3-time US Chess Champion Wesley So talks to Tania Sachdev after beating Praggnanandhaa in Round 4 of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals in San Francisco. Replay the games:
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#WesleySo #Praggnanandhaa #ChessChamps
Wesley congratulations a solid match win Today summarize the games for us Playing very well very solid you just Over pushing game three and you know if You lose with the white pieces in a Four Game match it's almost impossible to Come back uh so you know I was just trying to play solidly And my opponent gave me a gift which is Unexpected and game three was also Looking good for Prague with no trouble At all but that would you say was the Turning point in the match uh yeah for Sure as I said whoever wins the first Game such a short match that's a huge Advantage I would estimate you have like An 80 percent 85 chance to win if you Win the first game it doesn't matter White or black if you win the first game Uh then you know then that's it pretty Much Um I mean game there was very interesting I Played this line Bishop B7 I played the C6 line which Hikaru always always plays And I prepared a little bit but I Actually think I mix up the move border Like I shouldn't play B6 B5 closing the Queen side so soon maybe I should play Bishop DH First bishop D Bishop C7 and White plays B5 I can always just move The Rook somewhere like Rook A3 or some Something like that or take take and Then some Rook 8 Queen C6 but after B5 I
Think white is better like I played too Quickly closing the queen side And uh you know it was it wasn't that Pleasant Uh but as I said earlier I think white Should have traded Queen's birth and Then played the end game and see what Happens I wanna ask you Prague is the Youngest player on the tour it's a clash Of generation but also a clash of Styles When the two of you play I don't know if it's Clash of style man But it's so young he could almost become My fan But it's It's nice to I mean I think we have pretty similar Styles I'm proud Place very solidly of Course it's very good at tactics when he Needs to he's got very stable openings Which uh you know he must very solid Opening so far so it makes a tough match But I'm very pleased that India has a Lot of young incoming talents I first Met Brad six years ago in waikanse and He was so little he was with his mom and I couldn't have imagined that he would Become so strong So quickly so it's good to see that India has a lot of young talents like China is doing very poorly right now Like they have almost zero Chester but At least other countries are picking up The base and actually after determine
I'm going to Play in India so I'm very excited for That you know and compete against all The young talents if you go to play Against Prague there as well yeah I'm very excited what is it like to play Against the younger generation does your Approach change or do you just keep it Going as uh as you would against any Other player well it's hard it's not Easy I mean you don't want to little Thing ends up there almost half your age Right I I think it's as you get older It's there's more pressure when you're Playing young people like I generally Have a bad result against teenagers Especially in In classical chess Because they're you know they're so Dedicated to chess they're very focused Um probably most of them are Homeschooled and they have their coaches They have the full support of their Parents so they're like oh 100 into Chess and it's the same in the US like When you're a teenager you're not sure Yet whether what you want to do with Your life whether you want to become Professional chess player or go to College Selling next championship I lost to Christopher you And uh Okay we're all of 100 money as a Teenager so if they they're at the point
Where it's an interesting part of their Life and you know they can give their Own chess and then I'm not sure exactly If all of them will become chess Professionals or what to say but You know it's right now they're at the Prime Time of their life I'm saying let's say We often speak about this new wave of Chess players that's a writers New Generation sort of a changing of the god Uh you mentioned about the youngsters Even in the US do you do you see a Bright future you're an established Elite player yourself but what about the Future of us chess Feature of ufgf uh I think I've been my New Mishra but Indian Alpha will become Very big become such a huge talent and Looking forward I mean we have many Strong young up-and-coming players uh We also have With it uh the guy the kid from Africa I Can't spell his name here who just Recently became an IM I believe so Congratulations Um Yeah it's nice but the problem in the U.S is that so many players are Switching federations like we have Gregory operin off very strong close to Seven seven hundred uh I think you young Is living in the U.S also so there's a Lot of a lot of competition I didn't
Feel about that because I know this is a Topic that's discussed a lot about U.S Players switching Federation what's your Personal opinion on it Yeah I mean it's fine because I'm I'm Also one The problem is that the world is Uncertain these days we have war in Russia uh we have less and less Tournaments in Europe because of that so Players are trying to find what's best For them I mean personally for me I'm Totally good with it because I believe Competition makes you stronger and I Want to compete against the world's best But uh At the same time it's becoming harder And harder for American players to Become chess professionals Like uh this championship for instance Has haven't really increased in price Tremendously meanwhile it's getting Stronger stronger like I tied for fifth Recently which even for me it's getting More difficult so you just have to be Better and you have to be stronger I Think At the end of the day as uh as time says If we come in the country legally then You work your way then it's all good you Know we love the we love the competition This is always so nice to hear your Thoughts and you're always so gracious And humble thank you so much for sharing
Your insights also I'm very pleased to Win my second match And congratulations yeah and uh What if you lose all seven matches on The rapping but fortunately you still Get a 5 000 minimum All right well congratulations on a good Match today thank you Wesley
