Sergey Karjakin: Without gym – nowhere – Chess, ladies – Others

The match for the world crown between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana has just ended. The great Viking has become the four-time champion of the planet, defending his title. Another candidate failed to overthrow Carlsen from the throne. But today, Sergey Karjakin, a participant in the last match, will tell you how difficult it is to keep up the tension on the blackboard and why do you need physical effort for that?

– How do you match?

– Someone & # 39; a He said my fight with Carlsen was boring. But in London, it was really a burning desire – 12 draws – it's not very good for chess. The fans want to see results. But, on the other hand, I understand that the prices are too high. So someone & # 39; a condemn even the language does not turn. This is a very difficult test. And you have to be incredibly strong, and in the plane of chess, psychologically and physically. And if Magnus has always been considered an athlete, it has been said about Caruana that he was very puny. This is not true I know that Fab is very engaged in the room. He has an iron handshake and an iron handle on the board.

– sure match break he did not have the strength?

– Just Magnus was too confident and too strong at quick chess. I managed to impose a fight on him, Caruana did not succeed – he was simply crushed with a 0-3 draw.

– You are away from the match, how do you train?

– When I'm in Moscow, I go almost every day to the wonderful club "VITASPOR". I can say with confidence that it is the best room in Moscow. Here you can play tennis, swim even in the "minus 30" in the outdoor pool, play football, relax in the Russian bath, Finnish sauna, relax in the jacuzzi. The director of the club, Dmitry Kiselev, has just organized everything intelligently here.

– Do you practice alone?

– I have an badistant who is versatile – that is Vitaly Kozhanov. He is my mbadeur and cook. Sometimes I make my full name – the world champion of modern pentathlon. Sergey Karjakin is an excellent coach. Well, I can not fail to mention my director, Kirill Zangalis, who has never practiced physical exertion, but at age 38, he changed his life, lost 25 kilos and can not be removed from the gym anymore . So, I learn a lot from him, not only in terms of training, but also in terms of nutrition.

– You pay more attention to what kind of charges?

– I swim a lot, but I pay attention to the gland, sometimes I play tennis. Let's not forget that Anya Chekvetadze herself helped me tennis, with which we are still friends. By the way, I meet interesting people in the club. The other day, I saw Leonid Agutin talking with the famous NBA basketball player, Sveta Abrosimova.

– In the club they recognize you?

– Almost always. And you know, because I'm going to open a chess school here. Once, I gave a great session here. There are many children at VITASPORT. It was a sensation. So many people have gathered. I'm fed up with photo and autographs. But he was very happy.

– The children are happy with them vice champion the world?

– Well, I do not have time for clbades. Only hold a session sometimes. If all goes well, the club is a great place. And here, the real professionals will lead the lessons. I really want to believe that my match with Carlsen has raised a big wave of popularity of chess in the country. For this support, I want to thank my sponsors, without whom these successes would not be. These are Alpari, VSMPO-AVISMA, PhosAgro, Kaspersky Lab, Mercedes Benz.

– What advice would you give to young chess players that they lead a healthy lifestyle from their childhood?

– For starters – you have to give up my sweet. This is just a prerequisite. And even if you do not go to the gym, you can get back in shape in 30 minutes. Waving hands, do 20 pushups, 20 squats, stay at least a minute in the "bar". If this becomes a habit, you will be energized all day. Well, if there's an opportunity, I'm waiting for everyone at the gym.