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Chessville
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Alexander I. Karjakin
Interviewed by
Nikolay Kovytev Nikolay Kovytev is a freelance chess journalist living
in Yalta at the Black Sea in Ukraine. Nikolay holds a diploma as chess
trainer from the prestigious Russian Academy of Physical Education. Alexander Karjakin is the father of Sergey Karjakin. CHESSBASE PLAYER ENCYCLOPAEDIA Here are the statistics for GM titles so far:
Sergey's Rating Changes:
These days young Ukrainian GM Sergey Karjakin is being welcomed at some of the most prestigious chess tournaments. He was fortunate to pass some big exams in November 2003, when he first won fourth place in the very strong Ukrainian Championship and then he ended fifth in the Spanish town of Benidorm. In the latter tournament the list of participants testing Sergey was breathtaking: Vishy Anand (India), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Judit Polgar (Hungary) and others. Sergey went on to play successfully in the 2004 Aeroflot Open, where he scored 6 points from 9 possible – another excellent result in a strong tournament. Next, he came second in the large open tournament in Dos Hermanas, Spain (153 participants). Sergey also took part in the recent World championship in Tripoli, Libya but got knocked out early. In recent weeks, he stepped onto the main stage at the top-notch tournament in Dortmund, Germany and impressed by matching such famous players Kramnik, Leko and Bologan in what became the group-of-draws. I met the father of this young talent and asked him to answer a few questions: - Alexander Ivanovich, will you tell our readers how your son has gotten to where he is now as a successful chess player? - Besides chess, Sergey enjoyed many other sports and activities. He enjoyed swimming, acrobatics, lawn tennis, learning English, and even stucco molding. We paid no special attention towards the game of chess, and Sergey’s interest herein was really self-propelled. - And then what happened? - It came as a shock to many. Sergey began showing good results in different chess tournaments: He became champion of the Crimea for those aged under 8, and the same year won second place in the championship of the Ukraine for those aged 10 or less. The following year he won Ukrainian championship in his age group. After this, there were international victories at the European Youth Championships, and in 2001 Sergey became World Champion for his age group (under 12 years old). - In the Chess world Sergey Karjakin is called as Robertino Loretty. What is his attitude to his own popularity? - He would never call himself a Star. In the meantime the one question from journalists that is getting on his nerves is “when he began to play chess”. - By the way, does your wife play chess? - Neither my wife nor I ever played the game. Sergey’s mother acts as his manager - she makes sure that both training and schoolwork are attended to. - On the international tournament circuit, most players speak to each other in English… - The French Club ”NAO”, for which Sergey now plays, frequently invites their leading Grandmasters for study/training gatherings. These sessions are in English. So, you cannot hide the fact that if you want to advance as a chess player, you have to study English! - Can you tell me about Sergey’s daily routine? - Daily training takes him about six hours plus an hour and a half for English studies with a teacher. Besides that, there is physical training. - And how does your son cope with school? - Participation in different tournaments, study with his coach, and English takes a lot of time. For this reason, Sergey has been exempted from attending of classes for now. - How does the Karjakin family like to spend their free time? - Sergey likes to communicate with his friends, play strategic computer games, especially “ Heroes”. When abroad, he spends every spare minute sightseeing in new places. His favorite place is the Spanish town of Benidorm that holds the highest hotels in Europe. - What are Sergey’s favorite subjects at school? - Many assume that if a child has chess talent, he must be a “mathematician”. Recently I “ slipped” Sergey a History text-book in, which he “swallowed” in a single day. - Do you think that his primary focus at this stage should be playing chess rather than school studies, because this could be made up for later? - In an issue of the popular chess periodical “64”, there was an article about young talents. In this article, Anatoly Karpov mentioned that talented youth need the so-called “American approach”: if your child does well at a certain activity, it must be further encouraged. - Alexander Ivanovich, now for the last question: How does chess-playing affect the mental and physical development of Sergey? - Again I am going to answer your question with the words of a former World Champion, Emmanuel Lasker. He said that: “… chess is a small model of life”. This means, that when studying chess we unwittingly study life. And as they say life will teach you everything.
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