30.03.2018

Ilyumzhinov: "Caruana treats chess like Fischer"

The President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov thinks it is magic that grandmasters with surnames beginning with C will meet at a match for the chess crown the second time in a row.

"For the first time, Carlsen's rival will be younger than him (25-year-old Fabiano Caruana is two years younger than Magnus Carlsen)," Ilyumzhinov noted.

"Chess is getting younger, and I believe that FIDE's Chess for Schools programme produced an outstanding result. After all, Carlsen, Karjakin and Caruana were the winners of our award. Secondly, chess players whose names begin with C will again compete in the championship match. I see the magic of chess in this," said the head of FIDE.
He noted that many were waiting for the victory of Vladimir Kramnik and his match with Carlsen: "Representatives of two different generations could meet, and this would have given the match a special intrigue. But Vladimir could not win in Berlin, although he played several brilliant games."
FIDE president shared his opinion about the American Fabiano Caruana, who will play in the world championship match with the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen:
"Caruana is a very strong grandmaster. In relation to chess, I can compare his level of preparation and concentration with Bobby Fischer’s. A few times, I met with him at the airport after major tournaments, and I was surprised that he started preparing for the next tournament even at the moment when you can relax, drink coffee and get away from the game.
I would also like to mention his coach – the famous grandmaster Rustam Kasimdzhanov. He is lucky. He trained Vichy Anand for the championship match against Kramnik, which he won; and now he has perfectly trained the American grandmaster.
Recall that the American Fabiano Caruana was the winner of the contenders tournament held in Berlin and will play in the championship match with the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen in November. Russian Sergey Karyakin won the third place that time. Two other grandmasters from the Russian Federation – Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk won the fifth and sixth places respectively.
The match for the chess crown will be held in London from 9 to 28 November 2018. This will be the fourth defense of the title for Magnus Carlsen. Fabiano Caruana will compete for the world chess champion title for the first time in his career. He became the first American to take part in such event in 22 years. The last time the US representative claimed the world crown in 1996. It was an American Gata Kamsky who lost to Russian Anatoly Karpov in the match that took place in Elista.