Ladies and Gentlemen,Friends from the press:
Today we are very honored to have with Professor Robert Mundell, Nobel Laureate in Economics. When the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Professo Mundell the Nobel prize in 1999 , they spoke highly of Mundell’s role of “father of the euro” in a seven-page long address.
This chess tournament in Nanjing is attributable to Mr Mundell’s initiative. He said that the best way for Chinese cities to show openness to the outside world is to host world-class chess tournaments.
Spokesperson: Professor Mundell, how did you come up with such an idea. Who do you propose Nanjing host such a high-level chess tournament?
Mundell: First of all, thank you very much for your kind words, and I’m very happy to be here in this wonderful occasion in this tournament in Nanjing.
I could tell you frankly how originated. I was in Beijing helping the Beijing government several years ago on certain occasions, such as the Nobel Forum. I got to know Mr Zhu Shanlu, party secretary of Nanjing in Beijing. When he came to Nanjing as the secretary here, he asked me to come and talk with him about the things that could be done in Nanjing. We have made earlier proposal to do something like this in Beijing, but we hadn’t been able to do that at that time, because the Olympics are coming. But it seems to be an ideal chance to do it in Nanjing, because Nanjing has a history of Chinese chess. Of course China has its own chess, the Chinese chess, which is quite different from the international chess, but not so completely. And the question is which one to host, the tournament in Chinese chess, or tournament in international chess. But it seems to me that in the situation of globalization, it’s a good idea for Nanjing to rise as a major international city. The best way to do so would be to international chess tournament. Maybe in the future, the Chinese chess can be exported. But now at the moment, the world’s champions all of the world play international chess. And there is another episode of my friend, a first-rate player, Bobby Fischer, who won the world championship in 1972, in Iceland. He was quite a magical and exceptional player. I have once played with him, and of course I lost. But, this was an occasion, he died this year, and I thought it would be nice to have the tournament to be in memory of him.
Jinling Evening Paper: I’m from the local newspaper. I know that you got a green card in Beijing, and I also know that you have very good relationships with officials of Nanjing, and is that possible that you get a green card of Nanjing? And I know you have been in Nanjing for few days, how do you like the sceneries of Nanjing? And how well do you know about Nanjing? Do you have any plan to settle down in Nanjing in the future?
Mundell: I have to ask my wife and son about their plan and whether they are willing to live here. But I do have connections with Nanjing. I came here first several years ago and gave a lecture in the university, and they invited me to the Nanjing University for the centennial of the university in 2003 and I gave a speech. I set Mundell scholarship at Nanjing university. So I have been so active in university affairs.
Huaao: I have a question for you, Professor Mundell. I know that you have been watching this round of games this afternoon. I want to know your opinion about facilities and organization here, and are you satisfied with performance of all players this afternoon?
Mundell: Yes, I am. But there are some moves I wondered why the players made them instead of something else. I will speak with them after. I haven’t had the chance. I would talk about that individually afterwards. I found these games very fascinating. They’ve only made something best in 20 moves. So these are 3 really tough games going on. I’m thrilled to be watching them and anxious to see who is going to win. I’ll just give you one example of question mark I had. I wondered why on move 19, Mr. Peter Svidler, did not play bishop take rook.
Nanjing Morning Paper: Professor Mundell, I know that you have a lot of achievements in the field of economics. So I’m wondering whether you are as excellent in chess as in your field of research. Do you pursue chess as a hobby in your spare time and have you ever reached certain level in playing chess. I have another question, that is, among these 6 players at the tournament, who is your favorite?
Mundell: Well, chess is for me always a hobby. I learned to play when I was 8 years old and play it ever since. But after a certain time in high school and when I went to college, I really didn’t play for a long time again. But then I took it up later again actively. Of course, I play it with my children. All my children play chess. I take a great interest in the history and the subject of the game. You asked the question: am I as good at chess as I’m at economics. Well, I hope not, because I spend a lot of time in economics. I never play competitive chess. As I said, I played with BF, a great chess player, but just friendly games, not competitive, just for fun. We’ve got 6 top 10, 15 players in the world here, except maybe 2 or 3 of the very top players who didn’t come. I think these are magnificent players. We are very happy and honored to have them, lucky to have them in this first tournament. It’s the first one, because it’s going to be, I think, I hope an international tournament that will continue every year.
