15.03.2005 Krishnan Sasikiran answers the ACP questions

Should the ACP support classical chess, or promoting rapid and blitz chess would be more beneficial in your opinion?

Basically we should concentrate on the combination of tournaments. We should not ignore rapid and blitz chess because rapid chess gets more attention, but it is also necessary to support classical chess.

How should we deal with short draws?

As far as I can see, most of the top players try to get the maximum of every game; sometimes they make draws because they are not in a particularly good mood or some other reason. Sometimes it happens so that you don’t get anything in the opening and there is no point to continue. What I can see is that basically the top players try to get maximum of every game.

Should the present rating system be changed? Do you think that winning as Black should bring a player more rating points that winning with White?

It’s a possible idea to give 1.5 points to Black for a win, to give more emphasis on the first move. The thing is that it should be done on the experimental basis. For instance they should conduct at least three or four tournaments to see how it works and decide which one is better.

Do you think there should be a special control against various electronic equipment used by players? What is your opinion about doping tests?

Of course, the check for electronic devices is necessary. But I have some doubts about doping control. Some players need a lot of coffee before the game and if for instance caffeine is banned, it will be extremely difficult for them to play. If the doping control is not included then probably chess won’t be admitted to the Olympic Games. Most of the European players don’t consider chess as a sport, they consider it as a game. So, doping control is not so necessary in my opinion.

What is your favorite system of determining world's strongest player?

In my opinion the old system was OK, when they conducted a lot of interzonals and candidate matches, I mean they conducted interzonals and then they chose about 16 players and afterwards they conducted candidate matches. In my opinion, the match of two games is very difficult, I mean if you lose one game then it becomes very difficult to catch up.

What in your opinion could make chess more spectacular, generally more popular?

Rapid and blindfold chess attract a lot of attention, and more rapid tournaments can be helpful.

Questions were asked by Christina Ivanenko
Translated by Misha Savinov
Photo from ChessBase Archive

This article is published with permission of Association of Chess Professionals