When you play with the best in the world, it is important that you not lose focus. You must be fully focused. Even a minor error could result in a massive defeat.

There is always the risk of being over-confident when you are preparing to face a weaker player.

In any match, there are few critical moments where there's no second best decision. The rest of the moves are intuitive.

For me, chess is not a profession, it is a way of life, a passion. People may feel that I have conquered the peak and will not have to struggle. Financially, perhaps that is true; but as far as chess goes, I'm still learning a lot!

I would prefer chess to become part of the Olympic Games. This would also lead to chess become more accepted as a sport in general.

Each match I play is the most important one yet.

Confidence is very important - even pretending to be confident. If you make a mistake but do not let your opponent see what you are thinking then he may overlook the mistake.