Winner of ShamkirChess2016 interviewed by tournament’s official web site

- Please accept our congratulations! We would like to start the interview with your impressions of the results of ShamkirChess2016.

- I have been lucky enough to win the third tournament held in Shamkir. It is rather difficult to express what I feel. Of course, I am very pleased with myself. I did not start the tournament too well. However, I did not lose hope. Even before the competition started, I was thinking to myself why Azerbaijani chess players should not win it. Why not finish the competition in first place, after all? A victory won on home soil would be even more delightful. The tournament ended quite well for me. I would like to thank everyone who supported me during the Shamkir tournament. Let me assure you that I felt this support very well during the games and it has helped me a lot.

- When did you gain the confidence that you might win the Shamkir tournament?

- After my win over Fabiano Caruana in the eighth round. Caruana is a very strong chess player. He is ranked second or third in FIDE standings. It is not an easy task to play against him with black pieces. The win against Caruana in the eighth round gave me a lot of inspiration. I felt that I was very close to the championship title. I only had to beat Anish Giri in the last round, and managed to do that. Since my points were the same as Caruana’s, a tie-breaker was inevitable. It is reminiscent of a penalty shoot-out in football. Nevertheless, I won the tie-breaker too and finished the tournament in first place.

- What role will ShamkirChess2016 play in your life?

- I will not say again that tournaments held in Azerbaijan are unsuccessful for me. I always thought so before Shamkir because I had only lost ELO rating when playing on home soil. And this ShamkirChess showed that I was wrong. At the same time, no Azerbaijani chess player had ever won a tournament of the 20th category. This has been the first time. Teimour Radjabov and I have won a number of tournaments. Sometimes we have tied for first and second places in Wijk aan Zee and other tournaments, but there has never been a single championship. From this point of view, victory in Shamkir is very important.

- Your play changed after the rest day. Did you need that rest so badly?

- Sometimes, it is important to give yourself a break. Our rest day was very entertaining. Organizers took care of everything. In the morning, we conducted a simul for young chess players. Then we played football. The team of chess players did not too well in that though, as we lost both games. Then Sergey Karjakin and I went to Lake Goygol. It was an interesting day.

- Who will you dedicate your victory to?

- There is one name that brings everyone together in Shamkir – Vugar Gashimov. Participants, organizers and guests are gathered here because of Vugar Gashimov. Vugar has always wanted Azerbaijani chess players to win. We worked hard together to win victories. My win in Shamkir reminded me of our first European championship title we won together with Vugar in Serbia. Vugar is always in our hearts. Therefore, I dedicate this victory to Vugar Gashimov.

- You now have many fans in Shamkir ...

- People in Shamkir love chess a lot. Although our games went on for hours, there were always many people in the hall. All the guests were treated with tremendous respect. Despite the difficult times, I would like to thank the organizers of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial, especially Synergy Group. As was the case in previous years, the tournament was organized very well.

- Year 2016 is very important for Azerbaijani chess players, as the 42nd World Chess Olympiad will be held in Baku this autumn. 

- Indeed, Baku will host the Chess Olympiad for the first time ever. It is a huge event. Our chess players realize the level of responsibility this entails. We will soon start preparations for the Olympiad. There will be no thoughts of rest before the Olympiad. As always, we will do our best to delight our fans.