Q: Did the Russian team play in the same composition previously, or you had to adapt to each other?
A: We know each other for a long time. Perhaps, it was absence of the 'great ones' that facilitated smooth relationships; no one rose above and everybody tried to do the best for the common aim.
Q: What can explain the Israeli team's success? Previously it never succeeded in such important competitions.
A: They always had a wide choice of the excellent players. It seems, that their problem was due to some failure of the team mechanics, somebody grew nervous or something like that.
Their successful performance was not a sensation. The Israeli were the second seed according their average rating. When we discussed our opponents it was clear that only the Israeli team could compete us.