Kramnik speaks: My Path to the Top
DVD review by Prof. Nagesh Havanur
Tuapse is a small town by the Black Sea in Russia. Here a young man who has
just become a proud father is looking up the names of newborn babies in the
hospital. The list is arranged according to the height and weight of the infants.
His joy knows no bounds when he discovers that his bonny baby tops the charts.
An artist by profession, he takes his pencil and writes against the name: Champion.
25 Years later when his offspring wins the world title the beaming father tells
him, he always knew. But how did it happen? Vladimir Kramnik tells the story
with humour and charm.
Vlad learnt chess at the age of five. There was no lack of chess culture even
in that remote town of Soviet Russia But opportunities of advance were fewer.
It was here that fate played its part.
Fortunately for him a local chess player watching games of Vlad became a fan
of our little hero and wrote to Mikhail Botvinnik. Kramnik says, the Patriarch
used to receive such letters from all corners of the USSR and he need not have
paid attention to this one. But he did and responded by asking for the lad’s
games. When the games were sent he subjected them to meticulous scrutiny and
concluded that there was a talent here. Soon Vlad received an invitation to
attend the Botvinnik School where famous disciples like Kasparov delivered lectures.
Kramnik says, for him it was nothing less than nirvana. He also remembers with
gratitude how Garry insisted on his inclusion in the USSR team for the 1992
Olympiad when he was not even a grandmaster. He justified Garry’s trust in his
talent by scoring 8.5 out of 9. Then he was just 17 years old.
Vladimir Kramnik confidently pacing up and down the stage of the 1992 Manila
Olympiad,
where he celebrated his 17th birthday with a stunning international debut.
Kramnik soon became a grandmaster and describes how he was invited for Linares
tournament in 1993. Now he was in big league and describes his sense of awe
at the fighting spirit of the players, especially, their resilience in defence.
One such moment occurred in the game with Karpov, his boyhood hero.
Karpov with his record performance in Linares in 1994
Anatoly who had a difficult position fought like a lion and every time Vlad
expected him to resign would find a miraculous resource and continue the fight.
The game was drawn in 99 moves after a tough struggle. For Vlad the level of
play in this tournament was a revelation. However, he was not overawed by his
peers as he knew that he also possessed a talent and could learn and succeed.
It was this self-confidence that enabled him to compete with the likes of Kasparov
on level terms.
In this DVD he also reveals how he prepared for his matches with Kasparov...
... against Leko...
... and Topalov.
He also describes the course of each match. How did he vanquish Garry without
losing a single game? He says, during his preparation he had noticed that Garry
did not like to play endings, especially, those positions where a miniscule
advantage was held by either side. This proved to be a decisive factor in quite
a few Spanish games where Garry was not able to breach the Berlin Wall. Expectedly,
the bitterness shows when he speaks of the Topalov match.
Apart from Kramnik’s own talk, his previous interviews on ChessBase are also
included. This DVD was produced way back in 2007 when he was still the world
champion. The match with Anand in which he lost the title was yet to come:
A disappointing feature of this DVD is that there are hardly any complete games,
and only positions from critical encounters are commented on by Kramnik. Otherwise
it’s enjoyable.
About the author
Prof. Nagesh Havanur (otherwise known as "chessbibliophile")
is a senior academic and research scholar. He taught English in a college
at Mumbai for three decades and has now settled in Bangalore, India. His
interests include chess history, biography and opening theory. He has
been writing on the Royal Game for more than a decade. His articles and
reviews have appeared on several web sites and magazines. He would welcome
feedback
from readers. |
Vladmir Kramnik:
MY PATH TO THE TOP
