Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Russian: Владимир Борисович Крамник) (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster and the current undisputed World Chess Champion. Since October 2006 Kramnik is rated 2750 in the FIDE Elo rating list, ranking third in the world by rating.
In October 2000, he beat Garry Kasparov in a sixteen game match played in London, becoming the Classical World Chess Champion. In late 2004, Kramnik successfully defended his title against challenger Péter Lékó in a fourteen game match played in Brissago, Switzerland.
In October 2006, Kramnik, still considered the Classical World Champion, defeated reigning FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov in a twelve-game title unification match. The match was tied at 6-6 after 12 regular games and Kramnik won the rapid tiebreak's 2.5-1.5 to become the Unified World Chess Champion. The match was mired with controversy over Topalov and Topalov's manager, Silvio Danailov, who protested Kramnik's frequent use of the bathroom. The Appeals Committee of FIDE decided to lock Kramnik's private toilet, a decision that Kramnik appealed and was later overturned. [1]
In the reunification match Kramnik had three regular game victories over the board and Topalov two. Six games were drawn (tied). Topalov's third "victory" was a default win in game 5, when Kramnik refused to play because the agreed conditions of the match had been changed without his consent. The situation created a media circus, dubbed with various amusing names such as "Toiletgate" and "Water-closet Gate." The default win threatened to tarnish the legitimacy of the reunified title in the event that Topalov had won the match by a point or less. After the 12-game match ended in a 6-6 tie (or an unofficial 6-5 victory for Kramnik, depending how one viewed the defaulted game), Kramnik won the tie-break match and the title, eliminating political controversy.
Biography
Kramnik was born in the town of Tuapse, on the shores of the Black Sea. As a child, he studied in the chess school established by Mikhail Botvinnik. His first notable result in a major tournament was his gold medal win as first reserve for the Russian team in the 1992 Chess Olympiad in Manila. His selection for the team caused some controversy in Russia at the time, as he was only sixteen years old and had not yet been awarded the grandmaster title, but his selection was supported by Garry Kasparov. He went on to win eight games and one draw with no losses.
The following year, Kramnik played in the very strong tournament in Linares. He finished fifth, beating the then world number three, Vassily Ivanchuk along the way. He followed this up with a string of good results, but had to wait until 1995 for his first major tournament win at normal time controls, when he won the strong Dortmund tournament, finishing it unbeaten. Kramnik continued to produce good results, including winning at Dortmund (outright or tied) for three successive years between 1996 and 1998. He is the second of only four chess players to have reached a rating of 2800 (the first being Kasparov).
World champion
In 2000, he played a sixteen game match against Garry Kasparov in London, for the Classical Chess World Championship. Kramnik began the match as underdog, but his adoption of the Berlin Defence to Kasparov's Ruy Lopez opening was very effective. Although pressed hard by Kasparov in those games where the latter played white, Kramnik repeatedly managed to avoid defeat. Kramnik won the match 8.5 - 6.5 without losing a game. This event marked the first time Kasparov had been beaten in a World Championship match.
After London
In October 2002, Kramnik competed in Brains in Bahrain, an eight game match against the chess computer Deep Fritz in Bahrain. Kramnik started well, taking a 3 - 1 lead after four games. However, in game five, Kramnik made what has been described as the worst blunder of his career, losing a knight in a position which was probably drawn. He quickly resigned. He also resigned game six, although subsequent analysis showed that with perfect play, he might have been able to draw from the final position. The last two games were drawn, and the match ended tied at 4 - 4.
In February 2004 Kramnik won the Tournament of Linares outright for the first time (he had tied for first with Kasparov in 2000), finishing undefeated with a +2 score, ahead of Garry Kasparov, the world's highest-rated player at that time.
Title defence
From September 25, 2004, until October 18, 2004, he successfully defended his title as Classical World Chess Champion against challenger Péter Lékó at Brissago, Switzerland. The 14-game match was poised in favor of Lékó right up until Kramnik won the final game, thus forcing a 7 - 7 draw and ensuring that Kramnik remained world champion.[1] The prize fund was 1 million Swiss francs, which was about USD $770,000 at the time. Because of the drawn result, the prize was split between the two players.
Reunification match
When Garry Kasparov broke with FIDE, the federation governing professional chess, to play the 1993 World Championship with Nigel Short, he created a rift in the chess world. In response, FIDE sanctioned a match between Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman for the FIDE World Championship, which Karpov won. Subsequently, the chess world has seen two "champions": the classical lineage dating back to Steinitz and the FIDE endorsed champion.
When Kramnik defeated Kasparov and inherited the classical championship, he also inherited its surrounding controversy.
At the most recent FIDE world championship (FIDE World Chess Championship 2005), Kramnik refused to participate, but indicated his willingness to play a match against the winner to unify the world championship. After the tournament, negotiations began for a reunification match between Kramnik and the new FIDE World Champion — Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.
In April 2006, FIDE announced a reunification match between Kramnik and Topalov — the FIDE World Chess Championship 2006. The match took place in Elista, Kalmykia. Kramnik at one point led 3-1 after four games from a maximum of 12. After the fourth game, however, Topalov protested that Kramnik was using the toilet suspiciously frequently, alleging that he was somehow receiving outside assistance whilst doing so. Topalov said that he would refuse to shake hands with Kramnik in the remaining games. The Appeals committee instructed that the players' toilets be locked and that they be forced to use a shared toilet, accompanied by an assistant arbiter.
Kramnik refused to play the fifth game unless the original conditions agreed for the match were adhered to. As a result, the point was awarded to Topalov, reducing Kramnik's lead to 3-2. Kramnik stated that the appeals committee shows bias and has demanded that it be replaced. As a condition to continue the match, Kramnik insisted on playing the remaining of the match under the original conditions of the contract, which allows use of the bathroom at the players' discretion.
The controversy has resulted in a heavy volume of correspondence to Chessbase and other publications. The balance of views from fans has been clearly in support of Kramnik.[2] Prominent figures in the chess world, such as former world champions as well as John Nunn, Yasser Seirawan and Bessel Kok have also sided with Kramnik.[3] [4] [5] The Russian and Bulgarian Chess Federations have given support to their respective players. [6] The grace that Kramnik showed during the match made many feel he truly deserves to represent the chess world as champion.
After 12 regular games the match was tied at 6-6, although Kramnik continued to dispute the result of the unplayed game until the end of the tournament. On October 13, 2006, the result of the disputed 5th game became moot as Kramnik won the rapid tiebreak match by a score of 2.5 to 1.5.
Health
Kramnik has been diagnosed with a rare form of arthritis, called ankylosing spondylitis. It causes him great physical discomfort while playing. In January 2006, Kramnik announced that he would skip the Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee to seek out treatment for his arthritis. [7]. He returned from treatment in June 2006, playing in the 37th Chess Olympiad. He scored a +4 result, earning the highest performance rating (2847) of the 1307 participating players.
Notable tournament victories
- 1990 Russian Championship, Kuibyshev (classical) I
- 1991 World Championship (U18), Guarapuav (classical) I
- 1992 Chalkidiki (classical) 7,5/11 I
- 1993 Belgrade (classical) 6/9 II
- 1993 Interzonal Tournament, Biel (classical) 8,5/13 II
- 1994 Overall result PCA Intel Grand Prix'94 I
- 1995 Dortmund (classical) 7/9 I
- 1995 Horgen (classical) 7/10 I-II
- 1995 Belgrade (classical) 8/11 I-II
- 1996 Monaco 16/22 I
- 1996 Dos Hermanas (classical) 6/9 I-II
- 1996 Dortmund (classical) 7/9 I-II
- 1997 Dos Hermanas (classical) 6/9 I-II
- 1997 Dortmund (classical) 6,5/9 I
- 1997 Tilburg (classical) 8/11 I-III
- 1998 Wijk aan Zee (classical) 8,5/13 I-II
- 1998 Dortmund (classical) 6/9 I-III
- 1998 Monaco (blindfold and rapidplay) 15/22 I
- 1999 Monaco (blindfold and rapidplay) 14,5/22 I
- 2000 Linares (classical) 6/10 I-II
- 2000 Dortmund (classical) 6/9 I-II
- 2000 Classical World Chess Championship
- 2000 Match Kramnik v. Kasparov 8,5:6,5
- 2001 Match Kramnik v. Leko (rapidplay) 7,0:5,0
- 2001 Monaco (blindfold and rapidplay) 15/22 I-II
- 2001 Match Kramnik v. Anand (rapidplay) 5;0:5,0
- 2001 Dortmund (classical 6th win!) 6,5/10 I-II
- 2002 Advanced Chess Match (computer usage allowed) Kramnik v. Anand (Leon) 3,5:2.5
- 2002 Man vs Machine (Bahrain) 4,0:4,0
- 2003 Linares (classical) 7,0/12 I-II
- 2003 Dortmund (classical) 5,5/10 II-III
- 2003 Cap d'Agde (France)
- 2003 Rapid World Chess Championships 8,5/13 II
- 2004 Handicap Simul (classical)
- 2004 Kramnik vs. National Team of Germany 2,5:1,5
- 2004 Linares (classical) 7,0/12 I
- 2004 Monaco (Overall result) 14,5/22 I-II
- 2006 Gold medal at Turin Olympiad with overall best performance (2847) 7/10
- 2006 Dortmund (classical) 4.5/7 I
World championship matches
- PCA Quarterfinals, June 1994, New York, Kramnik-Gata Kamsky (1.5-4.5).
- FIDE Quarterfinals, January 1994 Wijk aan Zee, Kramnik-Leonid Yudasin (4.5-2.5).
- FIDE Semifinals, August 1994 Sanghi Nagar, Kramnik-Boris Gelfand (3.5-4.5).
- WCC Candidates, 1998, Carzola, Kramnik-Alexei Shirov (3.5-5.5).
- FIDE Knockout, July 1999, Las Vegas, Kramnik-Tiviakov (1.5-0.5); Kramnik-Victor Korchnoi (1.5-0.5); Kramnik-Veselin Topalov (3-1, including rapid playoff); Kramnik-Michael Adams (Quarterfinal) (2-4, including rapid playoff).
- Classical World Chess Championship 2000, London, Kramnik-Garry Kasparov (8.5-6.5)
- Classical World Chess Championship 2004, Brissago, Kramnik-Péter Lékó (7-7), Kramnik retains.
- FIDE World Chess Championship 2006, Elista, Kramnik-Topalov (6-6, 2.5-1.5 rapid playoff), Kramnik unifies the title
References
- ^ "Classical World Chess Championship 2004". Retrieved 2006-10-14.