Sergei Karyakin, a chess player, got married. Family is the best rear: family secrets of the chess player Karjakin. Personal life of a chess player
We visited the family of a world champion contender
One of the most important, exciting and unpredictable sports matches of the year, the 55th World Chess Championship, kicks off in Manhattan on Friday, November 11th. This will not be an ordinary match for amateurs the oldest game on the planet: the last time a Russian fought for the crown was eight years ago, and won it ten years ago. That was Vladimir Kramnik, who is currently advising the current applicant. Sergey Karjakin is young, born in 1990, but his rival, reigning champion Magnus Carlsen, is his age. The Norwegian will be 26 years old on November 30, which is scheduled for the end of the tournament, and experts believe that Magnus will make the best gift for himself, confirming the title. The statistics of personal meetings, alas, are far from in favor of our player: 16 draws, 4 losses and 1 win. But what exactly is in his favor is a reliable rear, and this is a guarantee of success in any chess games, especially in such responsible ones. "MK" talked with parents, younger brother, close friends of Sergey Karjakin, visited his family and found out who protects the youngest grandmaster in the history of chess.
Sergei Karjakin at the April Fools' MK tournament in chess giveaways.
Debut
Of the progenitors of Karjakin, only his mother's grandfather, 80-year-old Nikolai Vasilyevich Malyutin, is alive today. A civil aviation pilot from Feodosia, he flew throughout the Soviet Union. His wife Svetlana Potapovna Malyutina is from Zaporozhye, she worked as a teacher of drawing and home economics. These grandmother's skills helped to consolidate Seryozha's outstanding childhood successes, which at the age of 12 years 211 days made him the youngest grandmaster in history and entered his name in the Guinness Book of Records.
After significant victories, the grandmother baked a branded "chess" cake for her grandson, - the applicant's mother Tatyana Nikolaevna Karjakina smiles. - She drew a board on top of it, but she did not "expose" all the pieces on it, but only those that played a key role in the game. If the rook distinguished itself and it was with it that the move was made, which put the opponent in checkmate, then it was it that was taken out with chocolate and icing.
There were also long-livers in the son's family: his great-grandmother, Maria Yakovlevna Fidorenko, who worked as an accountant, died at 92. There were also outstanding scientists: his great-grandfather Potap Ivanovich worked as an engineer at an aircraft plant in Zaporozhye and improved engines for aircraft, including military ones. He received many patents for his inventions.
Mom was born in Zaporozhye, where great-grandfather invented, spent her childhood in Dushanbe, from where grandfather flew out, and gave birth to a son at 18 in Simferopol, where their family moved in the 70s. fully support his passion for chess. By the way, he learned about the very existence of chess ... from the advertising slogan.
On TV in 1995, a video was shown, where they assured that every pawn can become a queen, - the mother gives out a family tradition. - Seryozha at his 5 years old was intrigued by this phrase, he asked the household: “Who are the pawn and queen? And how is it - one turns into another? " We, of course, explained to him, and then his eyes lit up, and he never lived a day without chess.
He started playing at home at the age of 5 (dad taught), at 5.5 he went to the section and at first he lost exclusively to dad. But Karjakin did not immediately choose his path. A pawn, before becoming a queen, must move six cells, and Seryozha went through eight other circles before he felt that chess was his life's work. The boy was recorded on computers, English, plasticine modeling, acrobatics, tennis, table tennis, judo, swimming.
Whatever he undertook, he achieved success everywhere, because everything aroused interest in him, - my mother is proud.
With my mother, Tatyana Nikolaevna.
The inquisitive boy was sent to school at the age of 7 and already in the fourth grade he was transferred to home schooling according to an individual program, since chess gradually took up all the time. Nevertheless, he took primary education seriously: he finished quarters with "grades" and "grades", sometimes in one day he read the entire textbook on some subject. And not only read, but also mastered the entire program. The prodigy was no stranger to the usual children's games - football and basketball with friends in the yard.
I baked pies for my mother, and I kneaded the dough myself, however, it was not always edible, ”she laughs. - When he was 14 years old, he brought me from abroad a summer dress with a colorful pattern. Looked closely - yes, these are cows! Flying cows! Flying cows smoking cigarettes! In business! And I guessed with the size. I still have it. Seryozha also loved pets. Shepherd Max and cat Matilda lived with us. Her son called her Motei - she was the only one who worked out sketches with him on her knees for 6-7 hours in a row, no one could stand it for so long. Therefore, he often played even with himself. And he cried bitterly for about ten minutes when he lost. It would seem, why grieve, because the other "he" won the same? Seryozha was upset to tears that he had put a checkmate on himself, not because he had embodied a cool combination, but because the other "he" ineptly yawned a piece.
