and Sergey Shipov’s traditional short essay. Ruslan was also kind enough to provide us with photographs from his personal archive.

The second part, containing answers to questions on internet chess, chess books and journalism, the principles of preparation and improvement, openings, non-classical forms of chess, other games, and also simply “on life”, will appear on our site in the near future. Discussion can be continued: in Russian – in a thread on the KasparovChess forum, or in English at Chess in Translation.

We’re now publishing the second part of the answers of International Grandmaster Peter Svidler to the questions of chess fans posed as part of the “KC-Conference” project by members of the KasparovChess forum and by readers of the English-language site Chess in Translation. In this part of the “people’s interview” Peter talked about the principles of preparation and improvement, openings, non-classical forms of chess, other games, and also simply “about life” in all its manifestations.

Previously in part one Peter Svidler responded in detail to questions on how he sees chess, his career, his chess playing colleagues, chess politics, internet chess, chess literature and chess journalism. You can also find his biography there, a short essay by Sergey Shipov, and Svidler’s best games commented on by himself and Crestbook experts.

Discussion can be continued: in Russian – at the KasparovChess forum, and in English at Chess in Translation.

We’re now publishing Part One of International Grandmaster Peter Svidler’s answers to questions posed by chess fans as part of the “KC-Conferences” project. This conference, the tenth in the series, is the first to have a truly international character: questions came not only from members of the Russian KasparovChess forum, but also from readers of the English-language site Chess in Translation.

The conference is being published on our site in both Russian and English. In Part One of this “people’s interview”, Peter Svidler responded in depth to questions on his views on chess, his career, his chess playing colleagues, chess politics and chess on the internet, in literature and in journalism. You can find a biography below along with selected games, commented on both by Peter Svidler himself, and by our site’s analysts. Part Two, comprising answers to questions on the principles of preparation and improvement, openings, non-classical forms of chess, other games, and also simply “on life”, will appear on our site in a few days’ time. Discussion can be continued: in Russian – at the KasparovChess forum, and in English at Chess in Translation.

KC-Conference with Alexei Shirov

We are publishing here the second profile in our new project of “KC-Conferences,” in which one of the leading chessplayers grandmaster Alexei Shirov answers questions of the participants in the KasparovChess forum. In September 2009, over the course of eight days, many questions were posed. As Alexei says, he “more or less answered all the questions,” and he hopes that the readers will be satisfied. The discussion can be continued in the same forum where the questions were set:  «КС-конференция с мг Алексеем Шировым».

KC-Conference with Alexander Grischuk

We’re now publishing the answers of the third hero of our “KC Conference” project, International Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk, to questions posed by members of the KasparovChess forum. During the eight days set aside for questions so many came in that Alexander, despite his good intentions, could hardly be expected to answer them all. Here’s what he had to say himself: “I’d like to apologise to everyone whose questions I couldn’t respond to. There could be several reasons: the questions were too personal, or impolite, or on topics I’d never considered, or didn’t want to consider, and I also didn’t want to come up with some long-winded general answers”. The discussion can be continued in the same forum where the questions were set: KC-Conference with Alexander Grischuk (in Russian).

Olympiad Conclusions and Where Now for FIDE?

by Sergey Shipov

The main conclusion was that the Olympiad was a success. The organisers did a fine job putting on a large-scale show with both spirit and know-how. Well done!

But there were also points of contention which were more the responsibility of FIDE officials. I’ll fire off, for example, a couple of shots at the format of the Olympiad.

Olympiad in Khanty. Chess and Politics

by Sergey Shipov

Raging, seething, familiar, it brings us new experiences and food for thought. Like a huge vat in which thousands of games make up a chess broth. And it’s seasoned with the pepper of scandals and political squabbles, becoming a dish for all. Those who want to can concentrate on the games. Those for whom chess isn’t particularly interesting (if they take an honest look into their soul) can find dozens of interesting chess-related, or even non-chess, stories. I’m interested in it all.

