One-third of the distance is over in the Championship of the National student chess league. After three game days eight participants keep a 100% result, including two strong FIDE masters Roman Kezin (Novosibirsk) and Igor Vakhlamov (Moscow). The ranking favorite of the Student Tournament, international grandmaster Vitaliy Bernadskiy with 2,5 points is now in the group following the leaders. We’ve decided to address several questions to the chess player from Ukraine.
- Vitaliy, I guess, you play not for the first time in the RSSU Cup, Moscow Open, don’t you?
- I played many times in the Moscow Open. This year I’ve decided to play in the Student Tournament, representing the Ural State Mining University.
- Why exactly the Student Tournament?
- I really want my University to win, that’s why I preferred the Student Tournament to the main one (The Moscow Open Cup of Russia stage – editorial comment). However, this competition is a team event and my teammate Alfia Nasybullina must also play well to gain success. So far she’s doing fine and scored 2,5 points.
I had a chance to play in both tournaments at the same time as the student competitions are held in the morning, and the rest – after the lunch time, but I’ve decided to focus on the one, where I defend the honor of my University.
- Tell us about your future profession, what are you going to do in future? Do you have any hobby?
- My education will grant me with the profession of the geo-scientist. I consider higher education to be an important part of my life. In future I plan to work the same hard in the chess sphere. When I have some spare time I study foreign languages and go in for active kinds of sport.
- What tournaments of the year 2016 will remain in your memory?
- Recently I spent the whole month in India, where I played in three tournaments in a row. I was playing with mixed success, at some point I was very close to win, but the fate was thinking differently. I would mark Erevan Open from the number of the last tournaments, where I shared the first place.
- What are your next plans connected with the sport?
- I like to visit exotic warm countries. That’s why I want to play in Vietnam, Thailand and probably in Iran or Iraq. In May I’ll take part in the European Championships, where I will struggle for the first place and qualification to the World Cup.
- Do you like it here, in the Moscow Open?
- I love the Moscow Open as a lot of my friends are here, and it’s a very warm atmosphere. I hope to return here next year.
Alina Bivol asked questions