Ian Nepomniachtchi

Russia's No. 1

“Do I still dream to become World Champion? I’m not dreaming. I think it’s quite realistic honestly. It’s probably the only thing that keeps me in chess — in competitive chess.

So, unfortunately, that’s why I’m here playing Opens. Normally, I’d never even look that way. At most, I’d read about them in the news. Because, again, I don’t like Opens, and I don’t like the current Candidates Tournament qualifying system. I think it’s quite unfair in a way.

For example, I believe the introduction of the Circuit would greatly help young players. Presumably Indian players, and maybe even Uzbek players — they also have a very strong generation.

But another problem is that the Circuit points system is very unbalanced. Right now, you can mostly only score points by playing opens, like here. It’s a bit annoying, but we have to work with what we’ve got.

Next year will probably be much more important, because there will be at least four spots there — through the Grand Swiss and the World Cup. But this year, too, if I have enough tournaments and a good run, of course, I’ll try to compete on the Circuit.

So, basically, this is the only thing that still keeps me competitive. I believe that, due to obvious age issues, the number of attempts is not infinite. But I think one or two more circuits are still quite realistic for me.”