Grandmother and grandfather on my father's side are from the Russian hinterland. Ivan Gerasimovich Karjakin is from the village of Peresypkino in the Tambov Region. The captain of the ground forces, he went through the Soviet-Finnish war and the entire Great Patriotic War - he took part in the Battle of Stalingrad, defended Kiev, was awarded two Orders of the Red Star. After the victory, he was sent to Simferopol, where he served in the military registration and enlistment office. Tamara Vladimirovna Karjakina - from Stary Oskol, being the head teacher of the school, she also taught mathematics to children, and to her son, Serezha's dad, chess.
It gave a strong incentive to play: the ruble is a game, - Aleksandr Ivanovich Karjakin reveals the secret of success. - Huge money for those times! For Seryozha, this amount was already frivolous, so I played with him for something more valuable - batteries. Not a single child in his childhood escaped the passion for "Tetris", for which finger batteries ran out very quickly. But at the age of six, when he stopped losing even to his teacher, that is, to me, we gave up this business: he almost ruined me on batteries!
Serezha's dad is strong not only in chess, in which he worked as a coach in Kramatorsk, but also in business. Today in the Crimea, in a village near Belogorsk, he grows grapes, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers on a farm on a farm, breeds crucian carp and mirror carp in a pond.
In Simferopol he undertook different things, he was a bummer: he sold linoleum, tiles, wallpapers on the market, which he imported from Poland, Turkey, Ukraine; for several years he was in charge of the pie machine, - adds the dad. - The pies were baked with a partner - with potatoes or jam. Once, for fun, they overfulfilled the plan. Usually we gave out 3 thousand pies per shift, but here from 5 am to 7 pm they blinded and sold ... Guess how much? 7 thousand! With potato. 4 kopecks each. A food technologist by education, I cooked meat in a restaurant, butchered carcasses, and smoked sausage.
At the same time, he did not get tired of training his son and freeing up his day for chess as much as possible.
Serezha, due to intense training and friends, did not have much in childhood. Why are there friends - every second, like in a blitz, he shore. I even opened a textbook with a notebook for him, put them in front of his eyes and replaced them as soon as the son did all the exercises, - the method of high-speed mastering of school material is given by dad.
The longest break in the life of the young grandmaster turned out, like Mtsyri's, for three days: once his father noticed how tired he was after a regular tournament, and took the boy to the mountains. There he finally saw not a chess, but a real horse, which can not only jump, but also ride. He also fished, chopped with his father in computer games... Did he like these “three happy days”? Yes, but he also realized that without chess they are eternity.
Karjakin's parents divorced, but together they are raising his younger brother, 9-year-old Anton, whose name was chosen by the eldest. When he was born, Seryozha was already 17 years old. Anton has been professionally engaged in karting since the age of 5 and in November, as an older brother, he also participates in competitions in his sport. On the race track, he accelerates to 80 km / h and rushes with the breeze, dreaming of becoming a Formula 1 pilot. He is so well versed in technology in general and cars in particular that he poured a tank of gasoline and repaired a loosened handbrake with a headlight for his grandfather. He will be rooting for his brother at home via webcast.
I'll jump when Seryozha arrives in Simferopol, with him for the company in the pool! he shouts. - In clothes! That's what my brother promised!
Mittelgame
In the next stage after the debut chess game, as a rule, victims appear, as the main events in the struggle develop - attack and defense, positional maneuvering and combinations. One such combination with a bold maneuver was brilliantly performed by Sergei - the future wife of Galiya Kamalova fell victim to a love attack. Where are chess king(albeit a potential one) without a queen!
She tells me the story of their love, sitting no longer at work, but in their three-story house with an apple orchard in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region. There were so many apples before the match that they filled a whole room. Galiya is sorting through the chestnuts, teaching the concentration of attention of their son, the adorable toddler Alexei, who looks like his dad, like two pawns from one set. On October 19, he turned a year old, and on October 17, Sergei, not having celebrated such an important date with his family, flew to the training camp in Miami: chess is now above all, and every day counts.
He saw his son for the first time a week after his birth, as soon as he returned from Macedonia, since the birth of the baby took place exactly at the European Cup among clubs. Karjakin plays for the Russian national team and for the Italian club - in chess, in this regard, everything is like in football.
Serezha, as soon as we got married, immediately made it clear that he was ready to have a child, - explains Galia. - However, we both believe that a man should be realized not only in the family, but also in his business, so I deliberately freed him from any troubles associated with caring for a child. Our dad is loving and cheerful: when he found Lesha's first erupted tooth on Easter, he ran all over the house and shouted with joy. She loves to tinker with her son: she plays with her son, he rolls cars, builds pyramids, dances with him in his arms, sings lullabies to him ...
