Interviews

Topalov: My most beautiful victories were against Aronian and Van Wely

An interview with Veselin Topalov for topsport.bg

Mr. Topalov, you have won the Wijk aan Zee tournament for the first time. How did you manage to achieve that after the short preparation you had?

It is true that I had never made +2 in Holland, now I made +5. I cannot help being pleased. Of course the preparation for the World Championship in Saint Luis has helped me a lot. Some of the openings that I played were specially prepared for Argentina.

This was your first participation after becoming World Champion. How did the chess world look at you in Holland?

Regarding the game nothing has changed. It was again clear that two of the participants stood out among the others. For me a very nice surprise was the display of Sergey Karjakin.

You had several beautiful victories. Which one is your favorite?

I would distinguish two. These are my victories against the Armenian Levon Aronian and Loek Van Wely from Holland.

What did you and Anand say to each other at the awarding ceremony in Wijk aan Zee?

We congratulated each other. Everything was normal.

You are leaving now for Mexico for the first part of the super tournament in Linares. Is it possible that Latin America turns the new Holy Land of chess?

At first I was intending not to take part in the tournament but then I decided that the World Champion must play in Linares. Besides, the organizers have been friends of mine for many years. Spanish is spoken in Mexico and this would be good for the popularization of chess in the country. And the interest for the game in America is really growing.

Isn’t your schedule too busy and how will you do your preparations till "M-Tel Masters" in Sofia?

It is really rather busy. I will probably have to play at least 70 games till May against serious rivals. But the World Champion should be playing. After Mexico and Linares comes Monaco, then the match against Nisipeanu in Bucharest and after that it’s "M-Tel Masters" in May. I hope I play beautifully in all of these tournaments.

Now many grand masters are able to request a match against you after the conditions for award fund of US 2 million were defined?

I have not counted exactly. Maybe around 20.