The Moscow Open festival included the FIDE Chess Solving Cup stage. We decided to ask several questions to the winner Danila Pavlov. The sportsmen from Moscow in his 17 years managed to become the youngest Grandmaster in chess composition and win a Chess solving cup in 2018/19.
- Danila, congratulations on your victory. Tell our readers a bit about the tournament.
- Chess Solving Cup stage was held in the Moscow Open festival during two days, February 1 and 2. The solvers from four countries took part in the competition. In this season it is the fifth stage since the beginning of the season began in September 2019.
- How many stages of the World cup are held throughout the season?
- Around twenty stages. If you want, you can participate in all of them but the final result is calculated for the best six. Normally I take part in seven- eight stages.
- What problems do you solve at the competition?
- The competition includes six genres: a 2 and 3-move checkmate, multiple-move checkmates from 4 to 12 moves, endgames, helpmates and selfmates.
- Is there any cheating in this type of competitions?
- To be honest, I have not come across it.
- How many times have you taken part in it?
-It is my third time at Moscow Open and it is my first victory. In previous years I was a prize winner in the nomination among juniors.
- Which opponents can you single out?
- First of all a silver prize winner of the tournament - Alexey Popov from Saint Petersburg. When solving a problem he made only a minor mistake and I outran him. It is worth mentioning that currently the Russian “solving elite” is being pressured by juniors. Many titled solvers took part in this tournament but it is the youth that is in the top three.
- Can you tell us how you became a professional solver?
- I am from Volgograd where I had lived for 14 years and only then I moved to Moscow. In our chess club there was a chess composition coach. But I did not think of doing it (laughing). It just happened that I went to the training and I liked it. Only then I went to Obninsk to the National Chess Composition Championship among youth and took the first prize. After that I decided to to it professionally.
- How are you normally training?
- I think, like all chess players, solving problems. It is only practice that helps. Sometimes I take examples from other competitions where I did not participate. Or just for practice I solve “tactical storm”.
- Is there such a notion as “team competition” in chess composition?
- Yes, of course. There are three participants at the world championship, at the European championship – four. The Russian national team is always competing for medals but in the last 11 years the Polish team has been the first prize winner. Their national team consists of quite strong Grandmasters that take part in ordinary tournaments.
- Do you play ordinary chess or you dedicate completely to the composition?
- In fact, I play chess more often than I solve problems. Every year I take part in the Moscow Championship, National one and I play in Open tournaments. But in the nearest future I will be doing less of it – I am in my last year at school and soon I will sit for a Unified State Examination.
- Where are you planning to continue studying?
- I would like to enter the State University of Management to study sports management.
- What are you doing in your free time?
- I love watching football, I go to matches. I am a fan of Moscow Spartak.
- Thank you for the conversation!
Interviewed by Eldar Mukhametov and Alina Bivol