Once Galiya found her husband not singing, but reading: to put Lesha to bed, dad read to him ... "Eugene Onegin." It may seem strange to some, but chess players are educated people, they know that the rhythm of Pushkin's syllable has a beneficial effect on babies. Since six months after Lesha was born, Sergei became a contender, he was no longer included in the process of raising the baby: he never changed diapers in his life, did not feed him, did not bathe ... But he can take a walk. He, the world blitz champion, likes fast chess and long walks.
Galia is three years older than Sergei, but they measure the difference in age ... by categories. Sergei completed the first grade at 7 years old, Galia at 16. Yes, she also knows how to play chess, and not only knows how, but before the decree taught others - kids in kindergarten... She began to study chess a year later than him, but Galia had not eight, but twelve other circles: beading, dancing, phytodesign, volleyball, theater, computer science, painting, drawing, choir, cutting and sewing, English, biology. Even for the school team of KVN "Brilliant" she managed to perform. By being her captain.
Needless to say, the Russian State Social University not only graduated with honors, but also, while studying at the faculty of social work, headed the council of elders of the entire university. It is not surprising that the rector did not want to let such an active girl go after graduation and made her his assistant (and she also combined this work with teaching in a kindergarten and with work in the Moscow Chess Federation). The university itself helped promising chess players, and in 2009 Sergei just castled - he changed his Ukrainian citizenship to ours, since there were much more opportunities for its development in Russia. Galia was in charge of preparing the documents for the future Russian applicant.
A few days later he called me and offered to have dinner together, - says Galia, embarrassed. - She replied that I work late and cannot meet in any way. She said and continued to work, and he ...
Sergei made a move with a knight - "iron": despite the refusal, he drove for a girl he liked.
He came and waits, and that's it, ”Galia throws up his hands. - He calls from the car and insists: come on faster, while no one saw us, as if he was in time trouble. I had to agree - we had dinner at a restaurant on Old Arbat, then they began to meet. For the first time, I went to the World Mind games in China in 2012: I thought, well, I’ll see Beijing, I’ll come off shopping. It was not so: Sergei did not let me out of the auditorium anywhere, reproached me - while you were walking there, he blew two games. But it is very sad to look at his moves for six hours in a row.
But Karjakin appreciates his faithful: pampers with orchids and giant bears, romantic weekend trips. She knows how to cook scrambled eggs, sandwich and tea. The applicant is fed not only by his wife, but also by her grandmother from Korolev near Moscow - she sends pickled tomatoes and cucumbers in boxes.
The wife and son are the most reliable rear.
Galia is also a girl from a good family. Pope, Nail Ravilovich Kamalov, - lieutenant colonel, fought in Afghanistan, was awarded the Order of the Red Star. Mom, Svetlana Arievna Kamalova, graduated with honors from the Finance Academy under the Government of Russia. Mother's grandmother, Valentina Vasilievna Kasyanova, a labor veteran, until last year worked as a leading specialist at the Mission Control Center - her exact position is still classified. Her husband, engineer Ariy Fedorovich Kasyanov, was visited by the most outstanding cosmonauts of the Union. Daddy's grandfather, Ravil Magrupovich Kamalov, like his father, a military man, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, served in the Northern Fleet, defended the Arctic. Grandmother, Dufaya Khaidarovna Kamalova, is a teacher of the Russian language. In the family, Galia, like Sergei, has centenarians: her great-grandmother by her mother, Anna Kirillovna Kasyanova, died at the age of 103.
On the decisive days, Galia does everything possible to win her husband: a month before the championship, she flew to New York, chose a hotel for him, looked at the site for the confrontation of the year, which is already being compared with the legendary Spassky-Fischer match. Then, leaving the baby at home, she rushed after her husband to the training camp in Miami. Hockey players are usually forbidden to live with their wives before the competition, but chess is a delicate matter, here a date with his wife can both help and hinder, Galia floridly answers the question whether the applicant has sex before the game. The only thing that she does not do and has never done in all the years of their acquaintance and marriage is that she does not play chess with her husband.
Absolutely all the photos on the Internet where we are at the board are staged, ”she winks. - Once the photographer tired us of waiting, and without looking, I made a move. Sergei didn't even answer. I hope this move even exists!
If we are to play, the wife thinks, so with the champion. Here is an additional incentive for Karjakin, which the single Carlsen does not have.
Little chess player and great master... With Garry Kasparov.
