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- My Most Memorable Interviews - 35 Conversations with Chess Stars
My Most Memorable Interviews - 35 Conversations with Chess Stars
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- Devreese G.
- Thinkers Publishing
- 474 blz.
- Engels
- 2022
Preparing, conducting and writing out long and readable interviews is a craft that seems to be slowly disappearing with the passing of time. Afterall, everything has to be done faster and faster these days. And the influence of social media is huge. Fortunately, there are still the necessary exceptions: several newspapers post full-page interviews (or even longer, but usually in the weekend editions), so for enthusiasts like myself, there is still the possibility to enjoy long, written interviews. Still, I have a certain fear that such long stories are going to disappear. Or re-turn only in book form, for the target audience that loves them.
Partly for this reason, it is gratifying that Gert Devreese has published his best and most beau-tiful chess interviews in book form! I hope that young people will also enjoy this, because the dynamic between a trained interviewer and an interesting interviewee is shown to its best advantage in the written word. Gert interviewed virtually all the top chess players for both his newspaper De Standaard and for the Dutch magazine Schaakmagazine.
The latter magazine is also an interface between Gert and myself. When I was still making interviews myself, with the same drive that Gert still has, I was once in Leon, Spain for Schakend Nederland (the predecessor of Schaakmagazine) for the Ad-vanced Chess Duel Kasparov–Topalov. I preferred to make my stories as long as possible – just as Gert still does. It was June 1998. The two players were allowed to use a computer as an aid, which was an interesting experiment at the time, because the computer was not yet as strong as it is now.
The final score was 3-3 and Gert and I met in the press room. We talked about chess players, chess in general and the influence of the computer. But we also talked about sports and especially about soccer, because soccer was a common in-terest of ours, as it soon became clear. So an appointment was made to watch the Belgium-the Netherlands match somewhere together. This match was scheduled during that period when we were in sunny Leon.
The match ended 0-0. We had several beers in the meantime and talked again about our profession. It was a pleasant evening.
A year later I became the tournament director at Wijk aan Zee, which I still am to-day. I then consciously chose to give up all my chess journalism work and opted definitively for the organizational side – a choice I have never regretted, although I did continue to do interviews with footballers for a long time. These were usually long stories too, because that interest remained.
By a special kind of coincidence, Gert took over my role as interviewer for the KNSB chess magazine after I stopped there. Precisely for that reason it was so nice that we had already met in Leon in 1998. And fortunately he did that job with an enor-mous passion, so chess lovers from Belgium and the Netherlands have been able to enjoy his stories for about twenty years now.
I like the fact that a publisher has now been found to compile his best stories. The biggest names pass by: Kasparov, Karpov, Timman, Carlsen, Polgar, Kortchnoi, Anand, Caruana, Giri, Hou Yifan... This is just a sample, all portrayed at a time when they were in the spotlight in one way or another.
The power of a good interviewer is that he prepares well. And that is what Gert does. Moreover, he is also conscientious in the elaboration of his stories. He checks facts and calls or emails the interviewee if something is not clear to him or needs explanation.
I hope the reader enjoys reading this book.
Amsterdam, December 2021.
