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The Tukmakov Interview
May 22, 2018
On March 4, 2018 Vladimir Tukmakov had a live broadcast interview with Evgeny Surov of chess-news.ru. Subsequently, part of the interview was published by Colin McGourty on chess24, March 9th:
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/tuk...ce-coaching-so
Because it touches every aspect of modern chess, I give long passages below:
Surov – As I promised, I have with me for this live broadcast Vladimir Borisovich Tukmakov. It is just a few hours before his birthday (March 5, 1946). You were born in Odessa?
Tukmakov – Yes, born and continue to live in Odessa.
Surov – This day was also known as “the day of Stalin’s Death”.
Tukmakov – Maybe we can move on from this controversial date to chess?
Surov – I have heard that you have a new book coming out – tell us about that, please.
Tukmakov – It is almost ready for publication. I don’t know how long the printing process will take, but I think somewhere around the end of March, perhaps a little later. But, in principle, the book is ready, and we can talk about it as an already accomplished fact. It is in the Library of the RCF and is a continuation of my first autobiographical book called “Profession: Chessplayer: Grandmaster at Work”. This book too, could be called “Job – Chess”, because it is the other side of a chess career. In the first book, I talked mainly about the life of the current chess professional. That book was published in late 2009 and the events described in it, ended in 2004, when the national team of Ukraine, in which I was a captain and head coach, for the first time won the title of Olympic champions in Calvia. By then I had already finished my playing career and became a career coach. In that book I described the times when I was in the role of a second, working with Karpov, Korchnoi and Tseshkovsky (Vitaly). Still, they were episodes in my previous chess life. But, this new book is entirely devoted to my captaincy and coaching.
Naturally, the emphasis shifted. If the first book tells of the difficulties and challenges I faced in my playing career, here the emphasis is on other people, with whom I worked, and most of them are more talented at chess than I am. I have worked with many wonderful and talented chess players, members of the world elite. I am not observing from the outside, nor involved in the action. Actually, the book is called “Chess Stars and Constellations: Notes of a coach and captain”. The events described in it in fact cover the period up to the end of 2017.
As I gradually left the practice of chess, suddenly I began to have the idea that my chess pathway might serve as a lesson for young or not so young players. So I packed up and wrote a book. After that I suddenly got the idea for another book, then another. In short, the book we are talking about now is the fourth in a row.
________
1. Profession: chessplayer: grandmaster at work (2012) Russell
2. Modern chess preparation: getting reading for your opponent in the information age (2012) New in Chess
3. Risk & bluff in chess: the art of taking calculated risks (2015) New in Chess
_______
Surov – But their content and format?
Tukmakov – The second book, I devoted to the preparation of modern chess, which includes all aspects. The content of the third is told by its title “Risk and bluff in chess”. But the fourth, as it were, is a second series of the first book.
Surov – Did you write it yourself or have a collaborator?
Tukmakov – I wrote it all by myself, from the first to the last word, ever letter and every chess symbol!
Surov – Why don’t you like this format when it is produced by a journalist?
Tukmakov – Because the journalist inevitably intrudes himself as an intermediary. I wrote mine in the first person, without any intermediaries.
Surov – Then how do you feel about Garry Kasparov’s books written with his co-author Dmitry Plisetsky?
Tukmakov – I find it hard to say to what extent they reflect the author’s thought, that is, the outstanding chess player, Garry Kasparov and to what extent Dmitry Plisetsky is there. I do not know and find it hard to judge. But they have continued their cooperation over the years and the main author, Garry Kasparov, is quite satisfied with the cooperation, therefore, who am I to judge?
The many volumes of his work “My Great Predecessors” is so big, so incredible a work that it was simply impossible to do alone. It’s one thing when you write about your life - what is significant in your eyes may be insignificant in the eyes of others. It is quite another thing when you write about the formation of all chess history. This colossal work was physically impossible to do alone. Moreover, I believe that this work could have only be written with the advent of computer chess. That is because there is in fact a lot of pure chess material and to plow through it at the chessboard, as in the good old days, was simply impossible. Therefore, I am not in any way comparing our books.
Surov – As far as I know, modern engines “laugh” even over the plowed field that was done, say ten years ago, using the same computer.
Tukmakov – Yes, of course, I first encountered this when I wrote my first book. It included a description of my life, tournaments and so on. In the second part were my favorite games. These games passed a meticulous inspection. That was in 2008-2009, when the engines were not as sophisticated as they are now. Those games that I chose for the book I had analyzed for publications both Soviet and foreign.
Later, when I checked with the engine, I got a merciless audit. The games which I thought were the best were imperfect. That was the first time but now I think all professional players take it for granted and live with it.
Surov – In those four books, have you expressed everything you wanted to say?
Tukmakov – Four books in nine years is a lot. After I wrote the first book, I was sure that it was the last. Then suddenly I was struck by some idea and began to collect material – and as a result, there was a second book. I was then visited by another idea and the third was born – risk and bluff in chess. Then, I thought that not many coaches had so many outstanding players as I had and it might be interesting to write about them. For example, in the next few days, in the Candidates Tournament of eight players, five were my wards.
