Greetings, mister Sveshnikov. Recently, you participated in the world championship among veterans. Please, tell us what kind of event it was and what is special about it?

As for me – it was the fifth world team championship among veterans and the fifth gold medal. I am pleased with the fact that every time the anthem of Russia sounds to honor our victory. Besides, as opposed to other sports competitions the attitude of our rival is quite friendly. I remember how we achieved a unique result winning not only the tournament itself but also all the matches three years ago in Crete. Participants from different countries congratulated us and expressed their admiration. That is something I see rather seldom in other sports. There is just no such thing as pressure on Russia in veteran chess! And it’s nice.

As far as I know, the tournament took place in Prague, right?

We arrived in Prague a day before the first round of WSTCC 2020 and checked into “Don Giovanni” hotel 4 kilometers away from the venue, on the opposite bank of the Vltava. Thus, we had no opportunity of wandering across the old city. However, the rooms in the hotel were quite comfortable, and the food was very good. Later we found a wonderful place for walking near the hotel. It was an old but well-kept Jewish cemetery. Among its attractions, I can distinguish singing birds and many fluffy squirrels. Also, we remembered the grave of Franz Kafka. I used to walk there every day in the afternoon – for about an hour, and in the evening we also walked with Volodya Zhelnin. That allowed us to show an excellent result: Zhelnin and Sveshnikov scored 5.5 point out of 6, and Rashkovsky –  4.5 out of 5. It seems we should think about the transience of our lives oftener...

In recent months, the most discussed topic in the world is coronavirus, due to which many events were just canceled, states’ authorities forbade crossing borders and limited movement in the cities. Did it influence the holding of your tournament and your results?

We played in a good hall for around 200 people. Of course, there was talk about coronavirus, however the issue did not raise at the official level. And no medical checks were carried out at the Prague airport on the fifth or thirteenth of March. In the tournament hall no one even coughed, much less sneezed... But for the last two days the participants were unexpectedly seated in three or four halls according to the decision of the Czech government, while before the seventh round we were informed it would be the last matches. By that moment we shared 1-5 places and according to the draw should play with the third team of Germany (we have already played with the first two teams). So we had to harness our willpower. And we did our best: first Yura Balashov won his match, then Volodya Zhelnin put a beautiful checkmate with the Queen's long move, which turned to be a total surprise for his opponent. I also managed to finish the ending in quite a nice way having sacrificed a piece. And Naum Rashkovsky even brought his score to 4-0. In fact, we had only one actual opponent represented by the Israeli team, however the French team led by A. Weisser delivered a harsh battle and scored them off winning a silver medal. There were many contenders for bronze, however the luck was on the side of 65+ veterans from Leipzig.

Eugene Ellinovich, now can you tell us more about your results? How did the games pass?

It was my 136th tournament victory. I took the first place on board and scored the maximum 2628 points, which is a rather good result for veterans’ games. I have even surpassed A. Weisser – he personally told me about that.

 

T. Horvath – Y. Balashov

Diagram 1:

42...Qg4! A spectacular move with a threat of checkmate on g3. At the same time, the h5 field is taken under control to avoid the perpetual check.

43. Rg2. The only way of defense. In response to the capture of the queen there is a checkmate in a few moves after 43...f3+.

43...Qxf3. 44.Be7? The decisive mistake. White should have placed the queen on the h3-c8 diagonal having taken control of the h3 square, and after 44...Qf1 there would have been a dead draw.

44...Rh1+! 45.Kxh1 Qf1+ 46.Kh2 f3+ 47.Rg3 Qg2#.

 

E. Sveshnikov – R. Blodig

Diagram 2:

White had a stable advantage during the whole match resulted in endgame and subsequent victory.

33.b5! (with 34.b6+ threat). 33…axb5 34.Nh2!  If there is 34.f6, then 34…g4, and the bishop holds up the f-pawn.

