Andreikin: "I could get into professional gaming"

Dmitry Andreikin is no stranger to computer games. He first shot to prominence as an internet blitz phenomenon and has only recently converted that potential into success in "over-the-board" chess. In a recent profile/interview he revealed he could imagine life as a Starcraft player.

Evgeny Atarov’s unconventional ChessPro profile of the defending Russian Champion and World Cup finalist took the form of Andreikin describing photos from his album followed by a quick-fire 25 questions. Highlights included:

Second place (Andreikin: "as usual") at the U12 European Championship. On Andreikin’s right is the winner, Ian Nepomniachtchi, who he beat in the first round of this year’s Russian Championship. On his left is Elena Tairova, who tragically died at the age of only 18.

Andreikin is usually a super-solid player, but managed to lose three games at the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting in 2013. It wasn't all bad, though!

Andreikin: "Dortmund 2013: The Signal Iduna Park Stadium. You can feel what it means to have 82,000 fans! Incredible luck: it so happened that during the chess tournament there was a German Supercup match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich (the home team won 4:2). I managed to get a ticket. The only problem was that on the day of the match in the 2nd round of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting I got an ending against Adams that I needed to defend for a very long time. I rushed, didn’t use all my resources, and ultimately lost. Immediately after the game I asked the organisers for a car and raced to the football. I was only 10 minutes late. It was a shame: in the third hour of play I could have made an easy draw – I’d have had time to return calmly to the hotel, but… After that spectacle the defeat was soon forgotten. In the photo you can see the award ceremony has just taken place."

Just a couple of the 25 questions, the first about learning chess when he was five:

Did the game make an impression on you?

Yes, for me it was a kind of prototype of war. From the very beginning chess wasn’t a sport but a game. Just like toy soldiers…

Can you imagine yourself in another profession?

Absolutely… I just watched a very interesting video – the StarCraft II Championship. It’s held over many stages and for each the prize fund is $170,000! I love that game and in general it’s my top strategy game. So I could get into professional gaming, but any other profession – absolutely
not!

Full article at ChessPro (in Russian)