Endgame
Most often, in the final stage of the game, when it is time to checkmate, a pawn, as in that advertisement, is promoted to queens and gains an advantage that our challenger would not have achieved if he had one queen in reserve. A man from MK helps Karjakin to prepare for the main match in his life - our former sports reporter Kirill Zangalis, who became his manager five years ago. Then Karjakin was still little known to the non-chess audience, and now they recognize him even in the bathhouse.
Seryozha is not yet accustomed to many things after the popularity that has fallen on him, before the broadcast on the federal channel he drank brandy for courage, although he does not drink at all and was encouraged to leave me, - Kirill notes. - He's good not only at chess. In karaoke he sings tolerably, especially his beloved Lady Gaga. Once in a friendly football match he scored a penalty kick to Sergei Rodionov himself, the legend of Spartak.
Although the applicant gave up acrobatics as a child, when he sat down at the board, he did not lose his sports form - it is extremely important for chess players. She is watched by his peer and ... namesake - Sergey Karjakin, two-time world champion in pentathlon.
I advise him about the regime before the match, - the pentathlete worries about his friend. - Recommended to go to bed no later than 11 pm, get up no later than 6 am, drink warm water on an empty stomach not with lemon, but with honey, during a long break from chess, swim in the pool (2 km at a time), 10 times) and push-ups (three sets of 25 times). In the hotel, do not deny yourself your favorite pastime - walking on your hands. Especially if you win the game.
Karjakin's chances of winning will grow, another candidate's consultant, 12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov, shared with MK, if Sergei pushes the board into the far corner and rests from the eternal pondering of moves, and instead of a hotel room he rent an apartment (there are no strangers and less anxiety), and he will also have his own cook and stock up on coffee, which Karjakin usually does not drink.
It is a pity that he has not a general higher education, but a highly specialized one - social pedagogy, like a wife's - the great grandmaster is experiencing. - To win, one needs knowledge both in philosophy and in psychology, but he does not have them. Well, okay, the main thing is that Karjakin overcome complexes in front of Carlsen and, like everyone else, stop seeing him as an unconditional favorite.
Sergei Karjakin, of course, has already turned from a pawn to a queen, bringing that mysterious ad from childhood to life. Now he's swung at chess crown, and prize fund- are no longer batteries for Tetris, but one million euros, of which the Russian will get a little more or a little less than half, depending on how he plays.
KC-conference with Sergey Karjakin
We publish the answers of the fifth hero of our project “KC-conference” international grandmaster Sergey Karjakin to the questions of the participants of the KasparovChess forum. During the eight days allotted for their submission, a lot of questions were asked, Sergey tried very hard and answered almost all the questions asked. The discussion can be continued in the same forum thread in which the questions were asked:.
Brief Curriculum Vitae:
Sergey Karjakin was born on January 12, 1990 in Simferopol, Ukraine. One of the most promising chess players in the world, Sergei started playing chess at the age of 5. He studied at the famous Kramatorsk school under the guidance of M.N. Ponomarev. Was European Under 10 Champion and World Under 12 Champion. He received the title of international master at the age of 11. The title of International Grandmaster was awarded in 2002, at the age of 12 years and 7 months, which allowed Sergei to become the youngest grandmaster in the history of chess and get into the Guinness Book of Records (the record has not been broken so far). Current FIDE rating: 2720 (January 2009, 21st in the rating list); Highest FIDE rating: 2732 (January 2008).
Champion of the Chess Olympiad (2004) as part of the Ukrainian national team (6.5 out of 7 on the 4th board - absolutely the best result among all participants). Winner of a number of international tournaments: 2001 - Alushta; 2002 - Alushta; 2005 - Wijk aan Zee (group B), Kirishi. Among other achievements in different genres of chess - 2nd place in Foros-2007 (after Ivanchuk), 1st place at the international rapid chess tournament Izmailov Memorial, Tomsk, 2006 and winning a rapid chess match against N. Short ( 7.5: 2.5), third place at the World Blitz Championship - Moscow, 2009, etc.
Reached the semifinals of the 2007 World Cup (after victories over Matsuura, Zhang Pengksian, Bakro, Niisipeanu and Alekseev, he was defeated by Shirov). In the 2009 World Cup, he also reached the semifinals (defeating Rodriguez, Timofeev, Navara, Vitiugov and Mamedyarov along the way), where he lost to the future winner Boris Gelfand.
In 2009, Sergei got married. His chosen one is WIM Ekaterina Dolzhikova.
On July 25, 2009, after the decree of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, he received citizenship Russian Federation... Since 2010 he will take part in competitions under the Russian flag. Sergey's permanent coach is Yuri Dokhoyan.