Surov – Then let’s list them!
Tukmakov – Karjakin, Mamedyarov, So, Caruana and Grischuk. I have also spent no small amount of time with Aronian and Kramnik. I have not been their personal trainer but I have often crossed paths with them at tournaments – talking and discussing. The only person that I have had a limited experience with is the Chinese Ding Liren.
Surov – Perhaps we can focus on one of the participants in the Candidates – Wesley So? Maybe not everyone knows that you worked with him. Was it a short cooperation?
Tukmakov – No, it was not short. Formally, it lasted slightly less than one and a half years. But officially it stopped on December 31 of last year.
Surov – But it should be said that during that year and a half, Wesley So rose almost to the peak of this career.
Tukmakov – Yes, it worked out that way. When we started working together he was 10th, and at his peak rating he was second on the raking list. If you take his starting rating and his peak rating, then I think he added about 60 points.
Surov – But still, he decided to end things. Or which of you was it who took the decision?
Tukmakov – Yes, it was more his decision.
If we are going to talk about my cooperation with Wesley – then from the very start it was somewhat surprising for me. And from the very start I was quite sceptical about the way of cooperating, since from the very beginning, the moment they got in touch, they talked about working by Skype. That’s quite a popular and widespread form of cooperation between a coach and a student nowadays. Firstly, it’s easier to implement, since such a way of working is easier to organize. Then, of course, it’s significantly cheaper for the person who has to pay for it. And, in many cases, from my point of view, it’s no less effective than working in person.
But in the given case, when after all we’re talking about a top-class chess player…it’s funny to call him my pupil, or me, his mentor, never mind teacher. What can I teach a chess player who at that moment was tenth in the world? That meant you could only talk about some kind of nuances, but nuances, as a rule, are conveyed verbally, subtly, to extract some kind of resources from a person’s potential. For that, though, you need to spend time together. Moreover, Wesley So of course speaks English, I also speak English, but my English can in no way be described as fluent. Of course I can communicate, but my language isn’t good enough for subtleties.
And therefore I was quite sceptical about that way of cooperating. Moreover, I learned that Wesley So had actually never had a coach! Or that’s what I was told, in any case. So that meant that essentially I was going to be his first coach.
Never mind that Wesley is not in the habit of communicating with anyone. He’s used to spending all his time on this own, alone at the chessboard. That was also quite a serious challenge, both for him and for me. Therefore, it was absolutely unclear what to expect from such a cooperation, with which we didn’t have any kind of experience.
May 22, 2018
On March 4, 2018 Vladimir Tukmakov had a live broadcast interview with Evgeny Surov of chess-news.ru. Subsequently, part of the interview was published by Colin McGourty on chess24, March 9th:
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/tuk...ce-coaching-so
Because it touches every aspect of modern chess, I give long passages below:
Surov – As I promised, I have with me for this live broadcast Vladimir Borisovich Tukmakov. It is just a few hours before his birthday (March 5, 1946). You were born in Odessa?
Tukmakov – Yes, born and continue to live in Odessa.
Surov – This day was also known as “the day of Stalin’s Death”.
Tukmakov – Maybe we can move on from this controversial date to chess?
Surov – I have heard that you have a new book coming out – tell us about that, please.
Tukmakov – It is almost ready for publication. I don’t know how long the printing process will take, but I think somewhere around the end of March, perhaps a little later. But, in principle, the book is ready, and we can talk about it as an already accomplished fact. It is in the Library of the RCF and is a continuation of my first autobiographical book called “Profession: Chessplayer: Grandmaster at Work”. This book too, could be called “Job – Chess”, because it is the other side of a chess career. In the first book, I talked mainly about the life of the current chess professional. That book was published in late 2009 and the events described in it, ended in 2004, when the national team of Ukraine, in which I was a captain and head coach, for the first time won the title of Olympic champions in Calvia. By then I had already finished my playing career and became a career coach. In that book I described the times when I was in the role of a second, working with Karpov, Korchnoi and Tseshkovsky (Vitaly). Still, they were episodes in my previous chess life. But, this new book is entirely devoted to my captaincy and coaching.
Naturally, the emphasis shifted. If the first book tells of the difficulties and challenges I faced in my playing career, here the emphasis is on other people, with whom I worked, and most of them are more talented at chess than I am. I have worked with many wonderful and talented chess players, members of the world elite. I am not observing from the outside, nor involved in the action. Actually, the book is called “Chess Stars and Constellations: Notes of a coach and captain”. The events described in it in fact cover the period up to the end of 2017.
As I gradually left the practice of chess, suddenly I began to have the idea that my chess pathway might serve as a lesson for young or not so young players. So I packed up and wrote a book. After that I suddenly got the idea for another book, then another. In short, the book we are talking about now is the fourth in a row.
________
1. Profession: chessplayer: grandmaster at work (2012) Russell
2. Modern chess preparation: getting reading for your opponent in the information age (2012) New in Chess
3. Risk & bluff in chess: the art of taking calculated risks (2015) New in Chess
_______
Surov – But their content and format?
