Francisco Vallejo Pons has come to play in Moscow Open for the first time. The Spanish GM told the correspondent of the official website about his interest in Russian and his first round game.
- At the same time as the Moscow Open another chess festival in Gibraltar is being held. That location is closer to Spain so why did you choose to come to Moscow?
- I’ve already played in Gibraltar many times and I know the place quite well. So it would be no big surprise for me to play there, but I have yet to play at the Moscow Open. What's more, I’m trying to learn a little Russian in Moscow.
- Why are you studying Russian?
- I’m interested in this language. I think it’s one of the most interesting languages in the world and it’s highly widespread in chess. Many of the world's best chess players speak Russian. Fischer did, so why not learn it? So, I enjoy studying it and decided to spend some time here, to play a few big tournaments like Moscow Open and Aeroflot Open.
- Also, I saw your pictures with Sergey Karjakin in Moscow. Did you train chess or just meet as friends?
- We’ve been friends for a long time and we decided to play some blitz, so it’s not very serious training. But it’s always good to play against a strong player like Sergey and I was happy to meet with him and take pictures. It's just for fun.
- Who are your other chess friends from Russia?
- I know a lot of players. I’m a bit closer maybe to Svidler or Nepo. I mean, I know all the Russian grandmasters but I don’t meet with them as often, only during the tournaments. But when I’m playing at a tournament I usually spend more time with Spanish people. But I like Russian people, they are very nice.
- What do you think of Moscow Open, of its organization?
- Only one round has been played. I’m new to this area. I guess after a few days I’ll have an opinion, but right now I don’t know what to tell you: I haven’t been around much. But as long as there is good chess and a good tournament I’m happy to be here.
I haven’t played much lately and I think that the Moscow Open is a very challenging tournament before the European Championship. I was very happy when I saw the starting list, and myself as number 2 (laughing). But my competitors are very good players and a few rating points don’t do a great deal. It’s going to be very tough and challenging.
- Recently we've observed a new trend in chess: top players taking part in open tournaments. Vladimir Kramnik played in Qatar, Veselin Topalov is playing in Gibraltar, you’re playing here…
- I cannot say that I’m a top player at the level of Kramnik or Topalov, but thanks for the compliment! It’s nice to see strong people playing everywhere. I was also very surprised when I saw Topalov in Gibraltar.
- Maybe it happens now because the average level of chess players is much higher than before?
- Chess is developing, getting tougher and tougher. There are a lot of young players, 15-year-old guys. I've seen very many of them here and they are really tough already.
Nowadays it’s very difficult to be on the top.
- What happened in your game today?
- I think I got some initiative from the opening, then I got a winning position and slowly converted my advantage into the victory. I don’t know whether my opponent had a chance but probably he did something wrong. Although he did play very fast. He has some practical skills, but I think he was playing a bit superficially in some very critical positions. Perhaps when I analyze it with the computer I’ll find out it was all terrible, but as for now I’m quite happy with the game.