Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina-9 |
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| Saturday, 22 May 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It's time for the weekly Q&As! Feel free to send me new ones: Q1: Why did Anand and Topalov not play e4 in the match? A1: e4 requires memorizing more theory. Besides, chess is evolving in cycles and has its own fashion. Nowadays many grandmasters believe that it is hard to pose problems with White after e4 due to existense of such openings as the Petroff, Ruy Lopez, etc. In a few years the situation may easily change, and e4 might become more fashionable again. Q2: What is better: 2d computer chess or 3d (like an actual board and pieces)? A2: Many pros don't use the real chess boards at all (even Carlsen once said he doesn't). The times when you had to take a chess set with you during travels are long gone. However, at training sessions it's very convenient and useful to employ a real board. It helps you feel the position much better and memorize the main ideas by playing them out with your hands. Moving pieces on the computer screen is convenient and fast, but less efficient in terms of memorization. Therefore, I usually use both a computer and a chess board. Q3: At what age did you start to play chess, who taught you how to play it? A3: My grandfather taught me how to play chess at the age of 5. Later, when I somehow won ths school's checkers tournament, a local chess coach, Leonid Gankin, decided that I might have talent for chess and offered me his support. Q4: If you play the whole game blindfolded, does your playing strength diminish a little or greatly? Would you be able to mercilessly crush an opponent rated between 1700 and 1800? A4: When playing just one blindfolded game, the playing strength doesn't diminish a lot (for me). Maybe by 100 points at most. And you probably know yourself the typical outcome of a 1700-1800 vs 2400+ game.  Q5: What type of clothes do you prefer to wear at tournaments: sports or classic? A5: It's easy to answer this question by looking at my photos from different events. The general requirement is that one should feel comfortable at the board. No overdressing, no underdressing. Also, I prefer jeans to skirts when playing otb. Q6: Do you have a tournament schedule and how do you prepare for chess tournaments? A6: Of course, I have a special calendar with all the chess events marked there a year ahead. Preparation depends on the current weaknesses of the player. Sometimes one has to practice more sports, sometimes to work on one's psychology, sometimes simply hold a chess training session for a week or two. I am not an exception in this respect. Q7: How do you analyse your games? A7: After the game has been played I quickly review it in order to spot the nature of my mistakes and try to fix them. For instance, "opening surprise", "forgot my analysis", "was too tired to calculate a variation", "poor time-management", "playing too agressively in an equal position", etc. Such a diagnosis may help change your behavior during later games and save a lot of points. After the event is over, it is the time for a detailed analysis. Now the opening tree gets updated, all the critical moments of the game are studied and reflected upon, new middlegame plans are found, endgames studied and so on. Thus, each game contributes to a person's understanding and knowledge of chess. Related articles: Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina-8 Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina-7 Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina-6 Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina-5 Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina-4 Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina-3 Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina-2 Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina 
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