15 April 2016
Andrey Filatov: I Am Sure Carlsen Is Afraid Of Karjakin
RCF President answered questions from Sport-Express journalists.
The RCF President visited headquarters of Sport-Express and gave an extensive interview to a group of journalists of this newspaper. He spoke about Sergey Karjakin, his upcoming match with Carlsen, the unique chess museum in Moscow, the Legion of Honor order he received in France, and many more. Below is an excerpt from the interview.
Q: Before the candidates tournament, you were one of the very few people who expressed confidence in Sergey Karjakin's win. Was that intuition?
A: We work to win. There is a lot of work, by many people. I know how passionate and dedicated are our coaches and Sergey himself, I saw his play at the World Cup. People have anticipated great things from Karjakin for a long time. Now it is his time to win. Hopefully he will make us even happier in November, when he plays a World Championship match with Magnus Carlsen in New York.
Q: Why others did not believe in Karjakin?
A: They thought he lacks aggression, that he is very peaceful by nature and would prefer to take a draw rather than take risks and be aggressive. However, this was true for Karjakin of three years ago, when he visibly lacked confidence. Karjakin who came to play in the candidates tournament, believed in his success, and we saw a completely new person, ready to take risks and playing like a man.
Q: What did you tell Karjakin after his win? Did you find some special words?
A: I sincerely congratulated him, thanked and said that we expecting new victories. And I also said that Carlsen is afraid of him.
Q: And is he?
A: Of course. I believe so.
Q: Why do you think so?
A: Because he has everything to lose.
Q: How one should play against Carlsen?
A: One has to understand that Carlsen is a gambler, true gambler. He cannot go without adrenaline, without some risk. And taking risks creates mutual chances. I like the way he plays in dry positions, when he begins to swirl things, create a mess, make risky moves. Since his authority is so strong, many of his opponents refuse to accept the challenge, avoid the most critical continuations, and end up in worse positions. Magnus is a unique player, of course.
In my opinion, the Carlsen-Karjakin match will be very similar to a great match we haven't seen – Fischer-Karpov. Sergey is somewhat similar to Karpov in his playing style, and Carlsen is a highly uncompromising player, like Fischer.
Q: Karjakin and Carlsen are in contact, as far as I know...
A: Yes, they are on good terms, even friendly terms.
Q: Does Anatoly Karpov want to help Sergey, join his team during the preparation?
A: I think they will discuss it in the near future. Of course, we need all the experience of our great match players. Sergey has very limited experience of matches, he never competed in this format. This is very different from tournaments. You have to pick the right day to demonstrate your novelty, sense when your opponent is not ready for a large-scale game. Sometimes you need to simplify the game, sometimes it is necessary to create maximum pressure, and you have to sense it. Players can sometimes tell it from a handshake.
Kirill Zangalis, Karjakin's manager: Karpov and Karjakin play training games. They have a very similar style: gain a slight advantage...
A: ...and squeeze the opponent positionally. However, Karjakin is more opt for sharp tactical chess, thanks to his coaches. They prepared so much for the candidates tournament.
Q: Who are in his coaching team?
A: Vladimir Potkin, Yury Dokhoian, Alexander Motylev. At the training camp before the candidates they also had a fantastic attacking player Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. They are friends with Sergey, and once at the dinner in Wijk aan Zee they decided that having a training camp together might be a good idea. And here is the result: in a game in the Candidates, when Sergey could just defend a worse position, he sacrificed a queen, to everyone's surprise! Mamedyarov helped Sergey to play a lot sharper.