34...Bxh2 35.f6 Kd7 36.a6 g4 37.a7 g3 38.a8Q g2 39.Qb7+ Ke6 (39...Kd8 40.f7 with mate) 40.Qe7+ Kf5 41.Qh7+ (also could be 41.f7). Black resigned.

 

V. Zhelnin – H. Zeybold

Diagram 3:

26.Rxe5! dxe5 27.Qxe5+ Kg8 28.Bxf4 e6 29.Bg5 Qd7 30.Bh6 Rf5 31.Qg3+ Kh8 (31...Kf7 32.Qg7+ Ke8 33.Qg8+ Ke7 34.Bg5+, staying with two extra pawns in a winning position) 32.Qb8+ with mate.

 

K. Cannenberg – N. Rashkovsky

Diagram 4:

26…Rf3! 27.Kh1 Rf2 28.Rg1 Rg8 29.Rcf1 Rxf1 30.Rxf1 Bf8 31.Rf2 Bd6 32.Kg1 Qg3 33.Kf1 Qh2 34.Ne1 Bg3 35.Qc2 Qh1+ 36.Ke2 Bxf2 37.Kxf2 Rf8+ 38.Ke2 Qh2 39.Kd1 Qd6 40.Qc3 Kg7 41.Qb2 h5 42.Qc3 Rf7 43.Nac2 Nc4 44.Nb4 Rf2 45.Kc1 Re2 46.Nbc2 Qg3 47.Qb4 Kf7. White resigned.

 

Thus, the problems related to coronavirus did not bypass the chess players too. The organizers offered participants to stay for another two days, but the most part of them had immediately left fearing the cancellation of flights and the closure of the borders of the Czech Republic and their countries. What a strange situation: people have been living for so long time, but this is the first time we have faced such a problem. I’m not sure the medicine offered by the European governments can help. The main thing here is to make the right diagnosis. Otherwise the treatment may be even worse than the disease itself.

Were there any other problems during the tournament?

I’d like to tell you about one quite important chess – or rather near-chess – problem emerged during the tournament. In recent years there is a significant rise of anti-cheating movement. Even an anti-cheating committee under the chairmanship of grandmaster Konstantin Landa has been organized (however, as I know, it includes no representatives from veterans). They overblew the story of I. Rausis – there was a long debate about his strict punishment to prevent repeating of the situation. I even feel sorry for Igor, since he has been disqualified for 6 (!) years. In the meantime, no one is going to initiate criminal prosecution of persons who authorized the installation of security cameras in toilets, or persons who installed these cameras without any permission. After all, the organizers and judges punished not only Rausis – in fact they humiliated all participants in that chess competition by violating their rights. Cameras may only be installed with the permission of the police. However, nobody has raised the issue...

For the first time in veteran tournaments, it was forbidden to come to the game with a wristwatch (even if they are thin and mechanical). While in the tournament’s Regulation there is not a single word about it. Yes, we were informed about this restriction during the meeting of teams’ representatives and captains on the first day of the competition. However subsequently, when the judges had received my protest, they began to refer to some rules provided by the anti-cheating commission and approved by the presidential council, but not by the FIDE Congress.

Unfortunately, I had no opportunity of attending the meeting of captains, because it was organized shortly before the start of the tour, and we, as I said, lived in another hotel located in 4 km from the venue. It would be more correct to inform participants of the championship at least in a month before its start. In such a case I could turn to veteran chess players, and I am sure – together we would have canceled this nonsense without any problems.

But in our case I had to write an application asking not to remove my watch in 5 minutes before the start of the game. Moreover, I had to assure organizers in written form that the watch did not pose a danger for my opponent and couldn’t be used as a cheating device. My appeal was immediately signed by grandmasters Vlastimil Gort and Naum Rashkovsky, plus, several other chess players also expressed a desire to join them, but I considered this unnecessary. Although later, having analyzed the situation, I began to think that I might have to collect signatures or even take a vote on the anti-cheating issues.

