VIRIATOVITCH CHESS: AN INTERVIEW WITH EMANUEL BERG

13/11/09

AN INTERVIEW WITH EMANUEL BERG - VIRIATOVITCH CHESS

Emanuel Berg - Viriatovitch Chess

An interview with GM Emanuel Berg
by António Viriato Ferreira

António Ferreira: Let me start by congratulating you on your victory on the 2009 Sweden Championship.
How you feel this win after ten attempts?

Emanuel Berg: Thank you. It was a very good feeling after so many tries and after having been so close a couple of times.

Emanuel Berg - Sweden Chess Champion 2009

António Ferreira: I met you in the Salou Open this year and one of the things that surprise me was your dynamic and aggressive chess style.
Do you feel the need of trying to produce in yours games master chess pieces or you simply do that naturally just looking for the best moves in the position?
How to find the balance between the need of the result and the instinct to take risks?

Emanuel Berg: I do not feel any need of creating masterpieces, although I am very happy to do so.
It's my natural way to play and I have always liked tactics and been a creative player.
I am generally ready to take risks anytime.
In my world there are no safe draws and therefore the decision comes first in case a draw offer appears or if I can choose to force a draw.

António Ferreira: In the closing ceremony of the Salou tournament you were apllaude by all players for your warrior spirit.
In the last round you need to win to take the first place.
Your opponent offer you a draw during the game.
You refuse, because the half point would had given you the second.
The words "I came to Salou to win" was pronunced by you in response to Vladimir Burmakin proposal.
In the end you lost the game finishing the tournament in fifth place.
Your chess figthing caracter is amazing but in the end of the day what did you really felt?

Emanuel Berg: I was rather disappointed with the result after the round.
Not only because I lost, but also feeling I had a good grip and excellent winning chances on the way.
However I never regreat my decision to decline the draw offer.
Since my tiebreak was not the best a draw would probably not had been enough for second place and the prixe difference between first and third was quite a lot.

António Ferreira: In chess statistics you appear was one of the all times chessplayers with more pieces sacrifice.
How do you evaluate those games?

Emanuel Berg: This was interesting to hear.
I never saw that statistics actually.
Where can I find it?

Players most often with winning sacrifices

António Ferreira: Your are a family man and father of three children.
Is possible to conciliate a intense professional chess carrear with the life of a family man?

Emanuel Berg: Well, it's not an easy combination and soon I will even have four children.
The next one is to come in the begining of January.

António Ferreira: In your opinion what was your best games until now?
Can you pick one or two?

Emanuel Berg: The highest rated played I won against was Evgeny Bareev in Gothenburg 2005.
It was defintly a classical Berg game with a powerful attack.
I would pick that one as my best game.

António Ferreira: Who will win the next World Chess Championship Anand vs Topalov?

Emanuel Berg: I think it will be a tight Match, hard to say who will come out as the winner.
It's a lot about preparation nowadays.

António Ferreira: Have you ever been in Portugal?

Emanuel Berg: Not yet, but I definitly would like to go there.

António Ferreira: I`m a portuguese in Andorra.
Will you be in the Andorra International Open 2010?

Emanuel Berg: Maybe, if I get an invite to play there!

António Ferreira: Thank you for the interview and i hope to see you in the future, maybe in the Salou Open 2010.
TACK! ^_^

Emanuel Berg: Muchas Gracias! Hasta Luego!