US chess player Wesley So, participating in Vugar Hashimov Memorial, gave an interview to official website of ShamkirChess2017 tournament. Speaking about competition organized by Synergy Group expressed his opinion about his opponents.

-You are rating favorite in ShamkirChess2017 tournament. But you couldn’t  get the result you wanted in the first rounds.

-It is not easy to be favorite. Everyone expects victory  from you. After 5 rounds,I confess that I am not satisfied with my game. There weren’t just few mistakes. In this sense, I don’t show the game I wanted. I can’t say the reason. Staff is very strong. It is difficult to play against strong player in each game.

-In the first round Have you analyzed the game with Azerbaijani chess player Shahriyar Mammadyarov? How can you explain your loss in that game?

 -Mammadyarov is strong player. He doesn’t forgive mistakes. For gaining an advantage in the game with Shahriyar, I had to make couple of moves. My opponent did not leave my mistake unnoticed. As a result, Iwas defeated. The mistakes against the opponent of this level are not forgivable.

-Before Shamkir You have been US champion. Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura couldn’t create strong rivalry to you.

-Karuana and Nakamura are strong chess players. I have just prepared to the game more seriously. Both of them were US champions before. For me, it was first victory in US. US is a big country. They love chess very  much. It was very gratifying to win in internal championship of such a country.

- In Shamkir you won easily over former world champion Vladimir Kramnik in V round.  Was it the result of serious preparation against Kramnik?

-Believe me, victory was not easy. It is impossible to win against Kramnik. In the course of game,I just got an advantage. To the end, I kept the opponet under pressure. It was one of the longest games in my career. At the end of the meeting, which lasted six hours, Kramnik surrendered.  In the round schedule,my situation was improved a little after defeating former world champion.

- At a young age, you are in the second place of FIDE world ranking. You are already called  main rival of the world champion Magnus Carlsen. Do you consider yourself ready for the fight for the world chess crown?

-Magnus Carlsen is a strong chess player. I am not fully ready to fight against him. For this, preparation is required in professional level. First of all,I must succeed in Qran-Pri tournaments. Then winning in contenders tournament , I must get license to meeting with Carlsen. Then, I can think about fighting with Magnus. My main goal - to achieve the maximum results in events in which i participate.

-With whom you are preparing to reliable competitions?

- I have come to Shamkir with my mother. My mother pays attention to the training process. I go to almost all competitions with her. As a coach , I work with Vladimir Tukmakov. It is not important if he is with me in competition. I am in constant contact with him. Tukmakov is my only coach.

-Who do you consider your idol in the chess world?

-Since my childhood I have watched games of Vladimir Kramnik and Vişvanatan Anand. I have great respect for these players. I would emphasize Kramnik especially. I have defeated the man I admire twice. It requires a great courage to play against him.

-Shamkir tournament is dedicated to the memory of well-known chess player of Azerbaijan Vugar Hashimov. We would ask you to share with us memories about Vugar ...

-First of all, I would like to thank SynergyGroup for organizing the XX; category competition at a high level.  This is my second visit to Shamkir. I am always  very glad to visit this city. I thank them for keeping the name of Vugar Gashimov. I heard Vugar’s  name when i was taking my first steps in chess.Then I got to know him better. At that time, he had 2760 rating points. Even when he won ,he respected the opponent. Unfortunately,now Vugar is not with us. Chess world will never forget him.