Anish Giri has had a very busy schedule over the last couple of months. He was very successful in the FIDE Grand Swiss and qualified for the Candidates. He had a shot at the World Cup, but that didn’t go as planned, like with several other top players. It’s a hard and ruthless event. In this interview, Giri talks about his experiences in both tournaments, his ideas about chess, and much more. Let’s give the floor to Anish Giri!

Could you share some of your experiences from the Grand Swiss?

For sure. It’s been a while ago, and I am still enjoying the consequences of that since I am now going to prepare for the Candidates. The freshness of the tournament has faded. The Grand Swiss was a very interesting event. I thought the format of such a strong open, where only two people qualify, is the worst format there can be for me to qualify because usually I don’t lose many games, but I don’t win as many games as some of my competitors do.

Normally, this is not my format, one would think. But I still had to try because why else would I come if you don’t want to try? I was trying to play as aggressively as I can and try to score as many wins as possible.

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