Berlin Candidates - Final Press Conference

Just like the previous edition of Video Friday, Game and Mistake of the Day ('Kramnik - Caruana / Round 4'), the 2018 Berlin Candidates Tournament accounted for nearly the entire short list of choices for this post. I had decided beforehand to feature one of the final videos from Youtube's World Chess channel, and was pleased to find the press conference from the decisive game of the last round.

Press conference with the winner of Candidates 2018 Fabiano Caruana (15:30) • 'Published on Mar 27, 2018'

The session started well: 'We have with us the winner of the tournament, Fabiano Caruana. Congratulations!', followed by a warm round of applause, followed by a statement from GM Caruana ('I'm absolutely thrilled!'). Then things became atypical, which is typical for chess, when Agon/Worldchess CEO Ilya Merenzon took the microphone.

It's the first press conference I take part in. I just wanted to say, 'Wow!', to all the players who are here -- and especially to Fabiano -- but also to those who are maybe in the VIP room drinking (at least I hope). The tournament has been amazing.

Lots of journalists have been asking me as an organizer, 'Who do you cheer for? What do you hope for?'. There are many answers, obviously. From a marketing point of view, it was obviously interesting to see Sergey Karjakin win. It would be interesting to see [Vladimir] Kramnik win, especially after his games. But for Fabiano to win, it's not only me -- it seems like it's everyone -- hoped for it. Now the event in London is going to be so exciting and I can't wait to be there. We'll discuss it more in detail later. [Fabiano] is the hero for now.

The FIDE calendar says, 'World Championship Match 2018; London, UK; 9-Nov-2018; 28-Nov-2018'. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Agon/Worldchess sorts out the problems that plagued their online presentation in Berlin.