Aarthie hopes to bounce back

Excerpts:

What are the reason’s for this sudden lack of form?

I don’t think it is a case of lack of form.

Were you short of practice?

May be. But I think I did not rest enough. I returned from London around August 15. I had a good showing in the British championship, Though I could collect only 5.5 points out of 11 all the games were tough and demanding. After I returned there was hardly any time left. I had to leave for Mumbai immediately and I could only spend a day or two with my family. There was no time to rest.

Some of your opponents feel that you could not handle the time pressure and that did you in?

No I don’t think so. In fact, I play well under time pressure. I was a bit tired otherwise I played all the games in the right spirit but yes, I do agree to it that I made blunders quite often.

Now you are flying to Armenia for the World junior championship. How do you rate your chances?

I hope to do well. Being the under-18 champion, I’m seeded there. But that championship is for under-20, and that makes it tough as I will have to face more competent opponents this time. But I still hope to bounce back.

How are you going to prepare yourself?

No now there is no time left to prepare thoroughly. Championship gets underway from September 17, before that I’ll have to go back to Chennai, spend some time at home before rushing to Delhi.

Aren’t you going to have a coach?

I have not given it a thought. I had a month’s coaching under Evegeny Vladimirov in June.

How much did you benefit?

Very much. I learnt a lot, specially how to develop your pieces and position them. Now I think I understand positioning better than ever before.

At present how do you prepare?

Nothing particular. I have data base from Chess Base and Fritz 6 their engine which plays at the level of Grandmaster.