John Paul Wallace
IM John Paul Wallace - Norway
Foto: Tanja C. Kveim
What is your favorite chess book?
- From my youth my favourite book is The Test of Time by Kasparov. I am a huge fan of his books - especially the books written before computers became strong - as then we see his ideas in their pure form. I feel I can learn a lot more from Kasparov's analysis - even when it will have mistakes - than Stockfish's perfect analysis.
My current favourite is Positional Chess by Aagard - for the same reason as this book was written before engines were strong - so after solving a puzzle I can compare my answer to the book's solution as well as to Stockfish, and they are often very different!
Excelling at Positional Chess by Aagard.
Do you have a role model in chess? If so, who?
- My favourite in terms of chess style and achievements is again Kasparov - as I grew up with him as the World Champion. I also play in a similar dynamic style - no doubt heavily influenced from studying his games as a kid. As a personalilty I really like Anish Giri because he is very funny, has a great positive attitude, works really hard on his game and seems to have a very nice family life.
What is your best chess experience so far?
- I have many - the two times I won the Australian Championship, the first when I was 17 was a big event. Representing Australia in all the Youth events was also amazing. My 2 GM norms were very special - in the Isle of Man I had a great event with a 7 hour hard fought draw vs Leko. Who I can also name as a role model. And last year I won Kragero which was a highlight for sure.
What are your expectations for the tournament?
- This is an easy won - my aim is to win the event. I think this should always be the aim - I am a competitor after all.
What do you enjoy most about chess?
- I love that it is extremely complicated. this means that it is so fascinating and I am almost never bored by chess. The complexity also means their is so much room for individual "styles" which makes it fun. I am also a very competitive person so chess gives me an outlet for that.
