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13. October 2003: Interview with Nigel Short by Colin Watson I was met by a friendly and relaxed Nigel Short after his draw with Victor Bologan in this years 1st Samba Cup tournament. Nigel now lives in Greece together with his wife and two children, born in Leigh, Lancs in England and comes from a family with two brothers. He learned the game through his father, who skill plays Club Chess, otherwise not a chess playing family. Q: Why chess, what would you otherwise had done? A: I think it would have been a job with economics or perhaps law, one of my brothers is a lawyer. Q: When were you a IM and GM? A: I was a IM at the age of 14, the second youngest in history actually and I became a GM age 19. Q: What are you interests and how do you keep fit? A: I swim a lot to keep fit, and play a little cricket. I love cricket, it’s a great game. I never really liked football much, there where not enough goals and to much violence. Q: Do you have plans to move back to England? A: No, not at all, I have lived in Greece for 10 years now, the weather is much better, so no, its a lovely place. Q: Who were your idols? A: After Winton Churchill, it has to be Morphy and Nimzovich. Morphy was a great attacking player and I admired him for his playing style. Q: Have you played in Denmark before? A: I got my GM title back in 1984 in Esbjerg. Q: Are you a columnist? A: Yes, I write for the Sunday telegraph in England. My column I think is the best, and gets frequent visits of many top players, Anand for instance. Q: You recieved the MBE from the Queen!? A: Yes, back in 1999, it was nice speaking to the Queen, I think I will try for a knigthood next time! Q: What is your best game? A: I think the game that has impressed people the most, was against Timman in Tilburg in 1991. I won by marching my king up the board and mating him (actually shown in the tournament programme!) Q: How will you describe yourself? A: Honest and generally quite lazy! Q: You won in Hungary this year, how often do you play? A: About 8 tournaments a year, but I recall back in 1985 I played 120 rated games. Q: When will you write a book? A: I plan to write a “best games” book and a chess biography with plenty of anecdotes. Chess players are part of society, and as they are not seen on TV, we need to write about them. I am looking forward to it! Q: What has happened to British chess since the powerful 80’s? A: Yes we had a great Olympic team where we won silver in 84, 86 and 88 and bronze in 90. Unfortunately chess players can’t make a living, there is not enough tournaments anymore in Britain, it is a shame. Q: Do you have a good story to tell? A: Yes many! I enjoy a good laugh, I remember Korchnoi saying to a player once “Do you speak English?” “Yes” the man replied, “Good – why don’t you resign?”. I was also a pawn up against Korchnoi, but only drew the game. During analysis I said “I am at least a pawn up”, Korchnoi replied “pawns are for school boys!” Q: How long will you continue to play chess? A: As long as possible, what else should I do? Perhaps grow olive trees when I am older. Q: What do you think of the tournament? A: It is a good old fashion tournament, there is not enough of them these days, just Opens, rapids or some mixed doubles. The venue is good, nice atmosphere. I would like to thank Nigel for his hospitality, a very pleasant guy, down to earth and enjoys a good story. He has received a lot of abuse over the last few years, which is a shame because he has done so much for British chess and has been a great ambassador for chess. We wish Nigel all the best in the tournament and for the future. Lets hope we see him again soon back in Denmark. 13/10-2003 - Colin Watson |
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