The next sensation of the first round of the World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk was the victory of the Brasilian chess player Alexander Fier over Wang Yue from China. The Brazilian player told us about his first games of the tournament at the press conference.

-Alexander, did you expect that you would be able to go further to the 2^nd round?

— In fact I was not trying to win this match; I was just making my utmost. In the first game after the opening I got a comfortable advantage and then could develop it. In the second game I went to the complications myself and could not hold the position after that. I was afraid that everything would go not the way I was planning. My opponent was in time trouble in the endgame and thanks to it I managed to hold the position.

— Did you have a temptation to play safely in the second game, without any complications?

— My opponent chose a positional play in the second game. While I had an absolute chaos. If I chose another variation, the game would run in a calm way.

— Who will be your opponent in the next round?

— The name of my next opponent will be defined after the tie break games between Russian chess player Alexander Morozevich and Stelios Halkias from Greece.

— Will you make your preparations against both of them or will you concentrate on one?

— I will wait for the outcome of their battle.

— Alexander, please, tell us about yourself. Why did Brazilian choose chess but not football?

— Indeed, chess in Brazil is not that popular as football. In my country there are few chess players. But it happened. When I was small my parents used to play chess for fun. I tried and liked it.