Mr Danailov, how would you evaluate the beginning of 2006 for Veselin Topalov?
Since he became a world champion things for Vesko have changed a lot. Everything is very different from what we used to do before San Luis. Topalov is the face of chess before the world; he is the driving force which pushes this sport forward. In fact, he has less and less time to practice. Except for creating on the board, Veselin has another very important mission – to popularize chess. So, if a Dutch television, which until that moment has not been interested in chess and now has suddenly bought the rights to broadcast Corus, invites you for an interview, you cannot refuse. Even if you are exhausted. Champions don't have the right to be tired.

How is Vesko coping with stress?
It couldn't be better. January has never been his month – that is why he didn't have a great success in Wijk aan Zee. This year he shared the first and second place with Vishvanatan Anand and produced a good game. This is an indisputable success.

Following the comments on the Internet during Corus, on several occasions I heard opinions that Veselin's progress had wrested Anand out of the lethargy he had been in for a year. It seemed that the Indian has lost the incentive to develop and now he again appears to be aggressive and eager for triumph. Will the Madras Tiger be Topalov's main challenger this year?
Have a look at the WCF rank list. The figures speak for themselves – Topalov and Anand have a personal quotient close to that of Gary Kasparov. The others have 50-60 points. For chess rating this is a huge even cosmic difference. Thus, in terms of class and knowledge of the game, only Anand can compete with Vesko. The Indian is very talented and proved it in Wijk aan Zee too. For the moment he is not planning on participating in many tournaments - he won't take part in Linares. He is going to prepare seriously for Monaco and then for "M-Tel Masters". In my opinion, in Sofia particularly, he is going to show what he is made of and return a revenge especially in front of Bulgarian spectators. Since last year some things in chess changed at "M-Tel Masters" and Topalov's fantastic victory over Anand.

What happened to the negotiations planned with the WCF president Kirsan Iliuzhinov about a game with Kramnik?
Kirsan sent a person from the Russian embassy to apologize for him that he hadn't been able to arrive in Madrid. I have his assurance to see him in Mexico. It is almost certain that there will be a game with Kramnik . There are serious sponsor behind him and the organization is of a high quality. Yet, there are a few things to clarify. However, provided that the WCF takes the responsibility, it is very likely that Topalov will face Vladimir Kramnik.

What is your attitude to the changes in the rules about the pretenders' cycle?
First of all, it is essential to know that these changes have not been introduced solely by Iliumzhinov . He discussed and coordinated them with me, as well as with the other grand-masters' managers. Everything happened with our agreement. Veselin and I approve of the opportunity these nearly 20 chess players who meet the requirements to be able to challenge him to a match of 12 games of classic chess fir the title. Naturally, the prize-money and the WCF conditions must also be observed.

Yet, there is some confusion? There is a pretenders' cycle that is in 1/8 finals phase and Kramnik's name is missing among the 16 grand-masters Moreover, the one who loses the match for the title Topalov-Kramnik, should have a chance for revenge. How is Kramnik going to get a right for revenge if he loses by Veselin?
He must have thought about this. Nevertheless, Kramnik was given the chance to take equally, together with the other 7 grand-masters in the tournament for the world title in San Luis. Vladimir chose not to go to Argentina and bets "all or nothing" in a game with Veselin Topalov . Apparently, he considers it easier because he could become a hero with the 12 games.

If you sign a contract with Kramnik in September in Elista what is going to happen with the computer program Hidra, planned at the same time?
Things there are going really slowly. However, there is no problem to postpone the game for November. We're going to do 6 games by the classical control.

So it doesn't seem that Vesko is going to have a break soon?
Well, this is the situation now.

Is there any news about the organization of the second "M-Tel Masters"?
Everything is going according to the plan. We are not certain only about the 6th grand-master, as Levon Aronyan is not going to come because he'll be getting ready for the Olympics with Armenia.