Player Profile: Vladimir Kramnik

Name: Vladimir Kramnik

Peak FIDE Rating: 2817 (Achieved in October 2016)

Active Since: 1991 (retired from professional Chess in 2019)

Federation: Russia

Player Description:

The 1990s were a decade for the Chess stalwarts to rise in the world, isn’t it? Garry Kasparov was at the peak of his powers, Vishwanathan Anand was rising quickly, Anatoly Karpov was also in the mix, and here came another in the form of Vladimir Kramnik. Russia has always been a powerhouse in chess, consistently producing Grandmasters after Grandmasters. Kramnik was no different.

Born in the town of Tuapse, Kramnik studied Chess at the school which was established by Mikhail Botvinnik. At the age of just 16, Kramnik won the 1991 Youth Championship and also won the Gold medal as first reserve in the 1992 Manila Chess Olympiad. 

The following year, Kramnik played in Linares and finished fifth, also defeating the then-number-three player, Vasyl Ivanchuk. He remained uneaten at the Dortmund tournament in 1995. Kramnik’s rise continued as in 1996, he became the number one ranked player, even though he had the same FIDE Rating as Garry Kasparov. He was given the number one ranking based on having played more games during the rating period. This meant he was the youngest player to reach the number one ranking until it was broken by a certain Magnus Carlsen. 

In 2000, Kramnik got a chance to play a World Championship match against Garry Kasparov. It so happened that Shirov and Anand had refused to play the final. To make things more interesting, Krmnik became the first player since 1935 to play a World Championship match without qualifying. Kramnik dominated the game against Kasparov, winning the championship without losing a single game. 

Kramnik’s performance in the World Championship played a key role in his winning the Chess Oscar in 2000. In 2004, Vladimir retained his title as the Classical World Champion even though the match against Peter Leko ended as a draw. 

In 2006, FIDE announced a reunification match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov - FIDE World Championship match 2006. After the first four games, Kramnik led 3-1, but Topalov’s manager complained that Kramnik was using the toilet suspiciously, which made the committee change the rules. Kramnik refused to play until the remaining games were played under the original conditions. The match continued, and Kramnik won the Championship. 

Kramnik could not defend his 2007 title as Vishwanathan Anand came up trumps against him in 2007 and then in 2008 as well. Kramnik continued to play major tournaments without any significant wins until 2013, when he won the Chess World Cup but failed to defend it in 2015. In 2019, Kramnik announced his retirement from Professional Chess to spend more time with his family.

Career Scorecard:

Games Played: 1125

Games Played as White: 560, Won: 242, Lost: 86, Drawn: 232

Games Played as Black: 565, Won: 120, Lost: 142, Drawn: 303

World Championship Cycles Appearances:

• Classical World Championship 2000

• Classical World Championship 2004

• FIDE World Championship 2006

• FIDE World Championship 2007

• World Championship 2008

• Chess World Cup 2013

• Chess World Cup 2015

National Championships:

Vladimir Kramnik won the Russian Chess Championship in 1990

Tournaments won:

• Russian Chess Championship 1990

• 1991 Youth Championship

• 1992 Manila Chess Olympiad (Gold Medal)

• Classical World Championship 2000

• Classical World Championship 2004

• Turin Olympiad 2006

• World Championship 2006

• Chess World Cup 2013

Memorable Games:

• Vladimir Kramnik vs Garry Kasparov 2000: The race to become the World Champion was on and the best two players were up against each other - Kramnik and Kasparov. Kramnik won game 2 but he took a novel approach in Moves 10 and 11. He remained a point up until game 10 and Kasparov quit the Grunfeld and that led to a 25-point rout in favour of Kramnik. Kasparov could never break through and after draws in the next 5 games, the match was over. Kramnik had won the Championship without losing a single game. 

• Vladimir Kramnik vs Veselin Topalov: Kramnik’s title defense came against Veselin Topalov in 2006. Kramnik got off to a great start, winning the first two games before drawing the next two. Topalov’s management accused Kramnik of going to the toilet too many times which was suspicious. Match 5 was forfeited due to Kramnik refusing to play. After negotiations, the match resumed. Topalov took the lead but Kramnik recovered quickly and won game 10. The match went into a tiebreaker and he won the tournament.