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The press conference of the usually reserved American Gata Kamsky, who defeated the former World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, was not very long. Mr. Kamsky briefly shared his thoughts about the match.

— Gata, you probably had the most difficult opponent in the Round 2...  — Hmm, there are many strong players here...

— But Rustam is a former World Champion! — Well, yeah...

— Can you tell us about the course of the match? — We made a quick draw in the first game, because we are both experts in the Gruenfeld defense, and White selected a harmless line, so we saved the effort. The second game turned very tense. We played the Ruy Lopez. I vaguely recalled that this line was employed by Emil Sutovsky, but I couldn't remember anything, so I was forced to invent at the board. At some point the position began to seem like the Open Variation. Black carried out the f7-f6 break; White got the bishop pair, however, one of the bishops was passive, and Black had some kingside threats, so the position was very complicated.

I think my opponent made a mistake when allowed me to play 26.Bc5. After this move White can play for a win without much risk. Black's next mistake is 28...Ng6; if he played 28...Nc6, he would get reasonable drawing chances, while after the move in the game he is almost lost.

— Who is your next opponent?  — I am facing the winner of Nepomniachtchi-Riazantsev match.

— Do you have any preferences?  — It is up to the God...