"Grand international chess master" at 14, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is considered one of the best French chess players of all time.

Just returned from Russia, where he played in the famous Candidates tournament, he spoke Thursday morning at the microphone of Europe 1.

INTERVIEW

"Chess is the ultimate game." Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, 30, is considered one of the best French chess players of all time. He came second in the standings of the Candidates tournament on Tuesday, a major event in the discipline which took place in Russia. "It is inevitably a disappointment, I will not face Magnus Carlsen", he regrets Thursday at the microphone of Europe 1. Every year, the tournament designates among eight of the best players on the planet the opponent who will try to delight his title to the reigning world champion. 

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has been playing chess since he was 5 years old.

At 14, he was already one of the 1,500 "international grand masters" of the discipline.

"I consider chess to be a top-level sport. It requires relentless concentration, for games that last between 4 and 6 hours. In the end, you end up tired, even exhausted."

The preparation for competitions requires, as for other sports, a rigorous physical training, in particular a strict diet. 

Renewed popularity

With up to more than 30,000 people to watch a game of chess, the Candidates tournament, a major event in the discipline which ends on Tuesday, confirmed that the 2020 chess craze has not abated. France.

The confinement and then the Netflix series

Le Jeu de la Dame

have made people discover or rediscover the millennial game, especially among a young audience.

"This series was a chance for chess. It allowed to raise the beauty of the game without falling into the cliché", enthuses Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. 

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The rise of machines has not overcome the attraction for this game, on the side of admirers or players. They simply accepted the superiority of software. "In 1997, the clash between Deep blue and Kasparov

(the first time a chess player was beaten by a computer)

caused a lot of noise because at that time, man was still intrinsically superior to The machine. Since 2005, this is no longer the case. Today, computers are so strong that a smartphone beats the best players in the world ", develops Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The fight against electronic cheating has in fact become a "long-term job", specifies the chess player.