The Candidates Matches that will determine the World Championship Match challenger will be held from May 3rd to 27, 2011. Back in November, Magnus Carlsen, the world's highest ranked player withdrew from the event and Alexander Grischuk is to take his place. GM Teimour Radjobov protested this saying that FIDE regulations stated that he should move on to the next round. Eventually Radjabov relented in his protest and will now play in the event.
Radjabov was then subsequently interviewed by Colin McGourty and when asked whether he planned any action in connection with Grischuk replacing Carlsen, he stated that while he felt that FIDE's approach to making the replacement was a bit amateurish, he was not going to be a "chess Don Quixote, tilting at windmills." Much like poker players that play poker for Mac, he felt complaining about the issue was not as important as finding a way to play.
Radjabov was then asked about Carlsen's decision to not participate in the Candidates Matches. He supported Carlsen's decision and stated that he felt that the current format of the event would put Carlsen's image to question. As those that play poker online know, image is everything in any type of competition. Radjabov felt that the way things are currently setup for the Candidates Matches, chance will play more of a factor than Carlsen is ready to tolerate.
Radjabov was then questioned on his likely opponent for the CM, and that is Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik. Radjabov said that he wasn't planning on doing anything different than study his opponents tendencies during the game. He then gave out a quote from 11th World Champion Robert Fischer that stated, "I don't believe in psychology. I believe in good moves"
He was then question whether he was capable of topping the world chess rankings, and Radjabov stated that topping the ranking was his goal, but reaching that hasn't been so easy in past years because he has had to play as black against strong grandmasters. He also stated that he felt that the rankings were not a great indicator of strength and that the top world rating is not as important as the World Championship title. He also stated that the number of super-tournaments won, and wins against super-grandmasters meant more in his opinion than rankings.
The following 8 players are the qualifiers for the Candidate Matches in May: Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) Alexander Grischuk (Russia) Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) Levon Aronian (Armenia) Boris Gelfand (Isreal) Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) Gata Kamsky (USA)