Grandmaster from Israel Tamir Nabaty started the 2018 Moscow Open Cup of Russia event with four victories that confirmed his status of the tournament ranking favorite. We addressed several questions to the leader.
- Tamir, is it your first visit to Moscow?
- Once I was in your capital for just short time.
- Do you like it here, did you have a chance to see the city?
- I have nice impressions of Moscow, however, I didn’t have a chance to see some sites yet. And it was also hard to get used to the climate – now it’s +20 in Israel. And still it will not influence my desire to make a city tour in Moscow as soon as I have a chance. I think, it’s very beautiful here! Besides, Russia is my small motherland, my mum was born in Novosibirsk.
- What are your impressions of the tournament?
- It’s a good tournament, I’m happy with the organization. I can admit, there are many strong players here. Moreover, in my opinion the current ranking doesn’t resemble their real level of play. Each of my opponents demonstrated tenacity and was struggling up to the end. It impressed me much.
- Tell us about your chess life. How did you start you way?
- When I was 16 I left school as I decided that chess is really very important for me and I wanted to devote my life to it. And I was right – in three years I received a title of grandmaster. After that I started to work on chess with more passion, and now I can really say, I’m professional. Every day I try to devote 3-4 hours to practices.
- What are your most important chess achievements?
- Six years ago I won a very strong open tournament in Pardubice (Czech Republic). I won domestic championships two times (in 2013 and 2016), showed a great result at the World Chess Olympiad in Baku – I scored 8,5 of 10 points on the third board.
- Do you have a hobby? What do you like to do in your spare time?
- As many chess players I love to play poker (laughing). Besides I love to watch football and basketball games – I can’t afford myself to miss a live broadcast! If I have a chance I am on the court to play with the ball.
- Thank you for a chat!
Questions were asked by Alina Bivol.