8 minutes with Gata

GM Gata Kamsky was at the top of a six-way tie for first at the National Open (June 5-8). In an 8 minute interview with Chess.FM, Kamsky discusses his time in Vegas and his thoughts on the upcoming World Championship candidates match with Veselin Topalov, scheduled for November in Lvov, Ukraine.

The interview starts with the "story of Lvov", but unfortunately Kamsky doesn't want to talk too much about it:

What's the story of Lvov? "Well, I was really against playing in Bulgaria - I'm not sure if I would have played there, I mean there was some small possibility that I would play there, but... more than not... I would not play there."

And if there was a choice between having the spot go to Shirov or playing in Bulgaria? "Well, difficult question and I can't really answer it so I'm gonna skip it."

And as far as Bulgaria itself, of course you played in the M-Tel Masters there... "Well, I have nothing against Bulgaria, I mean it's a great place and the Sofia tournament is always very well organized so I have no complaints at all, I mean I was really happy to play there. It's just that the match... I really strongly feel that a match on such level should be staged in a neutral country because every small detail makes a really big impression on any player, and to be completely fair it has to be a neutral venue."

Here's the full interview, by Macauley: