Interview with GM Anatolij Vaisser, 2010 world senior champion
Q=question / a = answer
GM Anatolij Vaisser won the world senior championship 2010 in Arco di Trento (Italy) due to better technical tie break than V. jansa (Cze) V. Dydyshko (Bielorus) L. Kaufman (USA).
We dedicate him this interview.
Vaisser was born in Almaty (Kaz) in 1949; since 1991 he lives in France.
Q – Is this the first time you play in Opatija? And in Croatia?
A – Yes, it is my first tournament in Opatja, but not in Croatia: I played once in Pula.
Q – When you learned to play chess?
A – I was 5 years old. Then when I was 17 I played in the Junior Soviet Team. But then I devoted my time to get my degree in University. Only after this I came back to chess; in 1982 I won the Russian Championship and I became International Master. In 1985 I got the title of Grand Master.
Q – We know that you are not only a player but also a trainer…
A – Yes, I am not only a player, I wrote a book, I was trainer, for example, of Psakhis (in 1980 and 1981 when he won twice the Urss Championship – the second time due to better technical tie break than Kasparov). And I was also the trainer of the French national team.
By the way let’s remember that Vaisser was French champion in 1997.
Q – And then?
A – In 1998 I almost stopped to play chess, to devote myself to other projects; for some year I played no more than one or two tournaments a year. I was nearly to definitively stop with chess but last year I won the World Senior Championship: thanks to this, I got many invitation so I decided to go on!
Q – Coming back to Opatija, what your feel about the organization?
A – Quite fantastic! And moreover (but this is not worth of the organisation) also the weather is really beautiful! May be that some improvement can be made in the play room, but it is rather comfortable.
Q – Coming back to tournament, who is your favourite for the title?
A – In my opinion there are many players that can win this championship, at least twenty! The swiss system offers many chance and – at a certain age – almost everything may happen!
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Thanks and best regards!
Adolivio Capece
Is he French?