An interview with Artem Kachanovskij ("artem92" on KGS)

An interview with Artem Kachanovskij, the winner of the European Youth Go Championship-2008.
You may know him as “artem92”, 6-dan on KGS

1.You got the 1st place at the European Youth Championship without big problems. What do you think about your chances on World Youth Go Championship?

It will be my 3rd World Go Championship. The first one was in China in 2003. I reached semifinals and got the 4th place. I was 6th during the second one in Boston (2007).
This time I will make everything possible for entering semifinals. China is a lucky country for me! I do not afraid European participants, but Asian players will be harder for me. I try to study their styles by playing mainly Asian players on KGS and Cyberoro

2.Ukrainian players won both under 12 and under 18 groups on EYGC. Can we say that the situation in Ukrainian Go is getting better?

Yes, Go is getting better and better in our country, especially youth Go. In my city we have several classes in primary schools. We have lot of tournaments as well.
Also, internet helps a lot. Kids like to communicate and play with the players from other countries.

3.In the middle of 90s I played several EYGC myself. That time 2-3 dan players had good chances of winning the tournament. Nowadays there are more high dan players – even several 5-dans.  Many juniors, who played at the same tournaments with me, became the leaders of the European Go (Shikshina, Csaba Mero, Balogh, Burzo). What do you think about the chances of EYGC-2008 players?  Will we see them on top positions in Europe and when?

I think that Thomas Debarre from France is the most perspective player. I saw him on several tournaments and this time I played him very seriously. He is 4 months younger than me and it seems that we will play each other a lot in the future. He study Go seriously, has a professional Go teacher and visited Chinese Go camps several times.
Another serious opponent is Dusan Mitic from Serbia, but we did not meet each other in EYGC. It was not a successful tournament for him, but I am sure, that he will be a strong player in the future (He was 2nd during the EYGC-2007, and I was only 5th)
Javier-Aleksi Savolainen from Finland, who got the 3rd place this time is a talented player too. I think that we will see big changes in European Go elite in 5-10 years J

4.  Ilya Shikshin and Artem Dugin from Russia showed very good results in past EYGC. They cannot play in EYGC anymore, because of age limit. What do you think about your chances against them?

I played with Ilya only once (on KGS) and lost by 6 points. I think, that he is stronger. Artem Dugin (kaleopa on KGS) is about the same strength with me. I know it, because we played lot of games with each other.

5. Dmitrij Bogatskij, 6d is currently the strongest master in Ukraine. It’s not unusual, because he is the only ex-insei (Japanese) in Ukraine. How do you think, is it possible to beat him, without training in Asian countries?

I agree, that Dmitrij Bogatskij is strongest in Ukraine. I never won against him before. My last official game was not bad, but I lost it by 3.5 points. He has a good experience of studying Go in Japan, but I never was an insei. I study Go myself by replaying pro games, practicing life&death problems, reading Go books. If I will be able to find a good teacher, I think that I can show better results than Dmitrij in future.

6.I know that Maria Zaharchenko, 13 y.o. girl from Ukraine plans to study Go in Seoul. Did you think about such possibilities yourself?

Yes, I want to study Go in Korea too. I hope it will be after one year, after I finish my school in Ukraine. I still have one year in reserve and I will try to use it well and become stronger before my trip to Korea

7.You play on KGS and Cyberoro a lot. Do you think that these games help you to improve?

Yes, they help me a lot. We don’t have any strong players in our city, so I don’t have any offline opponents. I like to play Cyberoro more, because it’s easier to find stronger opponents on this server.

8.You won several blitz games against Fernando Aguilar, who is a famous 9-dans killer. What do you think about your own chances against top professionals?

Yes, I beat him several times. But of course, I will lose my games to real professionals. Also, I never had experience of playing them in even games.

9. I saw some of your games and noticed that your Go style is very solid. It’s similar with Lee Changho’s style. Am I right?

It’s a big honor for me, that you compare me with such a famous master. Actually I don’t try to follow anybody, I just play my Go.
Of course I have favorite players. They are Kang Dongyun, Yun Junsang and Kong Jie.

Source: gogame.info