"The Russian national team can compete for medals at the 2026 Olympics"

Yan Nepomnyashchy scored his first big win of the year, winning the Aeroflot Open for the second time in a row. Six wins and three draws (one of them with Andrey Esipenko, a participant in the 2026 candidates tournament) secured the 35-year-old grandmaster a clean first place and 3.4 million rubles in prize money. After the decisive game of the Moscow tournament, Yan took the time to Izvestia, and talked about how easy it was for him to win this time, about his unfinished ambitions in chess with classical control, his health and the likelihood that the Russian national team will win the World Chess Olympiad if it is allowed to participate.

"Try to qualify for the candidates tournament again and win"

— You have won the Aeroflot Open for the fifth time. Can we say that this is your tournament? How, for example, did they talk about Vladimir Kramnik and Dortmund?

— I wouldn't say that. Yes, I won the last two tournaments, but it also happened that I was unable to show a positive result here. It's clear that it's nice to win on strong Swiss teams. Although there is also a fly in the ointment. The last game [with Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov] upset me. To a greater extent, I wanted to compete for the ranking, but I didn't use the chances that came my way (during the tournament, Yang added 5.7 rating points, although he had 8.1 before the last round).

— Your rating is currently 2728.6. Would you like to return to the rating of 2750+ this year?

— I want to have 2,800, but it's not easy. First of all, you have to play well, which is the hardest part. Secondly, we need to find tournaments where we can compete. In Russia, there is only one tournament with a good squad — the Aeroflot Open. Perhaps there will be a round-trip in Khanty-Mansiysk.

— This year it will be held in April.

"I wasn't invited there. But there are already plans for April. I'll play the Grenke Chess Open. According to the dates, it coincides with the candidates tournament. In the summer, I'm probably going to play all the openers in a row to raise the rating as much as possible. There are no invitations to round-robin tournaments.

— When was it easier to win the Aeroflot Open — in 2025 or 2026?

— It was more difficult last year. There were very bad positions. With Ivan Zemlyansky, when I was trying to save the whole party, and in the end I succeeded. And in the next game on the same day with Bardia Daneshwar, I also had a worse time. This time, everything went smoothly. The main reason is the specific control (60 minutes + 30 seconds), which is favorable to me. We don't have much time, our opponents need to think, but I'm generally playing faster.

— Would you like all classic tournaments to be held with such control?

— This control has always been interesting to me. This is a semi-spherical format. Before that, I had already played tournaments in the "new classics", which were held by Oleg Skvortsov. This is also the future, but we have many different futures to choose from (smiles).

This suggests a comparison with the tournament in Samarkand (the "Big Swiss"-2025 with classic control), where, in total, I spent 14 hours at the board over the last two rounds. He was trying to squeeze water out of a stone. Compared to football, I had 0.4 scoring chances in xG. As a result, there are two draws, but it's not like there are any ways to win. When chess players have a lot of time left, the game as a whole becomes more boring for the audience, fewer mistakes are made.

But at the same time, I like classical control and it is more important for me to finally realize myself as a chess player. Try to qualify for the candidates tournament again and win the match if possible.

"It would be better not to go to the rapid and Blitz World Championships"

— You have twice approached the main chess peak by playing matches for the world championship. How do you find motivation to continue?

— With difficulty. Last year didn't work out for me at all. In this, I want to return a high rating by showing good results. So I'm just doing chess a little bit. As long as age allows, we must fight for the title of world champion.

— Which coach are you currently working with?

"Not really with anyone. For the tournament, literally 3-4 days, we worked with Vladimir Potkin (coach of the Russian national team, European champion - he was Nepomnyashchy's coach for many years. — Ed.). My entire previous team is now all over the place. Volodya agreed to help me, and I want to thank him for that.

— How do you keep fit now? Are you involved in any other sports?

— Not lately. I've been sick a lot this winter. There were various medical procedures. I had a long cold at the rapid and Blitz World Championships. I was thinking about not going to Qatar at all. I went anyway, but I wish I hadn't done it. I have gradually recovered and am on the mend. Now I'll go to the gym and swim more often.

— Is it important to qualify for the Esports World Cup this year?

— Give or take, I qualified for it. I need to double-check this point, but if I have to score points, I hope I will. I know that there will be another rapid tournament.

"Tournaments for the national team are my favorites"

— Probably, the Russian national team will be allowed to participate in the World Chess Olympiad, which will be held in September in Uzbekistan. Are you ready to play?

— Tournaments for the national team are my favorites. Playing for your country in a team competition is always a priority, but my relationship with the federation has not improved much lately. So let's see how the situation develops. First of all, we need to be allowed to participate in the Olympics, and then we can discuss it.

— If we are allowed in, will Russia be able to count on medals?

— Objectively, Russia in its current composition will not be a super favorite. There are national teams from the USA and India. We can probably be compared in strength with the national team of Uzbekistan. Their leaders are in the best condition: Abdusattorov, Sindarov and Yakubboev. But 4-5 boards would be weaker than ours. As they say, bash on bash.

It is clear that the United States, with its strongest team, is the favorite on paper, but the Olympics always bring surprises. For example, 20 years ago, when the top 10 of the world ranking consisted of half Russians, we did not always win the Olympics. It is clear that then the chances of a final victory were much higher. But we can still compete for medals this year.

— Is there a chance that you will play in the Superfinal of the 2026 Russian Championship? Tickets for the 2027 World Cup will be played on it.

— I hope I can get to the World Cup according to the rating. It's not that bad with him yet. There are questions about the Superfinal. If it is with the right conditions and all the strongest come together, it will be one story. If it's a format like it was in the last couple of years, then the tournament won't be very attractive. Not only from the financial side. In general, he does not assemble a good team.

I've already talked about this. The Superfinal is our flagship tournament. The Federation is able to hold it at the level of the Aeroflot Open, but it turns out that the first prize at the open is 3-3.5 times higher than in the Superfinal. If you find additional funds, most of them will play for sure.

— Who will win the 2026 Candidates tournament for men and women?

— I have no idea about the female one, but I hope it's Sasha Goryachkina. For men, I'm hoping for Andrey Esipenko, but in my opinion, Caruana, Pragnanandha and Wei Yi have the best chances.

— In your channel you wrote about tennis during the Australian Open. Were you rooting for Novak Djokovic?

— December-January, I was sick and watched a lot of different sports. Especially tennis. Novak really went through an unusual path in Melbourne, beating Sinner in the semifinals. It was a very beautiful story: the 25th Slam was at stake. And after the first set with Alcaraz, I believed it, but suddenly... But the miracle did not happen. Now let's see how Djokovic performs at the other Slams this year.

— Who else do you like on tour?

— I'm watching our tennis players more closely. Mostly for Medvedev. I also like Rublev and Zverev, who represents Germany. Rybakina won the Australian Open. She is also our tennis player, but she plays for Kazakhstan. There's a patriotic feeling here. If I see our last name, I try to be sick.