Alexey SHIROV: “I SHOULD THANK OLGA FOR BEING WITH ME NOW”
Interview provided by the organizer of the World Cup

There is an irreplaceable loss of the Cup: the runner up of the last World Cup 2007 Alexey Shirov of Spain is leaving the tournament: he lost his match against the Russian chess player Peter Svidler – 0.5-1.5.

– Everything was clear after the first game when I lost with white, – says Alexey. – My position looked very threatening. But at one point I played inaccurately, got in time trouble and rudely blundered. And then all crashed after it. As a result I lost and got almost desperate match situation.

Today I played my traditional “Spanish” opening. I managed to get quite good position, but with equal chances. I was trying to get an initiative but Peter stopped it at once. In a time trouble I blundered again. It is good that it did not lead to another defeat. In the final position Peter could have scored again.

Did you believe that you could win after your loss in the first game?

• I realized that many things depend on what position I will have after the opening. But I did not create illusions… At the end we had almost equal position, but very complicated. I had some hopes, but unfortunately Peter was playing very convincingly.

You came to Khanty Mansiysk with a charming friend? Tell us about her.

Here Alexey faltered . It was obvious that he was trying to find the correct words…

– It is not easy to speak about a dear person… Olga’s support was very important for me now. Almost inestimable. I am very thankful to her for coming here! We are together since recently though we know each other for a long period. We met and I became more optimistic, in chess, as well as in life.

http://ugra-chess.ru/eng/interv_22.htm

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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