Alexander Motylev: “I HAVE HAD A GREAT SUCCESS LATELY. BUT I WANT MORE”

He is not only strong practitioner but one of the chess theorists of the country. But he was not lucky in Khanty Mansiysk by now.

•  I played already twice in Khanty Mansiysk at the World Cups, - says Alexander. But I did not succeed that much. I was knocked out at the second round. I will try to do my best now.

•  Your opponent in the first round was young American player…

•  It was found out that Robert Hess plays very good chess. First game was very short, only 18 move, but complicated enough. To my surprise he played a variation which he had already used couple of times in 2009. I expected that he will play something new... During the game there have been interesting maneuvers and he was actively attacking and I am happy that it was a draw at the end. In general I was expecting an aggressive play from Hess: he likes to attack and at every moment he is ready to lose a piece for the sake of initiative.

•  For already many years you have been coaching Russian team. Does this kind of experience help in personal career?

•  Undoubtedly not (laughing). It is anyway another kind of activity. Though I am working now with Sergey Karjakin. Most probably this cooperation will benefit us both.

•  It is very good that such a strong player will represent Russia now..

•  I agree. Sergey was not happy with some moments in the Ukraine. It is very difficult situation with chess there. It is very bad for their chess players. They play good chess. The Ukrainian federation cannot even find money for travel expenses, but the guys still took the bronze medal at the latest European Championship. There is such an impression perhaps that they don't need anything at all. They would anyway manage to come by train and will still perform on a very high level.

•  What was the problem for the Russian team at the recent European Championship?

•  We were not lucky at some moment, we missed something at some point, but in principle the result was objective. To take first place at a team tournament, at least more than half of the team should be in a good shape. If it were not for Sasha Morozevich, who was winning in crucial games, we would not even take the silver.

•  There was a feeling that at the end of the tournament the team was physically down.

•  Yes, it's true. The reason is clear – all major competitions take place in the second part of the year. We invite our strongest players to represent the team and they come very tired. Mitya Jakovenko is in crisis during the latest tournaments. Zhenya Alexeev lost to the players whom he should win in a normal shape. In general I believe second place is a worthy result.

•  Is the team composition for the coming World Team Championship set up?

The championship will start on 3 January. All potential team members are participating in the World Cup now. So, we still have time to define in which shape our players are. The main contenders are known – Peter Svidler, Sasha Morozevich, Sergey Karjakin. Of course we would like to have Vladimir Kramnik in. But there are other candidates as well: Zhenya Tomashevsky, Dima Jakovenko, Zhenya Alexeev, Nikita Vityugov, Sasha Grischuk. Generally speaking, I have had a lot of success lately. But I want more!