Rustam KASYMZHANOV, ex-world champion: - Actually I like another time control, shorter than the one applied at top classical chess tournaments. I wouldn’t mind implementing the control of no longer than 4 hours for a game. Even the most widespread type of control – an hour and a half with 30 seconds compensation for every move – seems full of competitive spirit, nearly optimal. At FIDE knockout world championship, Tripoli, 2004, which I won, we played with the following control: an hour and a half for 40 moves and 15 minutes for the ending. The optimal control for me would be the following: an hour and a half for the whole game with 30 seconds compensation from the first move. Of course the quality of the games would decrease, on the one hand, on the other hand, the games would become more appealing, spectacular, even full of fun, I would say. With 7-hour control applied at FIDE Grand Prix tournaments in particular a minor mistake in the opening can result in 7-hour torment for you. It seems to me that the control at high-level tournaments should be shorter, more suitable for the players. The rest of the grandmasters will probably not agree with me though. More...

Vladimir AKOPIAN: - I stick to the opinion that if a player is in optimal shape, he will not have problems with the time control, whether it may seem comfortable for him or not. I have played many classical chess tournaments held by FIDE with comparatively short control. I like it as a matter of fact. This tournament has a longer control which is good as well, because it give more possibilities to think and consequently make less mistakes. 



Ivan CHEPARINOV: - I think that top-level tournaments should have a common standardized control. Otherwise we have one type of control in Khanty-Mansiysk, in the World championship – some other. It is abnormal in my opinion.




Ernesto Inarkiev: - It is a good question. As a player I like more the long time control with the additional 30 seconds beginning with the first move. With the long time controls there are games where the end-game plays by intuition rather by class. For example, this happened today in my game with Radzhabov.



Pavel ELJANOV: - With the control applied in this tournament and all FIDE Grand Prix tournaments the game can last seven hours. It is too long to my mind, even exhausting: too much tension upon the players with such long games. An ideal control for grandmasters would be five or six hours’ control for a round..



Vugar GASHIMOV: - I can say unequivocally that a standardized time control is wanted for classical chess tournaments. Otherwise we’ll have to play with different control depending on the tournaments: at some of them there is 30 seconds compensation after the first move, at some after the control, some tournaments do not have the compensation. I say nothing of the time control intervals duration: 5 hours, 7 hours etc. the variety of time controls hinders the players who often participate in tournaments. Sometimes you can forget the fact that after the 60th move there will be 30 seconds compensation for every move – and this is very important.
  



Etienne Bacrot: - I think that for the tournaments of the high level such as the World Championships, World Cup, Grand Prix tournaments and the other significant competitions, it is necessary to set the single time control for the game. There are some cases when the grandmasters forget about what time control is on now, they confuse with another control which was used at the different tournament. For example, during the one tournament I have lost lot of time at the beginning of the game because I am not used to this time control which was on this tournament.
 


Peter Leko: - The time controls are good in its own way if they reflect the specific of the tournament – blitz, rapid or the classic one. In the classic chess, as is known, the time control also varies. It is the matter of taste of the Organizers of the concrete tournament or the series of the tournaments. To my mind, it is not right to mix the different time control systems in the same tournament, as it now happens at the Knockout Championships or at the World Championships when after a draw result in classic chess there is a tie-break: firstly – the rapid chess after there is a Blitz. Theoretically the World Champion in classic chess can be defined in Blitz – but this is the nonsense. Unambiguously, I am against this system of holding the big chess tournaments.



Alexandr Grischuk: - As per me there is a provocative question…Everybody knows my opinion on the time control: the shorter, the better. I would prefer to play with the control of 25 minute or 1 hour for the whole game. Of course, in the serious tournaments they will not use it. The time control which is used at this FIDE Grand Prix tournament, one consider as the classic one, although16-17 years ago we postponed the game to finish. As for the time control of 25 minute and 1 hour, they all used  for the non-official tournaments which due to the short time control arouse the interest of the spectators and attract the sponsors.




Evgeny Alexeev: - I am happy enough with the time control of this tournament. It should be practiced at the World Championship. With other types of control due to the lack of time often some embarrassing mistakes occur which smooth the quality of the game.



Shakhriyar Mamedyarov: - The time control which is used at the tournaments  of the FIDE Grand Prix series doesn’t suit me very much. It is tiresome to play the game for 7 hours. It would be better to chose more convenient time control for the World Championship.    



Pavel Jakovenko: - I do not agree with Shakhriyar. The time control used on this tournament, to my mind, contributes to the serious and quality game. It can be used at the World Championship, but I think, that in this control they should add 30 seconds till the end of the control. But this is not bad also.