Andrey Filatov: I’m Glad Chess Players Have Returned to OTB Play
The CFR President highlights the year's results in a traditional interview.
Andrey Filatov, President of the Chess Federation of Russia, gave a traditional interview to the Sport-Express newspaper to sum up the year of 2020.
- Mr. Filatov, what is your take on the year that is about to close? How will it brand on chess players' memory?
- The passing year 2021 has been a challenge as we have lost people who have contributed so much to chess. These are our colleagues and friends, grandmasters and coaches: Evgeny Sveshnikov, Yury Dokhoian, and Liudmila Belavenets. Let them rest in peace!
At the same time, despite all difficulties related to keeping players in good health, we managed to run competitions planned for the calendar year. Some tournaments were cancelled or moved online, but chess players have returned to the over-the-board play.
- Please tell us more about over-the-board tournaments, because 2020 was marked by online competitions.
We have organized the children's Russian championship, Belaya Ladya, individual and team national championships. This year's Russian Championship Superfinals, which run as part of our popular Chess in Museums program, were hosted by the capital of Bashkiria, Ufa. As a result, Grandmasters Nikita Vitiugov and Valentina Gunina have become champions for the first and fourth times, respectively.
Besides, many festivals generally known as Black Sea Grand Prix have made their way into the Chess Federation of Russia's calendar. As many as 10 Grand Prix stages have taken place in the South of Russia with the support from the Ministry of Sports. Over 3400 chess players of various ages and levels of play from 68 regions of our country have participated in the tournaments. GM Mikhail Demidov has won a triumphant victory in the individual section, and GM Elena Tomilova has shined among women. It is noteworthy that Elena, along with her husband, GM Dmitry Kryakvin and their son Andrey, have taken the first prize in the family competition. I am happy that more and more "chess" families appear in Russia every year.
- Russia has become a traditionally host of many international competitions ...
- ... and the year 2021 has become no exception. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) trusts us to organize major world competitions on the chess calendar. In April, the Candidates Tournament ended in Yekaterinburg: this tournament is unique to the history of chess for having extended over a year due to covid restrictions. The victory in this tournament was secured by Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who qualified for the crown match against Magnus Carlsen. This battle, which has ended recently in Dubai, is still on everyone's lips.
From July 10 to August 8, Sochi accommodated the FIDE World Cups. It has been for the first time that such major competitions among men and women ran in parallel. Chess players stayed and played in Krasnaya Polyana, surrounded by mountains, and enjoying extremely comfortable conditions. It was highlighted by the world champion, who took part in this tournament but finished only third. World Cup is the only trophy that Magnus Carlsen has yet to take.
- How difficult is it to hold over-the-board competitions in a pandemic?
- It is far from easy, but it is necessary! All other sports have resumed routine, and chess should be no exception. The seventh world champion Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov (2021 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth) famously said: "Nothing beats people's safety!" We often recalled his words when adopting the sanitary safety protocol for the World Cups. Over 300 chess players from almost 100 countries came to us, not to mention coaches, accompanying persons, and arbiters ... Everyone, without exception, was to undergo PCR tests every three days. There were several players who we had to remove from the competition. However, Smyslov would not have been ashamed of us as all people returned to their homes safe and sound!
Speaking about athletic achievements, the 12th world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk became the Women’s World Cup holder, and I sincerely congratulate this wonderful athlete and one of our team's leaders! She has qualified into the 2022 Candidates Tournament. We have been less successful with the Men's Cup as Sergei Karjakin finished only second, going down in the final to the young Polish GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda. However, the second place is an undoubted success because Sergey has attained his main goal of qualifying into the 2022 Candidates Tournament. Our young talent Andrey Esipenko delivered a very confident performance in Sochi, but it was no less a person than Magnus Carlsen who stopped him: in an absolutely equal and nail-biting struggle, the world champion proved somewhat stronger and won his tie-break blitz games.
- What if we give it a broader look in terms of how Russian chess players stood out on the international arena?
- From August 20 to September 15, the second FIDE Online Olympiad took place, competing in which were national teams from as many as 153 countries. The Russian national team came up with the following lineup: men — Alexander Grischuk, Daniil Dubov, Vladislav Artemiev, Vladimir Fedoseev; women — Aleksandra Goryachkina, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kateryna Lagno and Valentina Gunina; juniors — Andrey Esipenko, Volodar Murzin; girls — Polina Shuvalova, Leya Garifullina. Team captain — GV Alexander Motylev. The Russians finished clear in the qualifying group after winning all 9 matches. At the playoff stage, we consistently defeated teams of Hungary (quarter-finals), China (semi-finals) and the USA (final). As a result, the Russian team has become the FIDE Online Olympiad winner for the second year in a row.
2021 has been a great success for the Russian women's team: our "golden girls", led by GM Sergei Rublevsky, took the over-the-board European and World championships. Kudos!
November-December saw the world championship match take place at the World Expo 2020 in Dubai. Ian Nepomniachtchi challenged the undefeated world champion of Norway Magnus Carlsen. The first half of the match witnessed an absolutely equal, stubborn and spectacular fight. Unfortunately, something happened afterwards as Ian began committing so many mistakes and underperforming. This is something for him and his coaches to figure out. In any case, Nepomniachtchi gained invaluable experience, and, with a proper takeaway from his defeat, he may well continue to storm the summit. There will be at least two Russians out of eight participants of the 2022 Candidates Tournament: Nepomniachtchi and Karjakin. I hope that more of our athletes will make it into the FIDE Grand Prix series. The two remaining tickets will be out for grabs in the series of February-April 2022.
Finally, a couple of days ago, the European Rapid and Blitz Championships ended in the Polish city of Katowice. Alexander Motylev, the men's national team coach, has become the Old World's champion in rapid chess. Meanwhile, the capital of Poland will host the World Rapid and Blitz Championships on Christmas, with many world-leading grandmasters participating. Both Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi are going to be there. Therefore, Christmas will not be dull for chess fans!
- What has been the primary vector for the chess development of 2021?
The main application of our efforts has not changed for many years — it is about popularization of chess in all possible ways. Our project Chess in Schools is gaining momentum every year; it has already been adopted in 18 regions of Russia. Three hundred eighty thousand children have got their first acquaintance with chess in elementary school, about 4,000 teachers have passed advanced chess training courses; almost 1,500 schools have got chess literature and equipment. Chess coaches in Russia are in high demand and earn good money.
The extent of our game's popularity can be measured even by the musical Chess, which has been going on in Moscow for the second year and with great success. Yesterday, the premiere of the narrative film World Champion, based on Anatoly Karpov's biography, took place in Moscow. I hope this movie will be a big success with the audience.
- My last question — what are your expectations for 2022?
Firstly, I am looking forward to the World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk and Moscow. This is the key team tournament in our sport. Unfortunately, the pandemic caused the Olympiad to have been postponed twice already; it was initially planned in 2020. Hopefully, it will occur in 2022, and the Russian teams will demonstrate a decent result.
We are busy preparing for this tournament as it comes with an excellent opportunity to involve as many amateurs and fans in chess as possible. A chess train will start running along the red line of the Moscow subway in just a few days. This is the first similar project in history! We are launching the train together with our colleagues from the musical "Chess", and we hope that professionals, experienced fans, and novice amateurs will appreciate it. So, play chess in 2022, and, of course, be healthy, take care of yourself and your loved ones!
Original text (in Russian)
