Interview with Grandmaster Ljubomir Ljubojevic - Chess now and then, through the prism of technology, physics and philosophy - part 2
2nd part...
Nadezda Stojanovic
You follow Serbian chess and you are familiar with the current situation in the chess world. It seems to us that your connection with chess is still very strong, even though you are not an active player anymore.
Ljubomir Ljubojevic
I may have prematurely left competitive chess, but that does not mean I have lost touch with the problems of practical play. That is why I am happy that Belgrade, with this big competition, revives its rich chess past and long tradition of powerful chess centres of the world.
In this city there is a large number of “potential chess players”, who are not registered in any club, nor play in tournaments, but their chess enthusiasm is visible in this society. When you look around, you see people playing chess on the streets, in cafés, parks, following the chess news at home or solving chess problems. So, in the DNA of Belgrade there is a powerful gene of chess history that cannot vanish. If at this moment we can’t preserve the popularity of the game by top results, we have the opportunity to organize chess competitions and in this way keep pace with the leading chess countries in the world. I am almost certain that the glory of Serbian chess will be restored, the only question is when.
Nadezda Stojanovic
What is your view of the current world ranking?
Ljubomir Ljubojevic
I think that Carlsen is the most prepared and the most talented player in this moment. He has already reached maturity which even Fischer at his age didn’t have. However, this doesn’t mean that his talent is more brilliant than Fischer’s! Carlsen entered the world of chess at a very early age, mainly due to the big influence of computers, and managed to acquire knowledge for which one used to need a lot of experience and many years of hard work. In his time, Fischer would find simplicity in the game thanks to his ingenuity. Today, young leading players in the world overcome complicated secrets of chess faster, with the help of powerful computers. That is why the progress of young players is faster today, but the question is will they burn out as fast, like a shooting star, and will their successful career be as long as the career of the players in the past?
To be continued...
