The Russian grandmaster Tatiana Kosintseva seized the lead after the first day of the World Rapid Championship. We asked her a few questions.

Tatiana, congratulations with an excellent start! How do you feel right now? Are you tired after the Grand Prix?

No, I don’t feel any tiredness. I enjoy blitz and rapid chess. Also, I didn’t take part in tournaments for a while and became hungry for chess. So I play with passion here.

Was it hard to switch to speed chess after the Grand Prix?

This wasn’t a problem either. Last year the European Championship was held in the following format: classical chess first, then rapid, then blitz. And playing three different tournaments in a row was very interesting for me.

Which of your today’s games would you like to mention?

In many games I exchanged mistakes with my opponents, so making the last mistake was critical. In the fifth round I delivered a nice tactical blow against Katya Lagno. The game with Dina Drozdova was quite complicated. I stood worse early, then she made a slight mistake, and then blundered in the end. The first round game against Karina Ambartsumova was interesting and difficult. I was a pawn down, but we both were running out of time, and it all ended in a draw.

Can one say there is a lot of randomness in rapid chess?

I wouldn’t way that. Compared to a blitz game, you have more time to play a high quality game. Of course, you make mistakes when you run very short on time…

Who are your main rivals here?

It’s hard to say, all the players are very strong. Each of the participants can win the championship.