And how did the tournament organizers react to your letter?

In various ways. For instance, Pan Mazuh, whom I have known for a long time, threatened me that he would call the police (though I failed to understand what for), to which I replied: if he wants a scandal, then most likely this will be the last veteran tournament he is organizing. I have not seen Masuh anymore. I also had a conversation with the chief judge and representative from FIDE (I don’t know his name). He reproached me for carrying a badge in my pocket instead of hanging it around my neck as most other chess players do. Honestly, for 50 years at chess competitions I have had a tie on my neck, and a suit with black boots and a beautiful watch. This is my uniform for every responsible tournament. It helps me feel more confident, while the badge just closes my tie and looks ugly in general. Maybe such an approach could be applied to playing children, but we are talking about gray-haired old men. Nevertheless, the chief judge stood his ground. The young man behaved quite respectfully, so I offered him a compromise: I’ll wear the badge, but I won’t take off my favorite watch, this is my talisman! He agreed, but when our team found out about our agreement, they began to worry it could carry some consequences in important matches.

Therefore, I decided to ask my opponents whether they mind the watch on my hand, assuring that they are not a cheating device. Before every game. So I played the first and the second rounds with my watch, but in the third round my opponent from France said he didn’t know if it fit the rules. Then I took off my watch, but since Sasha Zlochevsky (the head of our delegation) I just put them in my pocket. Later, from Landa through Zlochevsky, I found out that it was an even bigger crime. Our team got more excited, because one of the decisive matches (with Germany) was coming up. So I promised to leave the watch in the hotel room. I don’t consider myself superstitious, however without my talisman we lost. Apparently, it was the first match for the Russian national team in five years, which I played without my watch and which our team lost. In such a way, that illegal rule introduced by the FIDE anti-cheating commission under the leadership of grandmaster Konstantin Landa played a decisive role. Of course, this is just a joke, but seriously – you cannot humiliate veterans who have devoted their whole lives to chess with such rules.

The cheating control should be reasonable, while punishments should be inflicted in accordance with existing laws, no other way. We should prevent crimes by educating youth!

Can you tell how serious is the problem of cheating in professional chess competitions today?

For example, take the story of Rausis. I can’t even imagine how he bent on it and, as a result, disgraced himself for the whole chess world! What would I do if I were in FIDE’s place, how could I punish him so that it wouldn’t be in the habit of others? Firstly, I think that a 6-year suspension for a chess professional is too harsh. In addition, evidence of his guilt was also obtained with a violation of the law. Secondly, I would ask Igor to tell me how he got to such a life and what prompted him to do what he did. And the most important thing – how he feels now, whether he regrets and what he can say to the young chess players so that they don’t follow his way. His sincere answers could be much more useful in the fight against cheaters!

One more thing: it would be nice to collect signatures of all chess players attending in tournaments (especially with good prizes) binding them with the obligation not to use the prompts of computers, cheat sheets, coaches, etc.

Eugene Ellinovich, how do you think – what other problems ones face in the issue of chess cheating control?

All my life I have been searching for the best moves in my openings and writing books. Even computers learned from my analysis: do you know that libraries for Deep Blue (the program that played the match against Kasparov) were writing by grandmasters? Or take my matches to the endgame in the Chelyabinsk version, in the Sicilian with c3. Now I play on my 1st line, and they consider me a cheater. Cheater is the computer that studied using my works, and they just don’t want to reveal the tricks of AlphaZero. Here is what I want to say to anti-cheating specialists: don’t invent a medicine that for most chess players is worse than the disease itself! Leave us with our watches, false jaws and hearing devices. Don’t prohibit playing chess with pacemakers. For God’s sake!