Jeroen van den Berg
Content
006 Preamble Jeroen van den Berg
008 Preamble from the Author
013 PART I - World Champions
015 Ch 1 - Viktor Kortchnoi: "I haven't discovered anything human in Karpov yet"
031 Ch 2 - Anatoly Karpov: "A roaring beast is better kept in its cage"
043 Ch 3 - Garry Kasparov: "Putin is no better than Mugabe"
059 Ch 4 - Vladimir Kramnik: "My first name is still Vladimir, not ‘world champion'"
077 Ch 5 - Veselin Topalov: "I can never match Kasparov"
093 Ch 6 - Vishy Anand: "In India chess is now exploding"
101 Ch 7 - Magnus Carlsen: "I can always win, against anyone"
111 Ch 8 - Judit Polgar: "My colleagues see me as a man"
127 Ch 9 - Alexandra Kosteniuk: "I am a chess star first, then a photo model"
141 Ch 10 - Hou Yifan: "I have a lot to learn from Polgar"
221 PART II - World Toppers 2010-Now
151 Ch 11 - Fabiano Caruana: "I have as much chance at the world title as the others"
161 Ch 12 - Hikaru Nakamura: "Chess in the US has to boom again as under Fischer"
175 Ch 13 - Levon Aronian: "I owe it to Armenia to become world champion"
187 Ch 14 - Anish Giri: "I’ve a chance at the world title for many years to come"
195 Ch 15 - Jan Timman: "Apart from Kasparov and Karpov, I was clearly the best"
207 Ch 16 - Yasser Seirawan: "After eight years, I wanted to play a real tournament"
217 Ch 17 - Michael Adams: "I am in a sombre period as far as chess is concerned"
221 PART III - World Toppers 1999-2010
223 Ch 18 - Peter Leko: "Fischer? Every chess player is a little crazy"
239 Ch 19 - Alexei Shirov: "Kasparov is a cheat, Kramnik an immoral cynic"
255 Ch 20 - Mikhail Gurevich: "I’ve done nothing but play chess all my life"
263 Ch 21 - Joël Lautier: "That wasn’t childish, that was war!"
279 Ch 22 - Boris Gelfand: "Kasparov wants to play Kramnik for the rest of his life"
285 Ch 23 - Peter Svidler: "Kasparov has long ceased to be a scary monster"
295 Ch 24 - Teimour Radjabov: "I want to perform like Fischer or Kasparov"
303 Ch 25 - Alexander Grischuk: "I’m actually middle-aged"
309 Ch 26 - Loek van Wely: "My time has not yet come"
325 Ch 27 - Sergei Tiviakov: "I’d rather enjoy my life than be in the 2700 club"
337 Ch 28 - Tea Lanchava: "Chess is about survival"
351 Ch 29 - Alex Yermolinsky: "I don’t play chess for money or fame, but for myself"
\pagebb363 PART IV - Science: Psychology, Computers And Composing
365 Ch 30 - Jana Krivec: "Just go back and fight"
389 Ch 31 - Frederic Friedel: "That one mistake in a series of moves, Fritz will see it"
401 Ch 32 - Yochanan Afek: "I feel rich inside"
411 PART V - Covid Times: Chess Dip And Boom
413 Ch 33 - David Navara: "I have not forgotten how to play chess"
433 Ch 34 - Anna-Maja Kazarian: "I often win on Twitch against IM’s and even GM’s"
451 Ch 35 - Jennifer Shahade: "The Queen’s Gambit has more impact on chess than Fischer"
469 Thank you!
Partly for this reason, it is gratifying that Gert Devreese has published his best and most beau-tiful chess interviews in book form! I hope that young people will also enjoy this, because the dynamic between a trained interviewer and an interesting interviewee is shown to its best advantage in the written word. Gert interviewed virtually all the top chess players for both his newspaper De Standaard and for the Dutch magazine Schaakmagazine.
The latter magazine is also an interface between Gert and myself. When I was still making interviews myself, with the same drive that Gert still has, I was once in Leon, Spain for Schakend Nederland (the predecessor of Schaakmagazine) for the Ad-vanced Chess Duel Kasparov–Topalov. I preferred to make my stories as long as possible – just as Gert still does. It was June 1998. The two players were allowed to use a computer as an aid, which was an interesting experiment at the time, because the computer was not yet as strong as it is now.
The final score was 3-3 and Gert and I met in the press room. We talked about chess players, chess in general and the influence of the computer. But we also talked about sports and especially about soccer, because soccer was a common in-terest of ours, as it soon became clear. So an appointment was made to watch the Belgium-the Netherlands match somewhere together. This match was scheduled during that period when we were in sunny Leon.
The match ended 0-0. We had several beers in the meantime and talked again about our profession. It was a pleasant evening.
A year later I became the tournament director at Wijk aan Zee, which I still am to-day. I then consciously chose to give up all my chess journalism work and opted definitively for the organizational side – a choice I have never regretted, although I did continue to do interviews with footballers for a long time. These were usually long stories too, because that interest remained.
By a special kind of coincidence, Gert took over my role as interviewer for the KNSB chess magazine after I stopped there. Precisely for that reason it was so nice that we had already met in Leon in 1998. And fortunately he did that job with an enor-mous passion, so chess lovers from Belgium and the Netherlands have been able to enjoy his stories for about twenty years now.
