One of the most important features of the Moscow Open festival is friendly international communication. Annually chess players representing different CIS countries and other countries of the world participate in the festival. Today we are talking with the Yerevan grandmaster Zaven Andriasian, who participates in the Men’s RSSU Student Grandmaster Cup.
- Good afternoon, Zaven. How often do you travel to Russia and how many times have you participated in the Moscow Open?
- Good afternoon. I come to Russia very often, almost every year. Unfortunately the dates of the Moscow Open festival coincide with the dates of the Championship of Armenia. This is my second appearance at the festival. In 2007 I participated in the Men’s A tournament. This year Alexander Kostiev invited me to take part in the tournament for student grandmasters, and I gladly accepted the invitation.
- And you happen to be the rating favorite…
- Maybe that became the reason for my loss to Kamil Dragun yesterday. I had to play with the black and decided that I have a chance to win and can afford to risk it. Unfortunately it was not justified…. I don’t regret it as the position was very interesting with a lot of play.
- Are you ready to risk for the win?
- You have to play in a very aggressive manner if you want to win such tournaments. Draws won't get you first place.
- What can you tell us about today’s game? You and Ulvi Bajarani finished your game very quickly.
- I’m satisfied with today’s game, though there was no serious struggle. It was quite an easy win. I tried to analyze the game with the help of the computer when I returned to my room. It turned out that all the moves were very logical with hardly any mistakes.
- Do you like playing in Russia, in our capital particularly?
- I am staying in quite a nice hotel not far from here. The place of the tournament is great. I suffered a little bit from the acclimatization though this winter it's also very frosty in Armenia. As for the game of chess, I think that Russia is the best place in the world for all chess players. You organize so many tournaments of the highest level that it’s easy to play professionally without leaving the country and facing acclimatization and jet-lag.
- That’s so nice to hear that. How is it going with chess in Armenia?
- The President of our country is also the President of our chess federation. That means the government supports the chess—everything is great so far.
- You are participating in the student tournament. Where are you studying?
- Last year I graduated from the MA course of Yerevan State University of Physical Education and now I’m thinking about the post-graduate course. My specialty is quite broad. I can work as a professional chess coach as well as a physical education teacher (laughing). I’m not in favor of the latter option but I can think of the coach’s career. In any case it’s too early to think about that now.
- Are you a member of the Armenian National Team?
- The main National Team consists of 5 members: the first four of them are the highest rated and the fifth is the champion of Armenia. I didn’t manage to become champion of Armenia; I’m ranked 6th in the country.
- Who has come to support you?
- My friends who are also playing at the festival and in other tournaments. All around Armenian chess players are taking part in the Moscow Open.
- Who will be your opponent at the board tomorrow?
- My roommate Vitaliy Bernadskiy is my opponent.
- Thank you for a very interesting chat, good luck to you!
The questions were asked by Anna Kalyaeva