Alexander Motylev: I miss the game

The coach of the men national team, one of the top grandmasters Alexander Motylev explained in his interview to Yana Melnikova the reasons why he decided to participate in Moscow Open.

- Alexander, how many times did you participate in Moscow Open? How successful were you?

- I played at Moscow Open only once 2 years ago. I was quite successful: I got +4 but as there were many participants, I managed to get only in the 2nd tens of the rankings.

- When did you make up your mind to participate in this tournament?

- 2 months prior to the tournament. I used to coach rather than play for the last time so I miss the game. That’s why at the beginning of the year I decided to play at 3 tournaments at once: Moscow Open, Aeroflot Open and Europe Championship.

- How important is this tournament for you?

- Firstly I want to show good results of course. This tournament can be also considered as a preparation for the future official tournaments, particularly to the Europe Championship.

- Did you manage to find some time for a serious preparation? Don’t you feel exhausted after the last World Championship?

- I feel exhausted a bit although in Turkey I was coaching rather than playing. There was no time for a serious preparation.

- The traditional festival is being held in Wijk-an-Zee in the Netherlands now in which you participated last year. Do you root for someone?