"Talking about weak competition is complete nonsense"
The U16 World Chess Olympiad in Barranquilla ended with a confident victory for the Russian national team, which brought to Colombia the strongest team in the history of the tournament. For the first time, four grandmasters competed in the same team at the youth level. Ivan Zemlyansky, Savva Vetokhin, Artyom Uskov and Anna Shukhman did not lose a single team point, winning all nine matches. This is the absolute record of the tournament. It is impossible not to note the smooth performance of the Russians, thanks to which they managed to insure their colleagues on the national team: Vetokhin and Uskov scored 8 points out of 9 possible, Zemlyansky — 7.5, Shukhman — 7.
On Monday, August 25, the national team returned to Moscow. At the airport, Izvestia and Sport-Express managed to talk with the captain of the team, senior coach of the Russian youth national team Evgeny Tomashevsky.
Nine wins out of nine possible is a great achievement.
— How do you feel about the talk that our team simply had no competitors at this Olympics? In particular, many people note the refusal of the US team to come to Colombia.
— I mean, this talk is complete nonsense. Everyone who leads them needs to discover the classic ratings of the top ten participants. People look at rapid ratings of chess players, which do not reflect their real strength. If we talk specifically about the lineups, then China and Kazakhstan could literally strengthen one or two positions. India could have had a different squad, but it's not a given that it would have been stronger. The rest of the principal rivals sent everyone they could. Including the national team of Uzbekistan (which eventually took second place). They had a strictly strong line-up.
Of those who could compete for medals, only the U.S. national team did not come. You can't say that for sure about the other teams. For example, there is only one young top chess player in Turkey (Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus). Yes, perhaps, in theory, the competition could be higher, but this is not our concern. Our delegation came with one thought in mind — to win the final victory, and everyone worked hard to achieve this goal.
— The most striking victories were those of Ivan Zemlyansky in the match against China and Anna Shukhman in the match against Uzbekistan. These were clearly coaching preparations.
— It rarely happens that you manage to win games, especially in two decisive matches, just from the opening. Such hits always have a resonance and remain in the memory.
Like a cherry on a cake. But behind such a seemingly simple victory is a lot of work and the qualifications of the players, which allows you to do such things. It definitely wasn't an accident.
— Did the training camp that the team held before the flight to Colombia help a lot?
— I wouldn't overestimate him too much. In general, I would like to talk about the work done and the skill level of everyone who took part in our trip. Everything worked out perfectly. The delegation and the FSHR. When you make a number of professional decisions, you win convincingly.
— What is the role of the parents who went with the children?
— There was a lot of talk about whether to take them or not. But in the case of Colombia, it was the right decision. After all, it is a difficult country from a logistical point of view, and there are security issues. Plus, it's an important psychological factor. Perhaps, at a crucial moment, our competitors did not have enough support from their relatives and friends. However, I want to pay tribute to the parents of athletes. Everything on their part was as positive as possible, they helped a lot.
Overall, we had a friendly delegation. Everything worked out perfectly. The head of the delegation is Nina Bodenchuk, the doctor is Zhanna Novoselova. I would like to say thank you to everyone.
— How hard was it to play with this time control: 45 minutes per game with an addition of 10 seconds per turn.
— Specific control. Alexander Ryazantsev and I discussed a lot whether this was good for us or not. You can't predict it in advance. So far, few tournaments have been held with such control. I would prefer that the strongest is revealed in longer controls. It would be more pleasant for me to win in the classics. But we don't choose, we play as it is. We were given such control, prepared for it and won. This is a purely professional question.
— There were no days off at the tournament. Was that a problem?
— The tournament required discipline and effort. I won't say it was super heavy, but there were many possibilities that something could go wrong. So nine wins out of a possible nine is a great achievement.
The winners of the Olympics will be serious contenders for the Superfinal medals.
— How would you rate the conditions in Barranquilla?
— They are not fantastic, but on the whole it is clear that the organizers tried to do well, approached their duties with a soul. There were also some isolated finds. For example, the tournament mascot, the crocodile, became the real MVP of the tournament (also depicted on the Cup and medals). He was literally everywhere (smiles). Of course, there were some rough spots, but if they continue to hold big tournaments, they will gradually eliminate them.
— What is the main complaint?
— This is a specific food, but we won't find fault too much. Everything worked out the best for me personally. We completed all the tasks, and I looked at our talents up close. I talked to them.
— What moments do you remember most about the performance of our grandmasters?
— As the senior coach of the youth national team, I pay attention not only to the performances of the guys at a particular tournament, but also to their development in general. It was interesting to see how our talents would manifest themselves at the big tournament. The format of the Olympics is quite specific: you lose one match or draw, and your prospects are immediately called into question. And with such a line-up, any place except the first one would be considered a failure. The pressure was very high. And I liked how the guys showed themselves in such a situation.
Speaking of personalities, Ivan and Savva are already established professional chess players who have managed to establish themselves in a number of major tournaments. Everyone knows their style of play. I can say the same about Artyom. He has shown himself a little less clearly at high-level starts so far, but he has a very high potential. For example, Uskov scored a key victory over the representative of India Ilamparti.
Objectively, this is the strongest individual chess player who opposed us. It was a tough match, and we won it by +1. Artyom played super-well, super-technically. I was very impressed with this game. Anya Shukhman is already in the top 30 of the women's world ranking. A great talent who also works very hard on herself.
I am very proud of them and very grateful for such a performance. But we must continue in the same spirit. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of their journey.
— Are you upset that Shukhman came second on the fourth board?
— Sherla's boyfriend Pratamesh won in her category. It can be seen that this is another Indian talent who will have completely different numbers in the rating in the near future. So Anya lost only to the young man. As soon as I played with the girls, I immediately scored my many points. She's doing great. I believe that she has great prospects.
— How did the guys react when it became known that they would be allowed into the Superfinal?
— They were happy. If you want to know my opinion, then I can only support such a decision. It's great that young people will be able to gain such valuable experience. There are places for selection, there are places according to the criteria of the FSHR. Everything is as logical as possible. Plus, if you look at the rating and the strength of their game, they will not weaken the squad at all. They will be serious contenders for medals.
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