Pavel Eljanov: "Yes, I think this is my best individual result."

Pavel Eljanov won the Bosna 2009 tournament and made it look very easy. The Ukrainian eventually finished at 7/10, 1.5 point clear of Predojevic and Wang Hao. In a short interview he tells us about his success, and shares his thoughts about what's going on with his compatriot Ivanchuk.

The Sahovski Klub Bosna in Sarajevo organized its traditional tournament from May 8 to 18. It was a strong, double round-robin with six players; the same format as the M-Tel Masters. As we reported last Sunday, Eljanov dominated the event and played quite attractive chess. The Ukrainian started with 5.5/7 and ended with three draws, but still finished 1.5 points ahead of the rest.

Below you'll find the games of the last two rounds and a short interview we conducted with the winner.

Games rounds 9-10

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Congratulations with your victory. Was it as easy as it looked? "Thank you! Somehow it was rather easy really especially comparing to the Grand Prix tournament in Nalchik. First of all there was a 5-hour time control and also no Sofia rules. So it was much easier to distribute energy between rounds."

How do you explain your success? "I think it was helpful that I played in Nalchik before. I was not so tired and on the other hand I was very well prepared for tense fights."

What do you consider your best game in Sarajevo? "Hard to say. Probably my win against Sokolov with White as in my opinion I played quite precisely."

In Nalchuk you worked together with Zahar Efimenko. Did he join you in Sarajevo too? "No, I was without Zahar but some his ideas helped me for sure!"




Do you feel you have improved your chess? What did you improve? "I cannot say that I've improved my chess as last year my Elo was already 2720. But then I spoiled everything at the end of the year, losing about 50 points. It was a good lesson for me. Now I hope to go higher as I will try not repeat my mistakes!"

Do you consider this your best results of your career? "Yes, I think this is my best individual result! I have also won the Grandmaster Group B in Wijk aan Zee, and the tournament in Montreal, and some some open tournaments. But this one was much stronger."

What will you play after this? "I'm in Odessa already, to play the ACP Cup."

And... what is your explanation of Ivanchuk's bad form? "I'm very dissapointed about Vassily's form now as he has always been an example of fantastic chess for me. He represents the top, what I should strive for! He's blundering terribly in almost every game. I think he is very tired after playing this infinite series of tournaments and should stop for some time to recharge his batteries. I'm still believe in Vassily! He should be in the top 5 at least."

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN