Fourth Form pupil Andrey has recently returned from an eight day trip to Berlin, where he emerged triumphant from the Berlin U25 Chess Open.
Achieving 7.5/9 points, and scooping up the grand prize, Andrey beat the first and second seed and was the only non-German player in the top 10 by the tournament’s conclusion. This was his first first 1st place finish in an overseas tournament. He was also the only player representing the English Chess team, and achieved a clear first place. After initially being the 22 seed, Andrey certainly caused quite the upset by winning the tournament!
We caught up with Andrey to ask him about his chess journey so far, and you can read his answers below.
1) How long have you been playing chess?
“I started playing chess at the age of 4, but realised that I wanted to be a professional at the age of 7. Ever since then, I started traveling the world, playing in tournaments. At first, my friends got me into chess, but I instantly loved chess and wanted to make it a serious passion.”
2) Do you have a favoured opening move?
“As white, my favoured opening move is 1. d4. I tend to play the London system (with 2. Bf4, 3. e3, and then play theory according to the moves I encounter, but either 4. c3 or 4. c3). As black, on 1. e4, I play 1. c5 and play the Kalashnikov variation with 2. Nc6. On the the exchange variation, I play 3. cxd4 and 4. e5, with 5. d6. This variant is quite solid from a defensive point of view.
Overall, my all time favourite opening is the London, since it’s so comfortable for white.”
3) Do you have another tournament lined up?
“I currently have many tournaments ahead until Christmas. I’m currently looking at playing in Barcelona and New York. An alternative is playing in Paris. For tournaments not abroad, I have a few lined up in London. My aspiration for a relative short term is to achieve the National Master title before January as well as FIDE Master before the end of 6th form.”
Congratulations Andrey – we look forward to hearing about the next tournament soon!