Of course, I’m following the sporting struggle. Each round I watch dozens of games, some of which I stitch together for my videos at Crestbook.com.

Olympiad 2010. Expectation

by Sergey Shipov

When you wait a long time for something it always comes unexpectedly. As the deadline approaches time dramatically accelerates and the event almost explodes into life – so that you don’t manage to be prepared. While earlier it had seemed that there was still a long time to go...

A few weeks ago a traditional open in Kiev called Independence Cup has ended. It is organized annually since declaration of Ukrainian independence. This year it was held already for 19th time. Unfortunately, this year's edition turned out to be relatively weak. Hardly any one of 53 participants could be considered as a chess professional. However, there still was a lot of interesting struggle at the chess board! I believe that even such run-of-the-mill event has some development value to the chess players and thus decided to offer the readers of Crestbook a sample of tactical fragments from Kiev-2010.

Try to play like amateurs in Kiev! (or better :-))

 

The first hero (or perhaps guinea pig) of the “KC-Conferences” project was International Grandmaster Michal Krasenkow. Back in September 2009 he responded in writing to questions submitted by KasparovChess forum members, who over the course of two weeks managed to pose more than sixty questions. Michal indicated that he “answered almost all the questions, except the totally general or fanciful ones”. This is a slightly updated version of his conference with a couple of topical questions added.

KC-Conference

with Alexander Khalifman: now in English

Part Three ('Completion')

The KC-conference with the 1999 FIDE World Champion, grandmaster Alexander Khalifman, attracted a great deal of interest. A record number of questions were submitted. We expected that kind of interest, and foresaw the need for a “completion” of the conference, giving our forum participants a chance to pose supplementary questions. [Translator’s Note: “Completion” is meant here in the sense of the completion of an adjourned game.] Today we are publishing this resumption of the “folk interview” of our ninth guest. This time we have not grouped the questions and answers into categories, but have left them in the order in which they were submitted.

KC-Conference with Alexander Khalifman: Part One
KC-Conference with Alexander Khalifman. Part Two

KC-Conference

with Alexander Khalifman: now in English

Part Two

Welcome to part two of grandmaster Alexander Khalifman’s interview with participants in the KasparovChess forum, the ninth in our series of “KC-conferences.” In this part, in particular, he talks about chess literature and journalism, chess on the Internet, the principles of preparation and improvement, openings, and also simply “about life.” In the first part, published a few days ago, Alexander discussed his view of the role of chess, his career, his activities as a trainer and writer, his chess colleagues, and finally his views on the particulars of chess politics.

KC-Conference

with Alexander Khalifman: now in English

Part One

We believe that our "KC-conferences Project" has reached that phase when it deserves to be available not only in Russian but in English. This will let chess enthusiasts from all over the world read our unique "people's interviews" with great chess stars and in the future to ask them their own questions. Our American friend Dana Mackenzie, chess master and writer, is working on the translation of our already published conferences. So welcome to the first KC-conference in English: grandmaster and FIDE World Champion of 1999 Alexander Khalifman answers to questions submitted by users of the KasparovChess forum.

Alexander Khalifman is the ninth featured interviewee in this ongoing project of KC-conferences. Here he answers in detail, among other things, questions about his view of the role of chess in society, his career, his coaching and literary work, his chess colleagues, and, finally, about chess politics. We will also present examples of the best games of our guest, commented by analysts from our site. The second half, containing answers to questions about chess literature and journalism, the Internet, principles of preparation and improving one’s play, openings, and simply "about life", will appear on our site in a few days.

The discussion will be continued in the same KasparovChess forum thread where the questions were posed: «KC-conference with Alexander Khalifman.».

An Interview with Anatoly Karpov by Yevgeny Surov.

We met with Anatoly Karpov in the heat of what I am not afraid to call a war for the presidency of FIDE. For this reason, even the breezes of the village of Poikovsky, where the school founded by the 12th champion of the world is celebrating its tenth anniversary, could not waft any other topics into our discussion than the one that is on everybody’s mind.