Samples of creativity
Sergey Karjakin is a Russian chess player and grandmaster. Honored Master of Sports of Ukraine and Russia. Until 2009, he had Ukrainian citizenship and played for Ukraine. Was born in the 90th year in the city of Simferopol.
At the age of twelve he was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest grandmaster. He left his homeland, as he did not see any prospects for development. Living in Russia and training under the guidance of two eminent coaches, he quickly became one of the leading athletes in the world. Holder of the Order of Merit. Is the world champion in rapid chess and blitz.
Since 2017 he has been a member of the Public Chamber. He opened a chess club in Moscow at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University and two clubs in Crimea.
Personal life
In 2009 he married Ekaterina Dolzhikova, but a couple of years later they divorced.
In 2014, he was married to Galie Kamalova. A year and a half later, the newlyweds had a son, Alexei, and two years later, a second son.
Sergey Karjakin's apartment in Yalta
Two bedrooms and a kitchen combined with a living room - this is quite enough for a comfortable family vacation in the summer.
The sea is only 20 meters away. If you open the windows at night, you can hear the surf, and in the morning you can go out into the garden and have breakfast right on the street overlooking the sea.
According to CIAN, real estate in Yalta by the sea can be bought from 3 to 17 million rubles and more.
House of Sergei Karjakin
At the end of 2009, he moved from Ukraine and, with the help of Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, received Russian citizenship, after which he was allocated housing in a new building located in the capital. Then this property was exchanged for a cottage in the Odintsovo district. One of the former chess players helped with the purchase, who is currently engaged in construction business... I managed to get a good lot in an elite place for reasonable money.
The three-storey brick mansion is located along the Rublevo-Uspenskoe highway in the village of Soloslovo, belongs to business class housing.
On the spacious plot, mainly fruit trees and shrubs grow, as well as other crops that the wife is engaged in.
On the ground floor there is a living room, a kitchen and a dining room. The living room is traditionally laid out with a large fireplace in white, next to which there is a seating area.
The owners are adherents of classic style and hi-tech. The design is made in light beige with dark accents.
A compact and versatile dining room without unnecessary details.
The cabinet is decorated in dark colors with a large granite table and leather armchair. There are many bright, but not striking details in the room, as well as a large number of paintings and figurines.
On the second floor: master bedroom and nursery. The third-basement floor is given over to a guest room and a place for receiving guests with a ping-pong table.
According to CIAN, a cottage in the village of Soloslovo costs from 18 to 85 million and more.
28-year-old Sergei Karjakin is among the top ten strongest chess players in the world. Fascinated by chess at the age of five and a half, he entered the Guinness Book of Records, becoming the youngest grandmaster in history at the age of 12, and at 14 won the World Chess Olympiad. Two years ago, his famous match with the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen took place - then the Norwegian won, but Sergey Karjakin does not intend to give up and is full of ambitions to fight for the champion title again.
— I will start with a question that has been occupying me for a long time: why is chess a sport? I think they are somewhere between science and art.
— Of course, chess is partly a science and an art, because we study the chessboard, create new combinations, but in modern realities it is primarily a sport, professional chess is now quite tough. If you look at the top ten or even the top twenty, you will not see a single person who is in poor physical shape. Our games last for 5-6 hours, and sometimes even longer. For example, I have just returned from a tournament on the Isle of Man, where I had games of six and a half hours for two days in a row. Add to that a few hours of compulsory preparation for each. To withstand such loads, you need to be in good shape, engage in physical sports. Physical endurance is one of the most important components of the final result at the board.
— In one of your interviews, you mentioned that, preparing for the match with the world champion Magnus Carlsen, you hired specialists to draw up his psychological profile. At the same time, you also said that during a match you are not playing with a person - with a board. So how important is it to understand the psychology of the opponent during the game?
— The style of a chess player is always a manifestation of his character and temperament. If a person is emotional and impulsive, then in chess he acts emotionally, which is not very good for the game. Of course, chess requires balance and the ability to soberly assess and analyze the situation. The more versatile the opponent is, the harder it is to surprise and surprise him.
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— Are there generally impulsive chess players? Or is this quality incompatible with the world of professional chess?
— Many beginners, entering professional chess, expect results and victories after a few months. But illusions quickly disappear: serious results require systematic, hard work, years of training. Those who understand this move forward - through mistakes, failures, which they analyze and overcome. Those who do not work on mistakes remain at their level.
— How do you do this error correction yourself? When your match is over, then do you lose the game again?