And the last thing... What is happening to us today can be described in the following way: the judges began to invent and introduce more and more new rules, the main purpose of which is to show how complex, difficult and significant the judge’s role in chess is. You are wrong! Most chess players don’t need any new rules, and the judge’s role in classical chess has clearly decreased (there is no need in any envelopes, flag falling registration, or making records upon time pressure). Grandmaster Smbat Lputian and the Chess Federation of Armenia even proposed the release of a multifunctional chess table, which will generally reduce the tasks of judges to a minimum, however FIDE reacted to this idea without any interest, and I understand why.

Rapid chess, a new branch of chess that was developed in the last third of the 20th century (USSR Cup 1987, Tallinn; 1st World Cup 1988, winner Anatoly Karpov), was sharply opposed by the then world champion Garry Kasparov, who wanted to reduce the role of Karpov. At that he promoted his own rapid tournaments. This delayed the development of fast chess, but at the same time failed to defend classic chess. Today the profession of chess player undergoes a serious crisis, at least – in an economic sense. In fact, it is destroyed. FIDE is interested in 10-20 chess players, for which elite tournaments are held. For the rest, FIDE has just turned chess into a business for its officials, and the judiciary is needed only as a buffer, as an opportunity to influence chess players.

A large number of amateur chess player is used by FIDE only to receive money. In fact, through judges they declare war to professional chess players. All they want is to posture us like our poor athletes, give numbers, command and receive money!

Look at this tournament for example... I came in 40 minutes before it started and wanted to visit the 50+ hall to look at our women and the Yamal team’s game conditions, and most importantly, to see my old friends Yasha Meister, Arthur Yusupov ... But the guards just did not let me in, even my badge turned to be useless! They just pointed me out. Ok, I then interested who they were. It turned out FIDE had hired them. They even announced their salary, which, to be honest, had not been paid by that moment. The judges also earned good money – the sums are comparable to world champions’ (300 euros each) and much more than the world champions among women (100 euros each). And the chief judge of the tournament gets more than the whole champion team! What's happening?! If the situation is so bad that there is no money for champions and holding rapid and blitz championships among veterans – let's save! My suggestion is to reduce the number of judges and guards in official FIDE tournaments by half, and use the saved money as prizes for their winners. In general, both – the prizes earned and the salaries of judges – should not be buried in mystery. That is wrong!

Finally, please tell us about the problems professional chess players face in these latter days.

We, the professional chess players, grandmasters and masters, create a product - chess games, which are used by millions of chess fans for training. We pay taxes from our prizes to the state, however it isn’t considered in terms of length of service. in Soviet times grandmasters got personal pensions, while today millions of chess fans can use their legacy for free. For instance, my working experience makes 19,9 years (according to a certificate from the Pension Fund), I retired as an outstanding athlete, USSR grandmaster, when I was 45, and by that moment the working experience made 24,9 years. Later it was changed without my knowledge and today my pension is 10245 rubles (as of January 2020).

I’d like to express my “gratitude” to the Russian Chess Federation: since I became the world champion among 65+ veterans in August 2018, it has been paying me extra 6000 rubles minus income tax. In the meantime, since then I became the world champion in the team competition for 5 times! Why am I talking about this? In order to tell people liking chess what is happening in the chess world. And why the majority of young chess players don’t want to become grandmasters. While among the young children up to 10 years old there are quite many such players!

Happy and prosperous are those who have timely changed chess for other areas of activity. And the last president of the chess federation of the RSFSR, academician L.I. Abalkin summarized the situation with a single sentence: “The economic situation has changed, you have been thrown into market relations without rights for your intellectual property".

So, what can we do? The easiest way is to include chess games into the list of copyright objects by amending paragraph 1 of article 1259 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Otherwise, the chess professionals of the older generation, with millions of fans, will remain almost impoverished, as it had earlier happened to many popular film artists, musicians and so on... In recent years, their economic situation has changed for the better, while chess players’ had not. We are robbed by economists – and it is obvious for all sober-minded people!

Thank you very much, Eugene Ellinovich, for the conversation! I’d like to wish you good luck in all your further games!

Reporter: Peter Karpov