Interview with GM Lázaro Bruzón, World Champion under 20
by Zenon Franco
Cuban GM Lázaro Bruzón Bautista is the sixth player to obtain the Junior World Champion title who has Spanish as his mother tongue; the previous ones were Argentineans GM Oscar Panno, IM Carlos Bielicki, IM Julio Kaplán from Puerto Rico (he was born in Argentina), GM Pablo Zarnicki (in these last two cases, nearly no players from the East took part, so the tournament was rather weak compared with the others) and Cuban GM Walter Arencibia.
Zenón Franco: Congratulations, Lázaro, for your success in the Junior World Championship held in Erevan, Armenia. Could you answer some questions for Kasparovchess.com?
Lázaro Bruzón: Thank you, yes, of course.
KC: How do you describe the course of the tournament?
Lázaro Bruzón: At first it was a race with Polish IM Kamil Miton, he was leading by half a point till Round 9, but in the tenth round he lost to Sasikiran, and I was able to take the lead, which I maintained till the end.
KC: What was the most important game for the outcome of the tournament?
Lázaro Bruzón: The most important game, that clarified the result, was in the eleventh round, against Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran, in a variation of the Tartakower Defence I made an important novelty with the Black pieces at move 18, instead of a more than dubious bishop sacrifice on h3, which had been played before, 18...g5 gives an edge to Black.
KC: What was your initial place?
Lázaro Bruzón: I was fifth.
KC: And you obtained 1 ½ point advantage, a remarkable result! Isn't it?
Lázaro Bruzón: Yes, sure it is.
KC: What about the game against GM Vladimir Malakhov?
Lázaro Bruzón: It was an important game too, although it was only in the sixth round, still with the entire tournament to be played. I won the game, but I made a mistake on move 11, I had to play 11.Qf3, exchanging queens, instead of 11.Be2, then the game was very complicated but White has always the better chances.
KC: Tell us something about yourself and about your beginning in chess.
Lázaro Bruzón: I was born in Holguín on May 2, 1982. I learned the rules of chess at the age of 7 thanks to a neighbour, but only when I was 9 did I become completely devoted to chess.
KC: And you were able to play in the strong school competitions in Cuba, which take the Spartakiads from the former Soviet Union as a model. How were your results in those school days?
Lázaro Bruzón: I was successful very soon, always obtaining a place among the first to fourth.
KC: Which people were important for your chess development?
Lázaro Bruzón: First of all Bernardo González, from Las Tunas. He is not an International Master, but he has a lot of understanding of chess, and in the pedagogical sense he was very good, and I must say he was fundamental in my chess growth. Now I am working with IM Humberto Pecorelli, I am quite satisfied with our work together.
KC: Which players did you study most?
Lázaro Bruzón: Players I studied a lot were Botvinnik and Keres.
KC: Who are the best players from the past and the present in your opinion?
Lázaro Bruzón: From the past I believe that Alekhine is the best player. For all time I have some reservations, maybe Kasparov, but I am not so sure. From the present without any doubts Kasparov is the strongest.
KC: So your predictions about the match Kasparov - Kramnik are clear.
Lázaro Bruzón: Yes, I think so.
KC: What are your chess goals?
Lázaro Bruzón: I want to reach to 2.600 Elo, establish myself over that rating, and then try to obtain new aims.
KC: You made a big jump in your level of strength in the past year, why?
Lázaro Bruzón: I believe it is the logical outcome of the hard work I put in during the past years. Results would arrive, and I had no doubt about it.
KC: What are your next tournaments?
Lázaro Bruzón: I will play in Istanbul, in the Olympiad, and I cannot forget that I am already qualified for the next FIDE World Championship 2001 thanks to having won the World Junior Championship.
KC: Thank you very much, and good luck Lázaro.
Lázaro Bruzón: Thank you, you are welcome.