— Yes, absolutely. We analyze the game with the coach and the computer. Moreover, the analysis is necessary even in case of victory. It is important to understand what mistakes you made during the game: this time you were lucky, but the next you might not be lucky. This work never ends. Always strive for excellence. And excellence in chess is a computer game, which is very difficult.
— By the way, about luck. Chess is an intellectual game where everything is calculated. Where is luck here?
— For example, before the tournament you came up with some very interesting trap for your opponent, and during the game you found yourself in a position in which your opponent has a choice: if he goes along one path, he will fall into the nets you have placed, and on the other - nothing. , the game will end in a draw. Or another example. Many people know that I played a world championship match with Magnus Carlsen, but not everyone knows how hard it was to get there. To do this, you need to win the Candidates Tournament, which I did not qualify for. I had one last try - through the World Cup. And there are 128 chess players participating, this is the hardest tournament. I remember I played against the American grandmaster, a native of Ukraine, Alexander Onischuk. I lost the first game, I had to win back in the second by all means. And there was a tough system, it was impossible to be late for a game, let alone a minute or a second. I prepared until the last, repeated all the options, and on the way to the gym I understand: I can barely make it. If the elevator, say, was delayed or something else unforeseen happened, I would be late. I ran in literally at the last minute.
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— To what extent do you think the situation described in Nabokov's novel "The Defense of Luzhin" is possible in life: a chess genius who loses touch with reality becomes obsessed with the game? Can chess become a painful addiction?
— I think it all depends on the person. Let's say Bobby Fischer, the eleventh world champion, was fanatically devoted to chess, which was the main thing in his life. It seems to me that he left chess at his peak, because he could not admit the thought that he could lose to someone. There are such people, but they are rare. The reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen is quite a sociable person. He skillfully and beautifully gives interviews, does a lot to popularize chess, plays with Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, meets with many famous people.
— You have been playing chess since childhood. Who is your social circle?
— First of all, these are people from the world of chess, of course. But there are others who have nothing to do with him. As a rule, I meet new people at events - at some point in a conversation you suddenly realize that there are points of contact, that it is pleasant and interesting to communicate with this or that person. And I'm not only interested in chess.
— Then tell us what you are fond of.
— As I said, sport is a must for a chess player - I run, I go to the gym. My namesake, ex-world champion in modern pentathlon Sergey Karjakin helps me to train. He is also an interesting conversationalist, you can talk with him for hours. I play Russian billiards and snooker. By the way, my match with the legendary Steve Davis, multiple world snooker champion, will take place in the near future, which, of course, is a great honor for me. I love to ride ATVs. You will laugh, but I am friends with another Sergey Karjakin, ATV, winner of the Dakar-2017 rally. We communicate with him less often - he lives in Yekaterinburg, but we stay in touch, I hope he will give me a master class on driving an ATV someday. (Laughs.) In general, I like to drive almost all types of transport.
— Would you like to learn how to fly an airplane?
— Well, the plane is too cool, but the helicopter is yes. Once I gave a helicopter flying lesson to my friends for their birthday. They told me recently that it was super. So I'm thinking now - maybe I can also learn.
Many beginners, entering professional chess, expect results and victories after a few months.
— What are you reading, listening, watching?
— To be honest, I'm omnivorous. I read about what interests me in this moment... V recent times went through a bunch of books on nutrition. At the same time, I consulted with doctors, together with whom we created an optimal diet for me. She helped me not only to get rid of extra pounds, but also to tighten up my physical shape - at one time I started myself a little, now I feel much better. In addition, it was important to formulate a diet that would support efficient brain function.
— Now this is interesting - what foods are good for the brain?
— Funny, one of the healthiest foods for brain activity is caviar. When I played a match in New York in 2016, Andrey Filatov, the president of the Russian Chess Federation, supplied me every day with a can of caviar, which I ate before the game. Really felt like it was helping me.
— What prevents the brain from working?
— I sometimes see some people bring milk chocolate with them to the party, I would warn against that. Milk chocolate has a short-term effect that lasts about ten minutes, and then, on the contrary, reduces brain activity. Better to eat a piece of dark chocolate.
— I read an article in which you agree with the author that chess players are predominantly selfish. Why is that? How is this selfishness expressed?
— The point is that chess is an individual sport. There are team competitions: World Team Championship and Chess Olympiad, but they take place once a year. In all other cases, you play for yourself. You train yourself, you choose, you hire and fire your coaches. For example, in football, the task of an athlete is to train, the club takes care of the rest. The chess player, on his own, bears full responsibility for the final result. So you have to prioritize - in communication, in the organization of life. Sometimes others are offended that I do not pay enough attention to them. But if you play well, this is inevitable.
— By the way, how much does a coach's service cost? What other expenses are associated with professional chess?
