- Less than two weeks are left before the world championship match. How was the preparation process? I think you started your work on the very day when Jan became the winner of the Candidates Tournament ahead of schedule.
- You are not mistaken.
As soon as he won it, and the first emotions subsided, we immediately began to build the preparation process.
It is quite lengthy and has its own specifics in comparison with the preparation, say, for the Candidates Tournament.
There are meetings with different rivals, other tasks.
And a planetary championship match is a game with one opponent.
This requires a special approach - preparing one team for another.
Magnus has long debugged these mechanisms, he is a seasoned participant.
But I also have experience of the 2016 fight in New York, where I helped Sergey Karjakin.
And, of course, I look at many things from the point of view of the accumulated baggage.
This year we have had a lot more training camps than before.
We either participated in tournaments or prepared somewhere, spent very little time at home.
We did a great job, and now we flew to Dubai for the final camp.
The task is to undergo acclimatization, to get used to the situation, so that Yang approaches the confrontation full of strength and energy and fully manifests his best qualities.
He is a player by nature, he loves the process itself, and our task is to organize everything here so that he would calmly go out and play the game for his own pleasure.
- I heard that a supercomputer from Skolkovo was involved in the preparation of Yan. This is true?
- Yes indeed.
Now computers play a very important role in preparation, greatly facilitating the analytical tasks that a team faces.
If earlier, in the Soviet era, during the Karpov-Kasparov match, the brigades were engaged in analysis all night long, now the computer does everything much faster.
But at the same time, the human view is also very important.
Not always what the computer shows can be applied, understanding is required.
- Do online games also help in preparation?
- In recent years, chess has gone online more and more, but matches for the title of world champion are being played live, and therefore it is very important to feel those same familiar wooden pieces.
And we tried to pay special attention to this moment.
Therefore, in the course of preparation, Jan took part in many tournaments - in many tournaments - in rapid chess and blitz in Paris and Zagreb, classical chess in Stavanger.
- In Norway, Nepomniachtchi met with Carlsen, but lost in shortened games. How indicative are these results on the eve of the match?
- We were glad to try our luck at a competition of such a high level and focused precisely on the meetings with the world champion.
I can say that Yang played both matches in classical chess quite confidently, ending them in a draw.
But in general, we considered this tournament as a training stage of preparation, we set ourselves other tasks.
Of course, they made certain conclusions, but most importantly, Yang felt the game.
It was important to feel the "live" chess before the match.
We failed to get the upper hand - it doesn't matter, we don't make tragedies out of this, we just work on.
- A world championship match is a big psychological load. Do you somehow work separately on Yang's emotional state?
- Undoubtedly, psychology is very important in chess, especially in matches for the "crown". After all, only two chess players sit down at the table, and all attention is riveted on them. It is very important to enter the match correctly. We talk all this with Nepomniachtchi, he knows it well and even rehearses the process to some extent. Therefore, I think no problems should arise. Yang is well-tuned, he is sufficiently motivated, concentrated, and at the same time he feels comfortable. You know, athletes have this expression: at the start you need to feel like you're in a frying pan, but not hot or cold. It is important to choose the right temperature, that is, to understand your rhythm, stay in good shape and be ready for anything.
- Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi have been playing against each other since childhood. Should we take into account the score of their personal meetings, in which the Russian chess player now has an advantage?
- They know each other very well and have played many games.
They are also of the same age and belong to the same era in chess.
It seems to me that this only makes the match brighter and more special.
And all those accounts that came before him, we threw aside.
Now the main thing is that Jan improves his game, becomes a more versatile chess player.
Yes, it is always difficult for Magnus to resist Ian, he himself said this more than once.
But we try not to think about such things.
We are just preparing, taking into account the nature of the opponent.
- Are you ready to surprise the reigning world champion with something?
- This is one of the tasks of both the chess player who plays in the match and his team.
Yes, a lot has been studied, but you can always find something and surprise someone on the opposite side of the board.
Our team has chosen exactly for this - to surprise, to bring something new both to Yan's actions and to chess in general.
Each match for the chess crown gives the world something new.
And we are waiting for the battle of the best minds.
- You have been working with Jan for a long time, which is not quite usual for sports. This match is also a special stage for you.
- Yes, we have been cooperating for almost 15 years, and it has always been a big challenge for me - working with such a creative and interesting chess player who showed very extraordinary abilities from an early age.
The upcoming match is also a big challenge for me.
As a coach, it is important for me to feel that the student is getting stronger every day.
And I see this in Yana, I see his great motivation throughout our entire journey together.
The result that we achieve with him is important to me.
Our victories are sometimes given in a big struggle, but since we come to them, it means that our creative union was not formed in vain.