Iranian GM Pouya Idani
PANAJI
"Goa has been nice to me so far," Iranian GM Pouya Idani speaking exclusively to The Goan stated. The Iranian GM who has been to India previously, is on his third visit to the state as a chess player, this time to take part in his third FIFA World Cup.
"The first time I was here in 2018, I did very well winning the first edition of the Goa GM International Open tournament. In 2019, I played in the second edition of the tournament as well, but I had a bad start. I was three points from five games, but managed to win my last five games in a row, to share the top place three-way on points. But I had to contend with third place due to my inferior tiebreak score," the seasoned GM revealed.
With overall favourable results in earlier tournaments in the State, it may rub off on him to have positive expectations at the ongoing high-profile Chess World Cup in Arpora. "The World Cup is a very cruel format. It is tough to really predict anything. But it is nice to have a good memory of a city or country where you have played well. Automatically, you are in a better shape," the 30-year-old GM felt.
While he hopes to do well in the ongoing 11th edition of the FIDE World Cup, draws in both the classical games in Round 2 against Indian GM, Murali Karthikeyan (Elo 2662), takes him to the shorter time-control tiebreaks on Thursday.
In the preliminary round, Idani defeated GM Kevin Joel Cori Quispe of Mexico (Elo 2451) 2-0. "I was not thinking of winning 2-0, but rather just win," he said.
"The first round is bit stressful. You are just getting into the tournament and it does not really matter if you are higher rated or not. You really need to be focused. It is not like an open tournament, where there are many rounds and it is not an elimination. Here, if you make one mistake, you can be knocked out," the Elo 2601 rated player pointed out.
"In my first round (against GM Quispe), though I made some mistakes, I eventually did a better job than my opponent and managed to win 2-0," he asserted.
His ongoing second round match-up against Indian GM Murali Karthikeyan promises exciting action in the tiebreaks on Thursday. Speaking to this paper ahead of his second round against the seasoned Karthikeyan, Idani remarked, "He is very strong and talented, and our ratings are not much different. I have played him twice before, losing the last time we played with white, and earlier drawing with black."
While Idani intends to enjoy the ongoing World Cup taking each round and match as it comes, he has shown improvement in the high -stakes event. In the 2015 Chess World Cup, Idani was eliminated in the first round against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. In 2021, he reached the fourth round. "I did well in the 2021 World Cup, to be eliminated in the fourth round to the eventual winner of the tournament, Jan-Krzysztof Duda. In Round 2 and 3, I defeated players higher rated than me (David Anton Guijarro and Evgeny Tomashevsky)," Idani disclosed.
Having moved his base to France in 2023, nothing much has changed. He continues to represent his country of birth, Iran, and play a a number tournaments in Europe. "After my child was born in August 2023, I play less. Every two months, I play in some tournaments, apart from the Bundesliga and other leagues too. I do a bit of chess coaching as well, though I consider myself more a professional player," Idani stated.