— The spread is very wide. In Moscow, a children's coach takes from 1000 to 3000 rubles. for an hour of individual lesson. Coaches of the strongest chess players cost about 500 euros per day, but the price tag varies depending on the complexity of the competition. Add to this the trips to tournaments, which no one will pay for a novice chess player at first. You also need a powerful computer and special programs. The costs of professional chess are lower than those of tennis or football, but if parents are counting on results, you need to be willing to invest.
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— Coaches of the highest level are former champions?
— A coach doesn't have to be a champion himself. As a rule, the trainers are chess players who were included in the first hundred, but who lacked something to get into the twenty or ten. They have extensive experience and deep understanding of chess. Not everyone is destined to be a champion, someone is given to be a good coach. He not only sees your mistakes, understands what shape you are in now, but also adjusts in the right way, finds the right words of support. One or two trainers are required on an ongoing basis.
— What character traits have shaped chess in you?
— Chess helped me a lot in my development. I remember that in school, peers often could not focus on what the teacher was telling them. I could always easily gather myself, concentrate on a task or information. What other qualities? Probably responsibility. Often we make decisions or do things without thinking. But in chess he made a move - and he cannot be returned. Accordingly, in life you also always weigh, think about the possible consequences, and then act. Therefore, for example, a scandal similar to what happened with Kokorin and Mamaev is almost impossible in the chess environment.
— What did you do best in school?
— I was happy that chess was taught in our school - already at the age of seven I beat a school teacher. Loved mathematics. Good successes were in physical education - in addition to chess, I was semi-professional in acrobatics and even thought about moving to a professional level, but chess won.
— What is the general life of a chess player? I got the impression that you do not belong to yourself. How often are you at home?
— Leisure time is a problem, it's true. For example, in the next month I will spend five days at home - and my wife Galia and I joke that this is even a lot. When I participated in the 2016 World Championship, I was at home a couple of days a month, and they were all scheduled by the minute. There was not enough time for a family. Now the rhythm is a little less intense, but there are still a lot of trips. Only today I returned from a two-week tournament on the Isle of Man, and tomorrow I am leaving for the Republic of Mari El to open my chess school. Then I return to Moscow for a few days and go to the tournament in Calcutta. However, then until next year I will have a big break.
— Does chess have doping tests?
— We are not involved in Olympic sports, but the International Chess Federation maintains relations with the IOC, so we are periodically checked at major competitions. We have the same prohibited substances as in other sports, although in reality they should be different. It is illogical to prohibit drugs that stimulate an increase in muscle mass, here we need to talk about substances that affect brain activity. Another scourge in chess is computer prompts. Not all tournament organizers invest in anti-cheating control, and lately, unfortunately, they constantly catch chess players who are trying to play dishonestly. If there are no checks, you can come with a phone to the game and, while your opponent is thinking, go to the toilet, connect via the Internet to your computer, which will give prompts. This must be seriously combated.
You have to prioritize - in communication, in the organization of life. Sometimes others are offended that I do not pay enough attention to them.
— Do you think the appointment of Arkady Dvorkovich as FIDE President will affect the situation with chess in Russia?
— This is primarily important for the international situation, but it is good for Russia as well. Obviously, most of Arkady Dvorkovich's connections are in Russia. This means that more Russian companies will come to chess as sponsors. I think there will be more major tournaments like the European Championship or the World Championship. I think it's great that such a professional and wise leader came to FIDE. Not everyone knows that he has a lot of experience as the head of the Russian Chess Federation. In 2009, when I changed my citizenship to Russian (Sergey Karjakin was born and spent his childhood in Simferopol, he had Ukrainian citizenship. - RBC Style), he did a lot for my move, for which I am grateful. We have a long-term friendship with him, I have always fully supported him.
— What feature films about chess players, in your opinion, are reliably shown chess world?
— Several years ago, the film "Sacrificing a Pawn" was released about the legendary 1972 World Championship match between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer. It was interesting to immerse yourself in that atmosphere. True, Spassky said that he did not like the film, but I watched it with pleasure. I think chess fans should see it.
— Do you see your life outside of chess?
— A chess career lasts longer than other sports. We can play fully up to 40 years old, and in some cases even longer. I think then I will go into coaching, I will raise new champions, open schools, give simultaneous games, and give lectures. Perhaps, in my case, it is impossible to give up chess completely, and it is not necessary. And to shift the emphasis is quite.
Sergey Karjakin became interested in chess at the age of five, and six months later he signed up for the sports section. “I saw an advertisement on TV. I don’t remember how it began, but it ended with the words 'a pawn becomes a queen.' there is such a wise game - chess, I introduced him to the rules in general terms. I asked him to play almost every evening, "Chesspro.ru quotes the grandmaster.
