When there's an important tournament going on, I try and stay in a bubble. It's easy that way because then you don't have to worry about anything else.

In a way players at the top should try to promote the game in their own countries as that is the legacy that makes you feel proud. If you have not done that you have failed as a sportsperson.

A win is a win, which is about that particular moment.

I think the draw quotient has always been high in world championship matches because the amount of effort people put into neutralizing each other's openings. It's just now with computers that it has reached a new level.

Nowadays, when you're not a grandmaster at 14, you can forget about it

I keep forcing, I keep learning new things in the game, and so far I have been taking challenges as they come.

My parents were very supportive of my chess. When I got home after a game of chess, having missed school or something, they always made me feel very welcome; I didn't feel guilty at all about pursuing chess with such fervour. They never, for instance, perceived sports as a rival to academics.