He is still very much under-rated

THE FIDE World champion Alexander Khalifman may have tied for the third place in the 17th City of Linares Chess Tournament but his outstanding performance was the least expected and he proved all pre-tournament expectations wrong. His start rating to rating performance variance was 78, the healthiest among all players revealing that his performance was top class or he is more capable or he is still far under-rated.

One of the chess world's discoveries of 1999 is Alexander Khalifman, 34, then a quiet self-retired Grandmaster, today a hero. He had played super category chess, slipped into competing open tournaments and then retired to start his chess school in St. Petersburg, Russia. That's when the turnaround happened in his chess career which took a u-turn. He did not expect it to happen. Overcoming severe odds, and in a dream-come- true experience, he won the FIDE World championship at Las Vegas last August. In fact his route to the title started with a defeat against Dibyendu Barua of Calcutta. He levelled the match by coming from behind and won the tie break and then went to beat Gata Kamsky, K. Asrian, B. Gelfand, Judit Polgar, L. Nisipeanu and V. Akopian to become the champion.

At Linares he was a replacement for Alexander Morozevich. Now with this title behind him he has started getting invitations from organisers who seldom considered good Russian players for there were too many of them. Today an important person in the chess fraternity, Khalifman, pronounced as ``Halifman'', has lost his famous smile and friendly demeanor to wear a serious look which champions normally sport.

Excerpts from an interview held after the closing ceremony of the 17th City of Linares Tournament:

Question: Congratulations for your nice performance in Linares. Obviously you had the biggest difference between the start rating (2656) to rating performance (2734) here in this tournament?

Answer: I don't think I have to be congratulated. Results are nothing special. I don't have any respect for the rating system first of all because it has some pure mathematical defects. But this performance is more or less satisfactory because I was the only player under certain extra pressure. The press and Internet, etc. just agreed that I would be the last and it will only be a question of whether I will score a point or two. It is not welcome to play under these circumstances. But I tried to do my best and I managed to prove that I was not any class behind the rest of the field. It was fight on all games. The winners deserved success but again I would say the whole tournament was more or less equal, I would say with some advantage for Vladimir (Kramnik) and Garry (Kasparov). It is not a success for me, but just a result.

Q: There were only seven decisive games out of thirty. How do you read this?

A: I understand that for the audience and the spectators it is a bit discouraging. But however, on this level, it is tough. All players are afraid to overpress because defensive technique at this level here is very high. Once you play for an initiative or attack, you play two or three active moves and somehow you are worse and soon lose. This is what exactly happened to me in the first round. I had a promising position against Vladimir and made two automatic active moves and I was already worse. Everybody is trying to play actively but very accurately. This somehow leads to high percentage of draws.

This is the reason why I am in favour of the knock out system. I think for the audience it will be much more interesting. Each match is decided. It has a winner. Everyday something is happening. It has much more tension but I think the knock out system will have a good future.

Q: You said in your interview to Der Spiegel most of the top category events will get replaced by online events on the Internet. Do you stand by this statement, now that you are in a top category tournament yourself?

A: (Laughs) My answer in Spiegel was changed a bit and I was misquoted. I did not see the final text before publication. I was not very happy about it. I think many Online Tournaments are already announced. It will be in the future. It has audience in millions. It gets wider public attention. These events will develop in the next few years. I did not say there will be no top tournaments. Sure this (Linares) event will happen. Each year we will have more and more Online tournaments.

Q: Do you think that FIDE and others are giving you the same respect which Anatoly Karpov commanded as FIDE World Champion?

A: Relations with FIDE are always a kind of problem. I have great respect for the ideas of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. But every time I need some details from FIDE I am shocked about their technical stuff. These people are definitely not on their level. This is a bit disappointing.

Q: Can you cite an example when you were disappointed?

A: This is trivial, you will find it primitive but it is very typical of FIDE. My wife, Second and I were travelling to the FIDE 75th Year Celebrations at Paris last November. We received a phone call asking for flight number and arrival details. At Charles De Gaulle airport there was nobody to receive us. We waited and waited and finally took a taxi. Nobody even felt apologetic for this lapse. Their excuse was Xie Jun (World Women's champion) also arrived here and we did not meet her.

