After the 3rd round the GM Svetlana Matveeva who managed to outplay her opponents –Irina Vasilevich from Moscow, Karen Zapata (Peru) and Zhaokin Peng representing the Netherlands - agreed to become the guest of our press-centre.

- Svetlana, could you please tell us about today’s game and your previous opponents?
SM: Yesterday the game wasn’t that successful, we both were tired, and nobody decided to start fighting. And today my opponent has continued not in a better way. She managed to advantage in the beginning, and then she has probably decided –now or never –and started to attack, sacrificing too many pawns. I captured all of them and was ready to mate and it turned out not that difficult with 2 pawns in store. In fact, I have very convenient pairings. In the first round I met an interesting girl from Moscow – Ira Vasilevich. I have already once won her at the Moscow Championship a year ago. Then we were equal in strength. In round 2 I had been planning to meet very strong Kateryna Lahno, but I was lucky, because Karen Zapata managed to somehow overplay her. Although she wasn’t the strongest opponent I felt very nervous; at some moment she managed to advantage but failed to find the best way out during time –trouble – it can be explained by her being of lower rank. .

- How do you like Yekaterinburg?
SM: On the whole, not bad. It’s very important that we are in Russia, on our native land. People support us.

- What do you expect of this Championship?
SM: I have already played knock-outs at the World Championships and I know that it’s impossible to predict the result. It’s all for nothing: you can plan something but the only mistake will be disastrous! You should go step by step to the final, and everything will be clear there. Just hope for the best result.

- What are your future plans? Are you going to take part in the Russian Team Championship?
SM: They haven’t offered me yet. But I think so.

- Whom do you support? Whose playing do you like best?
SM: I didn’t manage to watch all the games but I like Sasha Kosteniuk. Iweta Radziewicz also deserves attention – she sacrifices something in every round. And the audience enjoy her playing.

- Was the elimination after round 2 of the three top seated players of the tournament surprising for you?
SM: Anything can happen with such regulations when the most important tie-break is being played after midnight. The opponents are approximately equal in strength, and you can’t judge only by the normal games.

-What is your impression of 12 years - old Yifan Hou?
SM: Unfortunately, I have not seen her winning games but she is a brilliant player if judging by the results. Almira Skripchenko plays with her for one Chinese team and she more than admires her. I’ve seen the first game with Khurtsidze – of course there are some positional mistakes: when there are few tactical opportunities, the Chinese feels ill at ease. Well, it’s impossible to know everything when you are just 12.

- Who helps you at this tournament?
SM: The GM Sergey Shipov, he is one of the top commentators of the web site “chesspro”.

- They say that there are very few young talents in Russia….what do you think of that?
CM: I think that such statements have no ground – there have always been a lot of talents in Russia. But it is necessary to find and support them. Even top chess players lack of sponsors. There are perspectives because of Russia’s economical development; with financial support we’ll be able to send our children to the tournaments.

- How many men chess players did you manage to win?
SM: In fact, I haven’t counted. But there are a lot of victims: Glek, Yuriy Yakovich, Peter Swidler –and I am very proud of this. I even managed to outplay Karpov, of course it was a handicap game but still: it is always pleasant to win Anatoly Evgenyevich.

- How are you going to spend a day-off?
SM: Sleeping! Maybe, I’ll go for a walk…

- Whom would you like to play with in the next round? According to the pairings Marie Sebag or Qin Janying are likely to be your opponents.
SM: I really don’t know. Sebag is a very talented girl, more gifted than the Chinese player. As for sports qualities I think Qin is stronger. In fact with knock-out it is preferable to play with weaker opponents but it’s not my aim. After all we are here to display our best qualities and we don’t count on easy wins. If you want to perform well, you’ll certainly meet strong opponents.