In my experience, when I went to school, and especially in after-school, and during breaks, a lot of people wanted to sit down and play chess up till a certain age when it was not supposed to be cool anymore and people wanted to do other things.

There are certainly loads of players that I admire; I try to learn from all of the great masters both of the past and contemporary as well.

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.

For me, the most important thing is to continue to play well and to be a positive figure and hopefully a role model for kids as well.

I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person.

Contrary to many young Colleagues, I do believe that it makes sense to study the Classics.

One of the things that first attracted me to chess is that it brings you into contact with intelligent, civilized people - men of the stature of Garry Kasparov, the former world champion, who was my part-time coach.