The chess player from Saint Petersburg started his second Round with a beautiful victory. After the game the Grandmaster told the journalists how he gets prepared to the game.

— Please tell us about the tie break games at first. — The distinctive feature of this tournament is tie break games. I have some experience of playing in knock out tournaments. To my mind the result of the performance at this kind of tournaments depends on how a chess player copes with tie breaks. The most important is to have a fresh mind and tough nerves. At some point the difference in rating is not that important anymore. The features like confidence, tranquility, and stableness matter. Such a short period is given for a decision whether you stay or go home.

— The second game of the rapid chess ended very quickly, seemed that you did not play at all. Did you want to save your energy? — Well, we made some moves anyway. My opponent played the opening and offered a draw. This is one of the possible strategies in the rapid chess so I agreed. Perhaps it was profitable for me: I was playing the next game with White and won.

— There was a feeling that Alexey Bezgodoc was very well prepared in the opening and you won due to your strong will mainly. Is that correct? — Yes it is. This was one of the most difficult matches I have ever played in the knock out tournaments. Perhaps the formal difference in rating was pressing me a bit, and my opponent was on the contrary free. Obviously his playing level is much higher than his rating. He did his best to get prepared and the classical games did not go easy for me. In the rapid games I managed to press with White and as a result I won thanks to the fact that I overplayed him.

— How did you manage to outplay Anton Korobkov so beautifully? — We played a very sharp variation. But I occurred to be prepared better than my opponent. This helped me to get an advantage.

— Did you get emotionally geared for a game? — I just try to remind to myself that I should play chess and enjoy the process. There are chess players who get steamed up and think that they have to win, to earn. On the contrary I try to relax and enjoy every game.