After round 9, the Armenian Grandmaster Vladimir Akopian, who defeated the American Grandmaster Gata Kamsky, shared his impressions on his game.

- What impression on your game do you have?

- It was a difficult game. I think at some point when Gata played Be4, I could have taken Queen on e4, but I was not sure if White has an advantage. That is why I was expecting the repetition of moves. To my mind it would have been a logical result. Frankly speaking I don’t know why Gata decided to play to win, but one way or another, the position was about equal. So the rough blunder finished the game. It was an interesting game, taking into account that its logical process was broken.

- There are nine rounds behind. are you satisfied with your performance?

- Everything goes well so far. Of course there were bad games as well, the first day I played very strange way. I play in these championships after a long break. Truly speaking I don’t remember which rapid tournaments I participated last time. Perhaps that is why I am a bit untrained and it could explain the tense and diffidence I had in the first day. Today I played better and I did not make any rough blunders during the last two rounds.

- What plans do you have after Khanty-Mansiysk?

- I want to have some rest with my family. Long time I could not manage to go to the seaside with them. After that, closer to the end of the year the tense team competitions will start. I have to get prepared to them well, to gain energy.