Moldovian chess player Viorel Bologan is a unique person in a chess world. He is famous not only as a strong chess player, but also as an organizer, a social person who advertisements chess! Bologan was always a sociable person, his fast leaving the World Cup didn’t influence this fact. Maybe just a little... Perhaps at that moment he was thinking about future tournaments.

-Viorel, you are almost a native citizen In Ugra region. You always participate at Poikovskiy tournament. How do you feel coming here?

I have the best feelings. It is good atmosphere here, I come here with a great pleasure. I never want to leave. And know, I would prefer to stay till the end, but my destiny decided other way, to say the truth – my opponent.

-Were there any your fans from government of the region here?

There were some. With great pleaser I met with Head of Nefteyugansk Region – Alexander Valentinovich Klepikov and other my friends. I have known them for several years already. I had a small support team here with sport chairman of the region Alexander Urievich Andrievskim as a head.

-How can you explain that many favorites of the tournament have left the tournament so early? What is the reason of your misfortune?

A great number of favorites were not enough trained. Who? You can guess it looking at the results and the game. To tell the truth I didn’t watch other people’s performances. Why did it happen? Because the average skill level of chess is almost similar now, when two players with ratings of 2500 2700 are playing you cannot say who is going to win.

-What About Aronian? He is winning all matches.

He just get a good advise every time. Of course Aronian is winning, but he had different situations, even the worst one. He has a stable average level of performing last year. We are playing for the same team and communicate a lot; due to his level he always shows good results. But he has some weak sides, somebody can forgive them, somebody cannot. There are only two games here, loosing one you can pack your baggage.

-Maybe it is hard to play for favorites when matches are so short.

I think it is hard to play tie-breaks for everyone. There is an extra nervous feeling, and it disturbs you: you are trying to play more safety, not for 3 good results, but for 2. It automatically influences the game: favorites just don’t show how can they play, and non-favorites have nothing to loose. This is just psychological trap…

-Are you sad about your leaving the World Cup?

I am sad, but I cannot say that my life is over now.

-Maybe be it is because you have applied to work in a governing body of the Chess Professionals Association? If you are elected, what ways of rapprochement between FIDE and the CPA will you suggest? What are your thoughts about that?

This is my second time when I apply to the CPA. (I have already been in a governing body when it was developing. People who work there did a lot for this organization. But they have to move forward, to look for new spheres of activity.
I am always for constructive communicative process. It would be better to avoid any critical or protest announcements. At least in chess we should stick together. FIDE has a good motto: ''We are one family''. I consider we should find some corporative decisions in that ''family'', we shouldn’t wash our dirty linen in public. Last tendency in FIDE actions shows that they have realized that World chess should have one dynamic. I think there can be a place for one common organization.
We should work together; ask FIDE some question, for example about a time policy. In the context that we are talking about CPA it would be better to have some tournaments only for chess professionals. Garry Kasparov had a success in this activity in his time…

-How can value the work of CPA for the last two years?

I cannot say about the governing body of this association cause I left it some years ago because I was too busy. The fact that they didn’t have big tournaments shows that they don’t have enough money, and I am going to find investors for this organization. But if I will not manage to do that, the same time I will give opportunity for other people to do that.

-If you are elected, will you join FIDE in your investments search?

I think we should work out it together. In the past there were such situations: you find a sponsor, he asks ''Will Karpov participate?'' or ''What does Karpov think about it?'' etc. We were all separate. It is better to work together, to have common project, common curriculum. If you want to get serious sponsor there is no other way. So if FIDE has the same idea, CPA should join them in the search.

-What do think about the match Kramnik against Topalov?

It is a pity that they couldn’t do a dial. But the idea to invite champion for some money is rather interesting to my mind. I think it can give some extra activity to a chess life. It is very sensible that champion loose his right to participate at the tournament of 8th. It is good that it is not only about money, everybody can loose something more. He is not only loosing his title, but also a right to participate at the World championship. Soon or late we had to change something. Next season of 2005-2007 is very long; there should be some more activities. It is not normal when a man is elected for the title match, then he trains for half of a year, another half of a year he waits, and then it becomes known that there won’t be any match. I can understand Kasparov in his decision to leave chess. You cannot wait so long for nothing…

-Refer to Kasparov; it is not a secret that you were in his team before a match against Ponomarev. That can you say about his decision to leave chess?

Generally I was a sparing partner. It is a pity that this match didn’t take place. It could be one of the reasons why he made such decision. I consider him one of the greatest chess players in our days, so he can make decisions himself. This is a right of everybody. We should accept the fact that chess is world admitted very interesting game, but it is just a game… He wants to try something else…
When chess were only developing many chess players had other professions too: somebody was a layer, somebody – a businessman, somebody – a politician. The champions of the World were: mathematic and physics Lasker, a gymnasium teacher Eive. Now we see other situation: a chess player Kasparov wants to be a politician. And he chooses a difficult way. It is not easy to represent opposition in Russia. I respect his choice.

-How many computers are there in a secret Kasparov’s laboratory?

I can say only that there are not much. He is a just a common man like we. I think if he surrounded himself only with machines, he would spot thinking himself. Then you are participating in a real game you should think your head. The less you work with a computer, the better it is for your head.

-Is the influence of the computer on a man’s making decision process bad? How do you think the problem of using computers is philosophical or moral?

It is intellectual problem. It is clear about ethic: you shouldn’t use any devices during the game. What to think about harm or useful of the computers, it is a technical side. The truth is somewhere between. Computers can tell us about amazing moves, unknown for a man defend opportunities. But nobody refuses from abstract thinking, scheme thinking, and strategy thinking. We should save this all.

-Can we solve all the problems with Fisher chess?

I played those chess couple times, I really liked it. But it is not time to refuse from common chess, and play Fisher chess. Classical chess still have a great potential. It is good that we have some more variants, but I would prefer not to extol them. At least it would be awful to loose the “truth” which was worked out by many chess players’ generations.

-To save them like to save masterpieces of old artists?

Yes, like old pictures. But matches are not deaf, they alive time to time. We should save the best what we have and not to stay at the same level.