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The chess player's mother remembered that before devoting his life to chess, he was also involved in other sports - tennis, judo, swimming, acrobatics. He also attended the computer section, was engaged in English, plasticine modeling. At the same time, in the fourth grade of the school, the boy was transferred to an individual training program, since chess occupied almost all the time of the future grandmaster.
"Seryozha, because of intense training and friends, did not have much in childhood. Why are there friends - he shore every second, like in a blitz. I even opened a textbook with a notebook for him, put them in front of his eyes and changed them as soon as the son did all the exercises, "said Karjakin's father.
The paternal grandparents were also involved in the upbringing of the child. Ivan Gerasimovich Karjakin is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, a participant in the defense of Stalingrad. Tamara Vladimirovna Karjakina is a former head teacher of the school, which taught chess to her son Alexander. She paid him a ruble for each game he won.
"For Seryozha, this amount was already frivolous, so I played with him for something more valuable - batteries. Not a single child in his childhood escaped the passion for Tetris, for which finger batteries ran out very quickly," said Sergei's father.
A few years later, the chess player's parents filed for divorce. Nevertheless, now the two of them are raising their five-year-old son Anton Karjakin. His name was chosen by his elder brother Sergei.
Now, despite the fairly young age - Sergei is only 26 - he managed to get married twice. The second wife of grandmaster Galiy Kamalov is three years older than him, according to Moskovsky Komsomolets. Nevertheless, Sergei considers himself more mature than Galia, who, by the way, also has a chess category. But the husband became a first-rate class at nine years old, and his wife at 16.
Galiya Kamalova met Sergei Karjakin when the grandmaster, after moving from Crimea to Moscow, was applying for Russian citizenship. The chess player invited the girl who helped him with the registration of his passport to a date, but she refused him, citing lack of time. Nevertheless, Karjakin still waited for Galiya after work and took her to a restaurant. And so their romantic relationship began.
The girl recalls how her husband took her with him to international chess tournaments... “The first time I went after him to the World Mind Games in China in 2012: I thought, well, I’ll look at Beijing, I’ll come off shopping. It wasn’t there: Sergei didn’t let me out of the auditorium, reproached me - while you were walking there, for two But it’s very sad to watch his moves for six hours in a row, ”Galia said.
The wife of the chess player said that the grandmaster had a desire to have a child almost immediately after the wedding. In October 2016, their son Alexei was one year old, but Karjakin was unable to celebrate his birthday with his family, as he had to fly to the training camp in Miami, where the last stage of preparation for the world championship match with Magnus Carlsen took place.
“We both believe that a man should be realized not only in his family, but also in his business, so I deliberately freed him from any troubles associated with caring for a child,” Galia said. At the same time, she noted that Sergei is a very "cheerful and loving" father.
"When on Easter I groped Lesha's first tooth that had erupted, he ran all over the house and shouted with joy. He loves to tinker with his son: he plays with his son, rolls cars, builds pyramids, dances with him in his arms, sings lullabies to him," said the grandmaster's wife ...
However, she noted that she never plays chess with her husband. "Absolutely all the photos on the Internet where we are at the board are staged," Galia explained.
Note that before relations with Galia, Sergei Karjakin was already married. His first wife is Ukrainian chess player Yekaterina Dolzhikova. The wedding took place on July 24, 2009. “We had known each other for a long time, got to know each other in Dresden at a festive disco. I invited Katya to dance, and the next day we went to the Dresden gallery together, looked at the Sistine Madonna. After that, we began to meet,” the grandmaster said.
Interestingly, one day after the wedding, Sergei Karjakin received Russian citizenship. At the same time, an acquaintance with his future wife Galia happened.
Soon Karjakin divorced Dolzhikova, commenting on the event in a rather standard way: “We did not agree in character. We are completely different. .. Not destiny, I guess. "
Apparently, Karjakin was very upset by the changes in his life. His work results deteriorated markedly, but the youngest grandmaster again began to storm Olympus with the birth of his first child. “Seryozha got married again. His child was recently born. His wife is a wonderful girl. The family plays a big role. Russian Naum Rashkovsky.
Recall that after the defeat two games before the end of the series, the total score became equal - 5-5. According to Karjakin, in time trouble he made a serious mistake. If after the main games the score is drawn, they will play a tie-break. The grandmasters will play games with a shorter time control, and then, if necessary, a blitz and the so-called Armageddon will take place - a mini-duel where the athlete playing with white pieces has five minutes with the opponent's four, but must win.
