Ahmed Adly:"We are building a very strong team for the future"
Not much later, Anastasia Karlovich brough to the Press Center a beaming Ahmed Adly, from Egypt, fresh from his tough draw against former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik (Egypt lost the match against Russia 1-3).
- I was following your game, it was a long and tough struggle. Can you tell us about it?
Well, it was a tough game indeed. Something really happened to me… I almost out-prepared him; I played some line that he had played a long time ago. He was trying to remember but he couldn’t, I think, for some time. But OK, he eventually found the right theoretical moves, until at some moment we reached the end of my preparation. Then he played something different, so I started to think if I should play for a win or something… (laughs)
- So you thought that now maybe you got some kind of advantage…
Yeah yeah, maybe I got something good… But then I realized that OK, it’s not much, I couldn’t find many ideas there, so I though I’ll just play some easy moves to draw the game. I decided to exchange all the pieces by playing normal, simple chess, but then suddenly… I handled it so “easily” that I almost messed it up! I think from some moment on he had the advantage and some chances to win.
- Yes, so how did you manage to hold in the end? It looked so difficult.
Yes, it was a very difficult ending but somehow I survived (laughs). OK, I had my chances, he had his chances… Anyway, it’s great to make a draw against such a great player as former World Champion Kramnik!
- Your team always gives the Russians a hard time. I remember that match in a World Team Championship in Turkey (2013)… And I think today it was also not easy for them. Did you have the chance to follow the other games? What do you think about the whole match?
Yeah, actually today’s match at some moment looked very promising. That was the moment I thought I should perhaps play for a win, because we had some chances in the match. We had a somewhat better position on board 4 for most of the game, board 1(Amin Bassem-Karjakin) wasn’t so clear – I thought he may draw, though it was a tough game for him – and board 3 looked equal; that’s why at that moment I was trying to push for more in my game. But then I found nothing, and our team collapsed unfortunately. But anyway, losing 1-3 to Russia is not so bad! (laughs)
- Of course! Ahmed, you have participated in many Olympiads already; I can’t remember how far back you started playing for the Egyptian team! So, what do you think about this Olympiad, compared to the previous ones?
I started playing Olympiads in 2006, at the age of 19 – not so young!, and I don’t think I missed any since then; yeah, I played all of them. But this one is really great! The organization is great; I consider it one of the best in that respect, if not THE best. It’s great here and the hospitality of the local people is really wonderful, we are enjoying it! We are enjoying the place, we are enjoying the city – the city of Baku is truly amazing, I really love it so much! Actually this is my second time here, but the previous one was at the World Cup (2015), so there wasn’t much time; I only spent 4-5 days here and didn’t have time to go out a lot. But this time we are staying in a hotel downtown, so I had the chance to see the whole city. It’s really so much fun, and a great city – I love it!
- What is the goal of your team? What are you fighting for?
Well, in the previous Olympiad (Tromso 2014) we had one of the greatest results in Egyptian chess history: we won the gold medal in Category “B”; it felt great to get up on the stage and receive a gold medal! It was a truly great feeling and we are hoping to repeat it. This time we don’t have as much chance as in 2014, I think, because here we are introducing some young blood in our team: we have three youngsters along, for whom this is their first Olympiad. But I think we are building a very strong team for the future and I hope that maybe we can repeat the success of Tromso – who knows?
- And one last question, because soon it will be ten o’clock, when the most important party for chess players from all over the world starts – the Bermuda party! Are you going to attend?
Of course! This is the best part of the Olympiad, come on! Who doesn’t enjoy it? Yeah, so hopefully see you there!
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