Tukmakov – The second book, I devoted to the preparation of modern chess, which includes all aspects. The content of the third is told by its title “Risk and bluff in chess”. But the fourth, as it were, is a second series of the first book.
Surov – Did you write it yourself or have a collaborator?
Tukmakov – I wrote it all by myself, from the first to the last word, ever letter and every chess symbol!
Surov – Why don’t you like this format when it is produced by a journalist?
Tukmakov – Because the journalist inevitably intrudes himself as an intermediary. I wrote mine in the first person, without any intermediaries.
Surov – Then how do you feel about Garry Kasparov’s books written with his co-author Dmitry Plisetsky?
Tukmakov – I find it hard to say to what extent they reflect the author’s thought, that is, the outstanding chess player, Garry Kasparov and to what extent Dmitry Plisetsky is there. I do not know and find it hard to judge. But they have continued their cooperation over the years and the main author, Garry Kasparov, is quite satisfied with the cooperation, therefore, who am I to judge?
The many volumes of his work “My Great Predecessors” is so big, so incredible a work that it was simply impossible to do alone. It’s one thing when you write about your life - what is significant in your eyes may be insignificant in the eyes of others. It is quite another thing when you write about the formation of all chess history. This colossal work was physically impossible to do alone. Moreover, I believe that this work could have only be written with the advent of computer chess. That is because there is in fact a lot of pure chess material and to plow through it at the chessboard, as in the good old days, was simply impossible. Therefore, I am not in any way comparing our books.
Surov – As far as I know, modern engines “laugh” even over the plowed field that was done, say ten years ago, using the same computer.
Tukmakov – Yes, of course, I first encountered this when I wrote my first book. It included a description of my life, tournaments and so on. In the second part were my favorite games. These games passed a meticulous inspection. That was in 2008-2009, when the engines were not as sophisticated as they are now. Those games that I chose for the book I had analyzed for publications both Soviet and foreign.
Later, when I checked with the engine, I got a merciless audit. The games which I thought were the best were imperfect. That was the first time but now I think all professional players take it for granted and live with it.
Surov – In those four books, have you expressed everything you wanted to say?
Tukmakov – Four books in nine years is a lot. After I wrote the first book, I was sure that it was the last. Then suddenly I was struck by some idea and began to collect material – and as a result, there was a second book. I was then visited by another idea and the third was born – risk and bluff in chess. Then, I thought that not many coaches had so many outstanding players as I had and it might be interesting to write about them. For example, in the next few days, in the Candidates Tournament of eight players, five were my wards.
Surov – Then let’s list them!
Tukmakov – Karjakin, Mamedyarov, So, Caruana and Grischuk. I have also spent no small amount of time with Aronian and Kramnik. I have not been their personal trainer but I have often crossed paths with them at tournaments – talking and discussing. The only person that I have had a limited experience with is the Chinese Ding Liren.
Surov – Perhaps we can focus on one of the participants in the Candidates – Wesley So? Maybe not everyone knows that you worked with him. Was it a short cooperation?
Tukmakov – No, it was not short. Formally, it lasted slightly less than one and a half years. But officially it stopped on December 31 of last year.
Surov – But it should be said that during that year and a half, Wesley So rose almost to the peak of this career.
Tukmakov – Yes, it worked out that way. When we started working together he was 10th, and at his peak rating he was second on the raking list. If you take his starting rating and his peak rating, then I think he added about 60 points.
Surov – But still, he decided to end things. Or which of you was it who took the decision?
Tukmakov – Yes, it was more his decision.
If we are going to talk about my cooperation with Wesley – then from the very start it was somewhat surprising for me. And from the very start I was quite sceptical about the way of cooperating, since from the very beginning, the moment they got in touch, they talked about working by Skype. That’s quite a popular and widespread form of cooperation between a coach and a student nowadays. Firstly, it’s easier to implement, since such a way of working is easier to organize. Then, of course, it’s significantly cheaper for the person who has to pay for it. And, in many cases, from my point of view, it’s no less effective than working in person.
But in the given case, when after all we’re talking about a top-class chess player…it’s funny to call him my pupil, or me, his mentor, never mind teacher. What can I teach a chess player who at that moment was tenth in the world? That meant you could only talk about some kind of nuances, but nuances, as a rule, are conveyed verbally, subtly, to extract some kind of resources from a person’s potential. For that, though, you need to spend time together. Moreover, Wesley So of course speaks English, I also speak English, but my English can in no way be described as fluent. Of course I can communicate, but my language isn’t good enough for subtleties.
And therefore I was quite sceptical about that way of cooperating. Moreover, I learned that Wesley So had actually never had a coach! Or that’s what I was told, in any case. So that meant that essentially I was going to be his first coach.
Never mind that Wesley is not in the habit of communicating with anyone. He’s used to spending all his time on this own, alone at the chessboard. That was also quite a serious challenge, both for him and for me. Therefore, it was absolutely unclear what to expect from such a cooperation, with which we didn’t have any kind of experience.
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