Topalov: “The main thing is to enjoy the game!”

Rating favourite of the Baku World Cup, Veselin Topalov gave a short interview regarding his unsuccessful match with Peter Svidler: “Every single game in the World Cup is very hard and tentious. Even the top seeded player can be eliminated at any round. I made several mistakes in my match with Svidler. I overestimated the power of some of my moves. I am not really dissapointed – I cannot win all the time. Before playing me, Svidler won his match with Radjabov and Teimour is a more unpleasnt opponent for me. For now, I won only one game against Radjabov, so it would be hard playing him as well”.

Bulgarian world champion hopes that he will play better in the Candidates Tournamet: “I tried to play my best in this World Cup, but in any case I will play in the Candidates Tournament, but by the FIDE rules you have to play either in the Grand Prix or in the World Cup tournaments. I have not played in the Grand Prix series, so I had to participate in the World Cup, just to show some interesting chess here in Baku. In the Candidates tournament I will play completely diffirent chess”.

Topalov, who shows very stable play in recent times, talked about his career progress: “Overall I am calm now, just try to enjoy every tournament I play now. 43 years is a serious age for chess. There were people who left chess at this age. When I had problems in my life, I also thought about this. I have not played for some time, but then I came back to my favourite game, I think I will be able to show good quality chess for several years. The main thing is to enjoy the game, not to play because you need to play.”

Speaking about the accommodation and organization of the World Cup 2015, Topalov said the following: “I would like to thank the organizers, this is one of the best tournaments in the history of World Cups. Of course, it is very nice to play in such conditions. I have visited Baku several times and every time I was leaving with only positive impressions. The city and the people are very good. Next year Baku will accommodate the Chess Olympiad 2016, I think, that after Baku it will be very hard to organize this event. I believe Baku will hold the event at the highest level and it will be extremely hard to repeat for future organizers”.

Speaking about his future plans, Topalov said that he is planning to play for the SOCAR-Azerbaijan club:”I will continue playing for the SOCAR-Azerbaijan club and I would really like to win the European club title again. We have a very strong team and it is really pleasant to win every time. Forgetting the World Cup, I will concentrate on my preparation and play for the SOCAR-Azerbaijan. We have a new challenge this November”.World Cup Press service.