CHESS

The Indian ChessBase journalist, Sagar Shah, interviewed Wesley So, winner of the 2016 Sinquefield Cup, where the average rating was 2778! Here follow a few extracts… Sagar Shah: You won the Sinquefield Cup 2016, a very strong super tournament, by a clear halfpoint. How do you feel about this result? Wesley So: Stunned! SS: At the Sinquefield Cup 2015 you finished last, and now first place! What were you expectations going into this tournament? WS: I go into every tournament hoping to win! Maybe my expectations are too big. But I have been working steadily over the last year trying to stabilise my game and mature myself. Success and maturity come a step at a time, and just because I won this doesn’t mean I’m there yet. SS: Can you tell us something about what happened in the opening ceremony – did all the players have to write the name of the player they thought would win the tournament? WS: It wasn’t written down, it was spoken to the audience. Maurice asked each player to name the player he thought would win (aside from himself). I named Caruana. No one picked me! SS: Is it true that reading Garry Kasparov’s helped you in preparation for the event? WS: Yes, I read a lot of the chess classics because our predecessors set the standards for the games we play today. It is important to learn from their tried-and-tested techniques and preparations. Now with most chess players in the world just memorising computer analysis, it’s so interesting to see how the greatest players in history worked out the moves with their brains. SS: Wesley, you are a self-made player. You have not been working with any top level coaches. And now you have reached a rating of 2782! Do you think it is possible for players to succeed at the game of chess, as you did, without formal coaching? WS: Of course, the ideal situation is to have a great coach, a top- level sparring partner, a sponsor, etc. Of course, I want all that, and now that I am playing enough to get some attention, perhaps, I can get those things as well. But my story is no different from millions of other kids out there. I come from a poor background and the Philippines is a poor country (at least for some people). I had to help myself and try to make it on my own. My situation was always precarious and there were many times I intended to give up chess because I couldn’t see a way to improve. For a few years in my mid-teens I barely studied or played chess. I came to the US not really to try for a chess career, but to get a degree in something so that I could make a living. I just thought I would never be good enough and there was no way for me to compete with others who had a big support base. By 2016 I was awarded the Samford Fellowship and it gave my confidence such a boost to know that complete strangers would leave legacies to help future generations long after they are gone. I bless the name of Frank Samford Jr. WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN SEE DIAGRAM 1962) Korchnoi, Bronstein( queen the winning case each in g5+ 4 Kf6 Qh5+ 3 Kg5 Qh8+ 2 Kxh61... or Qf8+ 3 Kf6 Qg8+ 2 gxh61... If 01- Rxh6+! 1 “Not without reason, is it the one game that, since its invention around AD 600, has been played in most of the world, has captivated the imagination and interest of millions, and has been the source of great sorrows and great pleasures.” – Norman Reider