"I was pleased with the brilliant meeting at the airport — we didn't expect so many cameras"

The Russian women's national chess team in a dominant style won the World Team Championship, which ended last weekend in Linares. In Spain, our team won 11 out of 11 possible matches (including beating China twice, led by Hou Yifan), and Polina Shuvalova scored 9.5 out of 10 possible points. The debutantes of the national team, Anna Shukhman and Leia Garifullina, as well as the old—timers of the national team, Alexandra Goryachkina, Ekaterina Lagno and Olga Girya, also performed well. Sergey Rublevsky, the team's head coach and captain, told Izvestia and Sport-Express in more detail about the triumphant return of our main teams to the world stage.

"Shukhman made her debut for the national team in the match against the USA and immediately achieved victory."

— How was the preparation for the World Cup in Spain?

— We held a training camp at the Ministry of Sports in Novogorsk. We gathered the whole team, all the coaches, a doctor, a psychologist and a massage therapist. Gathering before the tournament is necessary to rally the team. This was important, given the appearance of a new member, the newly crowned Russian champion Anna Shukhman. Then we flew to Spain. It was not possible to do this in advance due to difficult logistics and a long flight through Istanbul. As a result, we arrived at the venue a couple of hours before the opening of the tournament. But we understood that this was not critical and there would still be time to build up, since four out of six teams were leaving the group stage. At the same time, it turned out during the draw that the first game day would be almost decisive for the allocation of places in the group. We played with the main favorites of the group — Kazakhstan and the USA.

— It turned out to be a difficult match against Kazakhstan, with Polina Shuvalova's only victory...

— In general, Kazakhstan turned out to be a very competitive team. Yes, there were no former leaders, but serious young people have grown up among them. I think this team has a great future, they are quite capable of competing for medals at future team tournaments. Our most difficult match against the USA was in the group tournament, in which Polina Shuvalova also won a decisive victory, although she had a losing position on the way. The Americans played great throughout the tournament and could easily beat China and beat us in the semifinals. By the way, Shukhman made her debut for the national team in the match against the USA and immediately achieved victory.

— In the third round, Olga Girya entered the match with the hosts of the tournament and also won immediately.

— This time, according to the position of the team, six chess players played in the 4+2 format at the tournament. Usually five: "4+1". A strong bench gave us an advantage over the other teams. That's why we wanted to play all the substitutes in the group. On the one hand, to reduce the burden on the leaders. On the other hand, to understand the game form of each girl at this particular moment. And I can say that the margin of safety was very large. No one failed, everyone played well. Because of this, we had different rotation options. We could have played either way in the playoffs. Once again, I would like to mention the performance of Polina Shuvalova, who was a slaughterer in the team.

Is the 45 minutes + 30 seconds time control suitable for her?

— It fits. She can play fast, while controlling tactics at the level of men. Polina is playing now, much like Valentina [Gunina] did when she was younger. In the same uncompromising style.

Korolev's move: the women's national team confidently won the team Chess World Cup

Only China was able to compete with the wards of Sergei Rublevsky.

"We leave due to the long bench"

— You also managed to beat Azerbaijan in the group thanks to the victories of Giri and Shukhman...

— It seemed to us that this was not the strongest team at that moment, we were not even stronger in the main squad. Although they reached the finals, beating Georgia and Kazakhstan. Honor them and praise them.

— Were Alexandra Goryachkina and Ekaterina Lagno harder on the first two boards?

- of course. This is what I said above, that we leave at the expense of a long bench. There are a couple of very strong chess players in all countries. But only a few national teams can field four top players at the same time. There is a serious load on the first and second boards, that's a fact. Then it's easier for us, so it's important to "beat the tail". So that we can count on winning for both colors below the second board.

— Is the decisive moment of the World Cup two mini-matches in the semifinals with China?

- yes. They performed with Hou Yifan (the first number of the FIDE rating. — Ed.). The rest of the girls are younger, but already with good experience in international competitions. We competed with them at the BRICS Games, beating them with great difficulty. So China had a fusion of youth and experience, but we definitely looked no weaker. Hou Yifan is a serious threat, but from the second board, where Katerina Lagno played, it seemed to us that we were definitely stronger. And so it turned out.

— In the second mini-match, Goryachkina suffered the only defeat of the tournament for the entire team.

— Sasha went too far, she wanted to win. There were reasons for this after the debut. She went on the attack, and it was impossible to retreat any further, but it didn't work out a bit. It's good that my colleagues supported me.

— At the same time, our leader goes to the finals and wins the most important game in the first mini-match.

— She's doing great! This control does not allow for long-term work on errors. We need to recover right away. Yes, things didn't work out with China, but Sasha was fine the next day. And in general, no one asked to rest. Everything was clear and professional.

— Did any preparations work during the World Cup? When I've been able to win since my debut.

"A couple of times. But with this control, it is difficult to prepare something serious. It's not classic, it's closer to rapid. You can't remember your best practices for a long time, because you'll lose all your time and you'll immediately run out of time. Plus, the line-up for the match is served just 45 minutes before the start. You'll know him in half an hour. Accordingly, if there is a replacement, then it is impossible to prepare. It is really possible to prepare only on the first boards, which many teams have no alternative options for. And starting from the third, there are substitutions, it is impossible to prepare there at all. Shuvalova is not particularly guilty of this (laughs). He plays easily, and he always has enough strength.

— In the second match of the final, Leia Garifullina won an important game...

— It was an important moment. It's always nice to score quickly in a match.

At the chess throne: Esipenko did not leave Russia without the main start of the two-year period

Despite his illness, Andrey won the most important match of the 2025 World Cup.

"They let us perform now, and we immediately won convincingly"

— Did the girls follow the World Cup in India?

— I always say that it is necessary to watch such tournaments, because there may be debut revelations. Men play for serious bets, plus in the early stages the opponent is known in advance, and you can prepare for him precisely. So we are following the men's World Cup without fail. Even if it runs parallel to our launch. Yes, it takes time, but it also has great benefits. Of course, we were very supportive of Andrei Esipenko. At the airport, during the transfer, everyone watched his winning game with Nodirbek Yakubboev. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Andrey on entering the candidates tournament. He had a great World Cup and earned a prize.

— The most pleasant congratulations these days?

— President Vladimir Putin congratulated us when we were still in Spain. This congratulation, of course, is beyond competition. And, of course, I was pleased with the brilliant meeting at the airport. We didn't expect so many cameras at such an early hour. Very pleasant.

— Didn't you feel like you hadn't played for a long time and had gotten out of the habit of big starts?

- no. After all, we held training camps three times a year. Yes, it's hard to practice and not play, but the girls continue to compete in individual tournaments. Anyway, I really wanted to go back. At some point, there was no end in sight to the sanctions against the teams. But now they let us perform, and we immediately won convincingly. I hope that now we will play at the Olympics next year. We had to skip the previous one, so we doubly want to show ourselves.

— Will it be more difficult at the Olympics?

— It's more complicated, but there are no details yet. We must wait for the line-ups of the competitors.