GM Vladimir Kramnik

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It is an almost senseless challenge to describe GM Vladimir Kramnik in only a few lines. His personality has too many facets; his areas of interests are too diverse. What is clear is that Vladimir Kramnik is not solely fixated on chess.

Current affairs interest him just as intensively as numerous sport and cultural activities, several of which he regularly engages in. The cosmopolitan would love to enjoy life ever more intensively, but his drive to succeed holds this inclination within limits. What is it that marks out the world champion in him even though he doesn't focus exclusively on chess?

Kramnik considers chess as the art of carrying out a long-term plan

People close to Kramnik, who presumably works less intensively for chess than most of his competitors, often claim that this has something to do with his creative nature and strategic gifts. Kramnik considers chess less as a sport and more as the art of carrying out a long-term plan.

The harmonious interplay of his pieces and the beauty of his game are already legendary. He is always searching for creative and new solutions, particularly when he is playing.

In many games, they say, he sees things that no computer can calculate and no other grandmasters could discover. The ingenious ideas would come to him quite easily, providing him with moments of pure joy.

The artistic vein in the 32-year-old Muscovite must have been given to him in his cradle. His father Boris is a well-known sculptor; his mother Irina a music teacher. That this assumption is not far off the mark is evidenced by his response to the question,

"What would you like to do after the end of your career?" The classical music aficionado and avid reader answered,

"Start a family - and learn to play the piano." No wonder that journalists all over the world have dubbed Kramnik an "artist" or "painter".

Kramnik started to play chess at the age of five. At 12, his enormous talent was recognized in Moscow and encouraged. As a teenager, Kramnik got better and better – at only 16, he won the U18 World Championship.

Anand becomes the new World Champion in México City

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In September 2007 Kramnik defended his title fighting bravely against 7 very strong challengers. It was a closed tournament, a double round robin event where Kramnik met Anand, Aronian, Leko, Gelfand, Grischuk, Svidler and Morozevich. Kramnik missed several wins in the first half of the tournament, then he lost a critical game against Morozevich early in the second half.

At the end of the event Kramnik played brilliantly defeating Leko and Aronian, but it was already too late, since Anand had accumulated many points so far. At the very end Anand was first and Kramnik second, not enough to retain his title.

October 2008: The match against Anand

Following the regulations from the Mexico World Championship, Kramnik challenged Anand in a match to regain his title of World Champion. The match took place from October 14th-31 in the city of Bonn, Germany.

Anand defended his title with a 6,5:4,5 victory. Vladimir fought very hard, he even won the penultimate game, adding extra tension to the match, but at the end Anand showed his best preparation to win the match.

Source: http://www.kramnik.com/eng/biography/index.aspx