Nigel Short: “There are worse things in life than losing a game of chess”

Q: Nigel, thank you very much for coming to our press-conference. And our traditional question would be about the city and the tournament, what are your impressions?

A: I've been very comfortable in the city, the weather is terrible, but what can I say… but the tournament is well organized so I don't have any complaints.

Q: What about today's game? Was it a lack of concentration or something else? Because we know your opponent was so late.

A: The fact is that someone telephoned him.

Q: It actually turned out that no one called him, someone just knocked on the door to check his mini-bar.

A: What can I say? I'm really disappointed, but, you know, it's been really a long time that I've been able to play well in the tournaments of this nature, almost 10 years. And I personally don't like the mixing of disciplines. You have classical chess which is like running 10 000 meters and you have blitz, which is like running 100 meters and there's also rapid chess, which is something in between. People looking from the outside may say it's all the same, it's all chess, and it's like saying: “It's all running”. But to go from one kind of chess to the other rapidly is very difficult, so it's a question of being able to withstand the tension in games like this. I don't think my opponent played very well in the classical games, he was worse in the first game when he was White and he was clearly worse in the second game when he was Black, but this is my own fault. This is like playing football: you can have a lot of possession of the ball, but of you don't put the ball in the back of the net, it's your own fault. So my opponent didn't play great chess, but he played better chess than I did. So that's why he got through and I didn't.

Q: It seems that the outcome of your game and some other games can indicate that the tournaments with the knock-out system are rather for the younger players. Do you agree?

A: I don't have the problem with rapid chess, which is an important and valuable addition to classical chess. My problem is with mixing. During the World Cup Championship in Mexico the games were played with one time control. Here I didn't play two time controls, but you can actually end up with playing three time controls. And this is what I don't like. Actually, I didn't come here with great expectations, my ambition was to get to the next round, but unfortunately I didn't succeed. Such system creates massive tension, probably this kind of dramatic effect is intended for the spectators, but it makes the tournament like a casino in a way, because things aren't decided in a move here or a move there. Besides, you're facing elimination at almost every moment.

Actually, I'm not a bad player and if I were to play with my opponent 10 games of classical chess my chances would be higher. But we're only playing two games. And when you play these quick time controls, you have to respond very quickly and don't have a luxury of slowly working your way into the game; you have to be good immediately.

Q: Nigel, before the first game when your opponent was late I saw you walking around, talking to players, watching the others' games. Was it the reason you've lost concentration?

A: Well, I was expecting him, I knew he was on his way, but it's difficult to sit down and maintain this feeling of tension for such a long time. And there was also a case in history when Fischer showed up to play with Reshevsky after 58 minutes and absolutely crushed him. Obviously, I didn't play Bobby Fisher today. Actually at some moment I just blundered and there were a couple of things I missed.

Q: Now that you are a spectator at the tournament is there any player you'd like to see in the final?

A: I haven't really thought about it, to be honest. You know, I'd like Michael Adams to do well, he's my countryman, but that's it. And I will not be a spectator here for very long.

I've been actually thinking other thoughts. You know, a week ago I had a dinner with Gary Kasparov in Antwerp , and one week later he's in prison and I've been sent to Siberia (laughing). So I've been reflecting on life.

Q: What is your attitude to Kasparov's current political activity?