I recently posted about super Grandmaster Morozevich dropping out of the Grand Prix here. Today, Chess Base has the translation of the interview with Morozevich by with Yuri Vasiliev. Here is some of it:
Your numerous supporters will probably be disappointed that you are effectively opting out of the fight for the world championship…
No, by refusing to play in FIDE’s Grand Prix, I am not giving up the fight altogether. There is still another chance to fight for the title – the 2009 World Cup.
Russian chess fans have started talking about a degree of “discrimination”, in view of the fact that our players are no longer being invited to super-tournaments. Thus, in the main tournament at Wijk aan Zee, only Kramnik played, in Morelia-Linares, we have nobody, nor in Sofia, and now it is far from clear whether we will have any at Baku…What do you think about this?
No, no! (smiling) There is no discrimination. As long ago as last autumn, when my trainer Alexey Kuzmin and I drew up our plans for the “winter campaign”, we decided to concentrate on the Russian Superfinal. The characteristics of my style, with the maximum fight in every game, require me to rest between big tournaments. January was selected as the month for a time-out.
Morelia-Linares is another matter. After last year experiencing the “charm” of playing a tournament on two different continents, with two different time zones and two sets of climatic conditions, I became an opponent of such “diversity”. This mid-tournament transfer, and only a three-day gap to acclimatise before the start of the second cycle, disrupts the whole rhythm of the tournament, the mood and dynamic. Incidentally, I believe that both Kramnik and Mamedyarov share my opinion. If the organisers listen to our views, and return the first cycle of the event to the Old World, then next year, the “Wimbledon of chess” will have at least two Russian grandmasters.
Here is much more of it.
Good luck Sasha!
Con’t give up!!! Fide has to stop giving so many privileges to the Kramnik’s, Topalov’s, and the Anand’s to hold on to the WC crown without the need of defending it. The WC should defend his title at least every 6 months.
Too bad Kamsky doesn’t have Morozevich’s will to say no to FIDE. Moro sticks by his principle while Kamsky will go for most money.