Nanjing TV Station: Mr. Mundell, tomorrow there will be a simultaneous exhibition between 20 Chinese university students and the chess grandmaster. It is said that it is your idea. I wonder that why you propose such an idea?
Mundell：Well, I am I like the idea and I’m not sure I proposed it. I don’t want to take credit for it. But I think it is a very good idea because I think it gave them a chance to play with the great chess player here. What an opportunity it is to spread their knowledge and benefit from it. I think it is very interesting to watch. I think it’s Movsesian who is playing in this tournament. I think it’s fascinating to see how these university students play against him. It will be interesting to watch. I think the programmer make the tournament quite diversified. Many different people will gain different things from it. So I think it is a very good idea, but it is not my idea.
Chongqing Evening Paper: I know that the global economic slowdown now is spreading to the field of sport. The F1 has been somewhat affected because the advertisement and the sponsorship has also shrinked. The London Olympic Games and the World Cup are also affected. So as an economist, what measures do you think people should take to face the financial crisis in the field of sport?
Mundell: Well, I don’t think sport is different from other fields. In the economic crisis, the income of people is going down. The reduction of income actually will influence other aspects related to people’s daily life.
Of course, some cultural activities and sports will be affected. I’m so regret that some high-level events, such as London Olympic Games, F1 and the World Cup will be affected. I think the concern of a government should not be only sport but the measures to solve the economical crisis. The economical crisis can be corrected because it is caused by the shortage of demand. They don’t have much money to buy what they want, and then we saw a big waste. So I think what I should do now is to prevent the spreading of economical crisis. I have proposed some suggestions in the meeting on December 14th.
Pukou TV Station: I’m from a local TV station, how much do you know about Pukou before you came to Pukou and what this tournament do you think will bring to the economic development of Pukou?
Mundell: I didn’t know much about Pukou. I know that it has a history with at least 2,300 years. It has got many great resources, and one thing that took my heart is that this beautiful hotel and the beauty it has in mountains and river. I heard about it when last spring when we first began to talk about it. Mr. Zhu Shanlu thought that Pukou would be the perfect place to hold this tournament, and that has been already a good advertisement for me.
Xinhua Daily: I’ve got a couple of questions, you and your children all play chess and you love chess, so I’ve a question about learning to play chess, what do you think of the interest in playing chess and the talent for chess, which do you think is more important in terms of playing chess? I know that chess is now very popular in the world, but it is not so popularized in the world, what measures can be taken to popularize such sports as chess, bridge? What do you think of the role of holding tournament like this and the role model of international grandmasters? In your talk, you mention that China can export its chess to the outside world, what do you think of the opportunities of exporting China chess to the outside world? What advantages does Chinese chess have?
Mundell: You’ve really asked a lot of questions, the first is about the talent and interest in the game of chess. First of all, I’m not saying everybody should play chess, the idea is chess is after all the primarily a game, just sport. I’m sure you wouldn’t find any of the chess players here who are not good at these because to play chess requires very good physical condition. They do a lot of physical activities. Which is more important, the interest in the game or talent for it? It depends on what you want. If you have interest in the game, and you play it; there is another role of chess, mental exercises. For example Soviet Union for a long time which developed the best chess players in the world dominating the chess world for 30 years. When the young people learn chess, especially in their early years when their minds are forming, it does something to the mind, it improves the qualities in the mind, it’s a wonderful exercise. In schools, I think all schools should teach people how to play chess, or something like chess, for example, go. There are a lot of literature on it. there is literature on Chinese chess, but it’s rather small literature compared with the marvelous literature growing over a thousand years in the development of what is come into the international chess. If I were a headmaster of a private school, I would want to make chess not a required course, but an optional course. If people don’t have any ability in chess, they wouldn’t have any curiosity in chess too, because we naturally do things well what we are interested in and what we are good at. Remember, if you can’t do something enthusiastically, you are going to fail.
Spokesperson: How do you see the prospect of Nanjing Tournament?
Mundell: I think this tournament is going to make a big impact in the world, and it’s going to be an important tournament, I think this tournament would become a beginning of a process into a change the way chess is conducted. And more players will be attracted here.
