Mateusz Bartel about the victory in 2012 Aeroflot Open

Mateusz Bartel about the victory in 2012 Aeroflot Open

Polish champion GM Mateusz Bartel won the 2012 edition of the Aeroflot Open that took place 7-15th February in Moscow.

After the fantastic performance in one of the strongest open tournaments in the world, Bartel kindly agreed to a quick interview for Chessdom.

Chessdom: Hello Mateusz, congratulations on winning the Aeroflot Open! What are your impressions about the tournament? Did you expect such a wonderful result?

Mateusz Bartel: Of course, I couldn’t expect such result from myself. There were many much stronger players than me, and I surely wasn’t among the people who could think about the 1st place.

Especially after the Moscow Open, where I played just before Aeroflot – I played there rather badly and after losing in the last round I eventually finished at 35th place… So how could I dream about high places in such tournament as Aeroflot?

Chessdom: Which game was the most important for you in this tournament?

Mateusz Bartel: There is no doubt that it was the game against Krishnan Sasikiran. In a complicated battle he outplayed me and reached a completely winning position. However, in time-trouble he didn’t find the best solutions and then he got nervous and eventually even gave me opportunity to win.

After that game my friend Bartosz Soćko said that with such huge amount of luck I should win the whole event. Well, it was not a bad idea to listen to him 🙂

Chessdom: Did you get a confirmation that you will play in Dortmund? If yes, when will you start preparing?

Mateusz Bartel: Well, there is a line “The winner of the A tournament will be entitled to participate in the round-robin Super Tournament in Dortmund in the second half of July 2012″ in the regulations, so I hope it should work.

I guess it’s already too late to be well prepared for such tournament, as there I will meet real heavy-weight opponents. I will try to do my best before and during the tournament, but of course I know my place and I know how hard it will be…

Chessdom: You also won the last two Polish championships in 2010 and 2011. Can we expect a hat trick?

Mateusz Bartel: I rather doubt it. Our championship begins just this Saturday and I am there after two very difficult tournaments. Of course, I was aware of it when planning my calendar, but anyway it seems that I am a bit tired. I think it’s time for other players to win, although, as usual, I will try to win. I have luck, so maybe… 🙂