I like the fact that a publisher has now been found to compile his best stories. The biggest names pass by: Kasparov, Karpov, Timman, Carlsen, Polgar, Kortchnoi, Anand, Caruana, Giri, Hou Yifan... This is just a sample, all portrayed at a time when they were in the spotlight in one way or another.
The power of a good interviewer is that he prepares well. And that is what Gert does. Moreover, he is also conscientious in the elaboration of his stories. He checks facts and calls or emails the interviewee if something is not clear to him or needs explanation.
I hope the reader enjoys reading this book.
Amsterdam, December 2021.
Jeroen van den Berg
Content
006 Preamble Jeroen van den Berg
008 Preamble from the Author
013 PART I - World Champions
015 Ch 1 - Viktor Kortchnoi: "I haven't discovered anything human in Karpov yet"
031 Ch 2 - Anatoly Karpov: "A roaring beast is better kept in its cage"
043 Ch 3 - Garry Kasparov: "Putin is no better than Mugabe"
059 Ch 4 - Vladimir Kramnik: "My first name is still Vladimir, not ‘world champion'"
077 Ch 5 - Veselin Topalov: "I can never match Kasparov"
093 Ch 6 - Vishy Anand: "In India chess is now exploding"
101 Ch 7 - Magnus Carlsen: "I can always win, against anyone"
111 Ch 8 - Judit Polgar: "My colleagues see me as a man"
127 Ch 9 - Alexandra Kosteniuk: "I am a chess star first, then a photo model"
141 Ch 10 - Hou Yifan: "I have a lot to learn from Polgar"
221 PART II - World Toppers 2010-Now
151 Ch 11 - Fabiano Caruana: "I have as much chance at the world title as the others"
161 Ch 12 - Hikaru Nakamura: "Chess in the US has to boom again as under Fischer"
175 Ch 13 - Levon Aronian: "I owe it to Armenia to become world champion"
187 Ch 14 - Anish Giri: "I’ve a chance at the world title for many years to come"
195 Ch 15 - Jan Timman: "Apart from Kasparov and Karpov, I was clearly the best"
207 Ch 16 - Yasser Seirawan: "After eight years, I wanted to play a real tournament"
217 Ch 17 - Michael Adams: "I am in a sombre period as far as chess is concerned"
221 PART III - World Toppers 1999-2010
223 Ch 18 - Peter Leko: "Fischer? Every chess player is a little crazy"
239 Ch 19 - Alexei Shirov: "Kasparov is a cheat, Kramnik an immoral cynic"
255 Ch 20 - Mikhail Gurevich: "I’ve done nothing but play chess all my life"
263 Ch 21 - Joël Lautier: "That wasn’t childish, that was war!"
279 Ch 22 - Boris Gelfand: "Kasparov wants to play Kramnik for the rest of his life"
285 Ch 23 - Peter Svidler: "Kasparov has long ceased to be a scary monster"
295 Ch 24 - Teimour Radjabov: "I want to perform like Fischer or Kasparov"
303 Ch 25 - Alexander Grischuk: "I’m actually middle-aged"
309 Ch 26 - Loek van Wely: "My time has not yet come"
325 Ch 27 - Sergei Tiviakov: "I’d rather enjoy my life than be in the 2700 club"
337 Ch 28 - Tea Lanchava: "Chess is about survival"
351 Ch 29 - Alex Yermolinsky: "I don’t play chess for money or fame, but for myself"
\pagebb363 PART IV - Science: Psychology, Computers And Composing
365 Ch 30 - Jana Krivec: "Just go back and fight"
389 Ch 31 - Frederic Friedel: "That one mistake in a series of moves, Fritz will see it"
401 Ch 32 - Yochanan Afek: "I feel rich inside"
411 PART V - Covid Times: Chess Dip And Boom
413 Ch 33 - David Navara: "I have not forgotten how to play chess"
433 Ch 34 - Anna-Maja Kazarian: "I often win on Twitch against IM’s and even GM’s"
451 Ch 35 - Jennifer Shahade: "The Queen’s Gambit has more impact on chess than Fischer"
469 Thank you!