In between of the 9th and 10th round I had the
chance to have a friendly talk with Adly Ahmed. Adly is a young talented
person playing in the category of the boys under 18. He is an
international master and his rating on the 1st of October was 2482.
After I introduced myself to him we started talking and I instantly
realized that he is a very simple and polite person.
He told me about his adventure with his health last year when while he
was playing in Nigeria he got sick with malaria and he was saved at the
last moment when he reached Halkidiki. 2 of his friends that remained in
Egypt died. After talking a little bit about this unfortunate incident
we started our main part of the conversation.
Kostas Klokas
KK. I wanted to tell you that as I was looking
all these days the games of these championships I have become a fan of
your fighting style. It’s not only that you are a tactician but that in
general you play for the win. An example is the game with the rook
sacrifice.
AA. Thank you very much for your good words, I’m honored. It is true
that I’m trying to play dynamic chess and get the best that I can out of
every game. I like unclear positions with a lot of tactics but of course
dynamic play doesn’t always mean tactics. A positional fight also
requires dynamic.
KK. Which is your chess idol?
AA. Tal.
KK. I was expecting something like Shirov,
Morozevits, Kasparov…
AA. I’m referring to Tal because I’m able to understand his games.
KK. Another question about the matter of the
dynamic play, what are your feelings about the fact than many times in
the top matches, as for example the one between Kramnik and Leko, top
players make easy draws and there are very few games actually played?
AK. I don’t appreciate this so much but I think that I’m too small to
judge this kind of players.
KK What do you think about the game Kasparov-Kazimzdanov?
AA I think it will be an interesting much. Personally as a Muslim I
would prefer the victory of Kazimdzanov. I respect Kasparov very much
but some years ago he had made a negative statement about Arabs.
KK. Let’s pass to you. I see that the quality of
your games in this tournament is pretty high. What are your goals for
the near future?
AA. It was surprising also for me that I’m making a good tournament
because this last year was very bad for me both in the quality of my
games as well as in my results. My illness from malaria had influenced
me a lot but it seems that I’m recovering also in the chess field. The
first goal is to end this tournament in the best way I can. After that
my priority goal is to obtain the GM title by winning the Arab
championship on this December.
KK. How many hours do you study in the last
period?
AA. (laughing) It’s true that I wasn’t studying as much as I should.
The last period was better; I reached approximately 4 hours a day.
KK. I would like to ask you my favorite question.
Does chess improve you as a human being; does it make you a better
person?
AA. I think that chess has certainly helped me improve my character,
become more objective about several matters in my life.
KK. Ok, let me now ask you about the level of the
organization.
AA. It’s absolutely fine, I like very much the conference center
where we are playing and in general the hotel is fantastic. I really
enjoy the comfortable feeling I get from my stay here.
KK. Ok, I would like to thank you for this short
discussion and I really hope to see you on Saturday with a medal on your
chest.
AA. Thank you very much. |
