Chess only appeals to quite a small minority. It does not have the cachet of a mainstream popular sport.

It's just not my nature to go around idolizing people.

There wasn't any particular player I modeled my game after. I tried to learn from everyone and create my own style. I studied past players... Truth be told I never had a favorite player. It's just not my nature to go around idolizing people. I just go try to learn.

What I admired most about him [Bobby Fischer] was his ability to make what was in fact so difficult look easy to us. I try to emulate him.

Right now I'm really happy with how things are going with my chess career, so I'm not thinking of doing anything else.

I don't consider myself a particularly young chess player. I have been playing in the best tournaments in the world since I was 16 years old. In other sports, if you have been playing for seven years, you are not a young prodigy any more. You're one of the pros.

There are so many games that I've seen that I've learned from. I never - that's also part of the same - never single out a particular player or a particular game.