Interview with Shen Yang

I know that you have been in Armenia before. What are your first impressions about the city of Jermuk?

Jermuk is amazing: mountains, lakes, fresh air, friendly people, fruits. I love Armenia, especially Jermuk!

Which of the previous Grand Prix tournaments was more successful for you and what was the reason of it?

Nanjing, I played better than the first time in Turkey. But it didn’t end up successfully – I just lost to all the Chinese players.

What expectations and objectives do you have from this tournament?

I hope I can do better than in the past two events. And I hope to visit more beautiful places in Jermuk.

All Grand Prix tournaments have rather strong participants. What can you say about the participants of this tournament?

Strong participants make the tournament strong. I think it is good for women’s chess!

Which important traits do you appreciate in people? How do you want to see the world champion?

I most of all appreciate people who are honest, fair-minded, kindheartedness, and strong-minded. And of course the champion should play splendid chess.

The Grand Prix men’s tournament was devoted to the 80th anniversary of the world champion Tigran Petrosian and this tournament is devoted to the 100th anniversary of the famous chess composer Genrikh Kasparian. Are you familiar with his creations?

He is a great composer, but I am not as familiar as I would like to be with his creations. I have only read his book, entitled “Domination in 2545 Endgame Studies.”

Official website: http://jermuk2010.fide.com