To come or not is another thing. But saying we will be meeting you and then not showing up is not good. As World Champion I am member of FIDE Executive Council. They never inform me about plans or decisions to be taken. This is little bit strange.

Also this memorandum on FIDE Commercialisation: this is an interesting document, some points are good while others are strange.

Q: Can you pick on one which you find strange?

A: The plan needs to be written more concretely. There is certain amount of money tournament organisers have to pay to FIDE. Some are afraid, some are shocked. Let's say 100,000 dollars per tournament. It is one story. If it is some small amount for technical cause it is another. The entire document is ready for misquoting. Those who want to have fun at FIDE's cost can have it. One more stupid move by FIDE. I think it is caused by FIDE's lack of technical staff.

Q: Has your lifestyle changed as FIDE World Champion?

A: Yes, I have not changed as far as Grandmaster chess school and there are a whole lot of things I have done for it to develop in St. Petersburg. As world champion I was invited by the St. Petersburg Mayor and I also visited the Russian Prime Minister and some matters are now easier to decide. Grandmaster Chess School will get some space in St. Petersburg. I am getting extra attention from the media. My personal lifestyle has not changed really. Okay it has changed little bit because I get invitations to tournaments. I must prepare much more seriously.

Q: How many hours and days did you invest in your preparation for Linares 2000?

A: After my match with Leko (laughs) I understood that lot of things were pretty wrong and I did not have enough time to prepare for that match. I did not prepare and paid for it (he lost 1.5-4.5, drawing three whites, losing all three blacks). It was a high price.

Q: Was playing black very difficult in that match?

A: I only managed a couple of weeks to prepare. My preparation was uneven. I found some tricks in the Grunfeld for white. For black I just did not have time. I played some lines with black and it was hopeless against a good Grandmaster who is well prepared. Before Linares I was working more than a month very actively. Let's say seven or eight hours per day at St. Petersburg.

Q: Is there chess culture in St. Petersburg. We see strong players there like yourself and Svidler. Have the activities there gone up after your victory at Las Vegas?

A: In general our chess life is active enough. We have two open tournaments each year. They are Petrov (Petroff) Memorial and Chigorin Memorial. It is popular inside Russia and states from ex-Soviet Union. Our Federation is trying for a round robin tournament and are hoping my little help will get more drive in St. Petersburg.

Q: How is your relationship with the Russian Chess Federation. We heard they sent a strange note on your victory?

A: It was ``Congratulatons for winning in Las Vegas''. It was like winning in a jackpot in the Casino. That's the problem. The Russian Chess Federation is under (looks to see who's around) control of Mr. Kasparov. I don't know if it is good or bad but it is a fact. First of all they are member of FIDE. Somehow they have to recognise all FIDE competitions and FIDE title as well (laughs).

The other point of view is it is better not to have any relationship with the Russian Chess Federation. Not only they are under Kasparov, they are not successful in organisation. They collapsed while organising the last Russian Championship. Okay it took place finally at Moscow in December. It was not arranged at a level of a world's leading chess country. They also fail to support junior chess in Russia.

Q: What is your programme for the rest of 2000?

A: Definitely I will play in July at Dortmund. What will happen then I don't know. It is still flexible. I will be defending my title at the next FIDE Championship. That's for sure. It is a pity they did not announce dates and venues yet. Let's wait until April but I have my doubts.

Q: At Las Vegas, your first game was a defeat against Barua. What was in your mind then?

A: Barua is a strong Grandmaster and my worst pairing for the first round. Many players got much weaker opponents. But I feel I am better player and better prepared and Barua has very strong natural talent. But as you know many Asian players except Vishy Anand do not have the fundamental preparation. This is a very important element in chess. This was finally the decisive factor in that match. In that game I did not play badly. My opponent played a very good game. I thought nothing is wrong with me. Let's go for revenge. I managed to win this match. Then the same with Kamsky and then it became easier and easier.

Q: If you say which one factor contributed to your victory in Las Vegas, would you say good nerves?

A: The most important factor: There was no special preparation. I think my play was backed with rich and bright experience. I played in super tournaments. I played in open tournaments. I have a lot of different experience. I think that was the factor why I was better in the decisive phases of the match.

Q: Have you rediscovered yourself in the super category tournaments now?

A: If invited to these events I could play well all the time. After the break to play chess at this level is very interesting.

ARVIND AARON

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