The Hindu : Sport / Chess : ‘I need fresh ideas in the openings’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 08, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Chess

‘I need fresh ideas in the openings’

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: “I have to be psychologically stronger,” says a much-chastened K. Sasikiran looking back at his spirited show in the World Cup chess championship at Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, on Thursday.

Sasikiran, in the Capital his way home to Chennai, was not particularly pleased with the quality of his play leading to a place in the pre-quarterfinals.

Sasikiran lost to former World champion Ruslan Ponomariov 0.5-1.5, but remained the most successful among the five Indians who started the 128-player knock-out event.

Poor preparation

“For a tournament like the World Cup, you need at least a month of preparation. I was busy playing in the European Club Cup, in the Asian Indoor Games and the qualifying stage of the World Blitz Cup. This is certainly not the best way to prepare for something like the World Cup,” Sasikiran said looking back at the recent turn of events.

“I’ve realised I need fresh ideas in the openings,” added Sasikiran and continued, “perhaps, I will have to work with players with rating of 2,600 or more. It is possible that I and Hari (Krishna) work together in future. But nothing is concrete for now.

“From my childhood, I’ve found it difficult to recall chess positions, unlike Anand who looks at a position and remembers the best continuation. There are so many areas of my game where I need to work harder,” Sasikiran said.

Sasikiran spent time watching some of the leading boards in the on-going Commonwealth championship here on Thursday.

In fact, it was in the Commonwealth meet at Sangli in 2000 that Sasikiran became a Grandmaster.

Sasikiran, only the second Indian player to touch the coveted mark of 2,700 in rating, pointed out that his games with white pieces in the classical time format in the World Cup disappointed him.

“I could not convert good positions. There was a game where I was almost lost but managed to draw,” Sasikiran said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport