There can only be one goal in the Candidates: to play for first place

No German has played at the Candidates since 1991. So Matthias Bluebaum gave German chess a reason to celebrate when he finished runner-up at the Grand Swiss tournament in September and became the first player after Robert Hubner to make it to the Candidates, the qualifying event to determine the challenger for the World championship.

Bluebaum, who was in the North Goan village of Arpora recently for the Chess World Cup, spoke on various topics including the rise of the sport in Germany. Excerpts:

On Germany’s resurgence in chess of late

With Vincent Keymer, we have a top player now. He is the World No. 4. We also have players like Frederik Svane, Donchenko and myself, and we have done well at the World Cup.

We just have a lot of strong, and still more or less young, players. I mean, I am the oldest of this generation, at 28.

On looking forward to the Candidates tournament

I am definitely looking forward to it, and the location (Cyprus) seems nice for me. It is in Europe, so there is no huge time difference, which is of course already quite a small bonus. I guess it is like just a one-hour time difference.

I am just looking forward to playing there. Even though I will be a huge underdog, there can only be one goal in this tournament: to play for first place. That is the only place that matters, after all.

So even as an underdog, I have to try to do that. I hope to do my best there.

On what clicked for him at Grand Swiss in Uzbekistan, where he produced his career-best show

I was playing decent chess. I was not making many mistakes. But you also have to get a bit lucky in a sense for things to go well.

I made more or less boring draws in the first two games. And then in the third round, I got a nice win. And also, in the fourth round, I could win. And then suddenly, my score was plus two.

After that I played against R. Praggnanandhaa; he wanted to win with black pieces, but he just made an error in time trouble. Of course, he is a stronger player and he was putting himself under a bit of pressure to beat me, because he was probably feeling it was a game he could win and it would increase his chances to do well. I was just lucky in a sense that people were pushing against me.

And I could collect some points. I was playing quite well. If you win against top players you have to play really well. You can’t just get lucky. You also have to actually find some good moves. But, yeah, everything went perfectly for me at the Grand Swiss.

In the end, it was just about keeping control of the nerves and just surviving the last games. In the last round, I already knew a draw would give me great chances. But still, you get nervous and you know you are playing one of the best players in the world. It was tough, but somehow I managed to keep my nerves in control.

On him being more consistent as a player these days

It is not that I play different openings or completely changed my way to study chess. Something is just clicking right. Chess is also a very mental game. It is really also just being in the right mindset, to just feel confident about your moves and just trust your calculations. Once you are in the right mindset, things might just click. And right now that is a good phase for me.

On playing against fellow-Germans in tournaments like the World Cup and Grand Swiss

It is always very tough. I don’t like playing against the other Germans. It is quite tough for me. I have known everybody more or less since childhood. And I don’t really enjoy playing against them, but it is also part of the process.

At the Grand Swiss, I also had to play this game against Vincent, which turned out to be quite decisive for the tournament. And there I just got lucky in the end. We are all professionals and we have to play against each other from time to time if that is the pairing.

On playing at the World Cup without having the pressure of qualifying for the Candidates

On the one hand, less pressure can be helpful, but on the other, it can also be bad because I was lacking motivation to prepare for as many hours as I did during the Grand Swiss. Sometimes it can be helpful because you are not so stressed and you just feel like you can play freely.

But sometimes it can also have some opposite effect, like you are not as motivated as your opponent. But one thing is clear: many favourites got knocked out at the World Cup. It is normal for the (knock-out) format, but it also just shows that the general strength of chess players is very high and that everybody can beat everyone.

On large number of fans coming to watch the World Cup in Goa

It is always great to see interest in chess. There have been many fans waiting outside the playing venue, which is great. In Germany, too, interest has also increased in the last few years, but it is nowhere close to this level.

Yes, it is a bit unusual for a chess player. We usually are a bit shy, introverted and do not interact too much with people.

Here, you are kind of forced to give autographs and do pictures or something, but it is quite nice.

There are so many fans. At the end of the day, that is what you want: for the sport to grow and have a good fan base. So it has been great.

The interest is huge in India. It is clearly one of the biggest countries in the last few years. They won the last Olympiad with a huge performance, and they have the current World champion.

On becoming a professional chess player in Germany

In Germany, I had to finish school anyway, and then after school, I took a one-year break along with one friend of mine who was also Grandmaster with a 2600 rating, so also a very strong chess player. We both finished school at the same time, and we both played chess for one year.

But then we both went on studying, because it is still the normal thing to do in Germany. Also, I have three older sisters who all went studying, so for me, it was just not even really a question. I was sure at some point I was going to study.

I never really dreamt of becoming a chess professional at that point. Okay, I always kept playing chess. I already had a rating of 2600 when I started studying.

Once I finished studying, I told myself, okay, if not now, there will be no choice anywhere else to become a chess professional.

Either now or never, because if you start a job, you can’t be a chess professional at the same time. Also, when I finished my bachelor’s degree, it was COVID time, so there was no way to even play chess.

Actually, it was kind of nice I could still study online, so I could still do that. After finishing my master’s thesis, I just felt it was the perfect time to focus on chess. So I have been doing that for three years, and I guess for the moment, I am definitely going to continue playing chess professionally.

I am still not sure if I am going to do it for my whole life, but for now, of course, it is going really well, especially this year, so I am very happy about that.