Common Press Statement by Vladimir Kramnik and Carsten Hensel
We would like to inform you that we will not extend our contract which is ending
on 31 December 2008.
We would like to stress that our decision had already been made some months
prior to the 2008 World Chess Championship match in Bonn, Germany. This agreement
was not caused by any kind of personal problem between us. Our amicable relationship
and mutual respect remains and is in no way affected by this step.
The main reason for the decision was simply that both of us are looking ahead
for new challenges and priorities in our professional as well as in our private
life.
We would like to confirm that Vladimir Kramnik is still definitely eager to
continue his professional chess career. Carsten Hensel will concentrate more
intensively on the organization of high level events. He remains the manager
of International Grandmaster Peter Leko.
Paris/Dortmund, 22 December 2008

Vladimir Kramnik, Carsten Hensel and Peter Leko

Carsten Hensel, chess promoter and manager
Note that Carsten Hensel now works for Welcome to Universal Event Promotion
(UEP), the company that staged the "World
Chess Challenge 2006 Kramnik vs. Deep Fritz" and the World
Championship Anand vs Kramnik in Bonn this October. Hensel is not yet listed
on the contact
page of UEP, but we know that he will play an important role in the company
in the future.
Links
While we are on the subject – and while the Chirstmas festivities
loom – may we remind you that we have a very exciting product by the former
World Champion...

Born in 1975 in Tuapse on the shores of the Black Sea, Vladimir Kramnik studied
at the Botvinnik-Kasparov chess school. At 16 he was included in the Russian
Olympiad team and scored a sensational 8.5/9, the best result at the Olympiad.
After that followed a string of great tournament results, culminating in a world
championship challenge. In 2000 Kramnik played the chess legend Garry Kasparov
and beat him to take the title, which he successfully defended in 2004 against
Peter Leko and 2006 against FIDE champion Veselin Topalov, whom he defeated
to take the unified world championship title.

On this DVD Vladimir Kramnik retraces his career from talented schoolboy to
World Champion in 2006. With humour and charm he describes his first successes,
what it meant to be part of the Russian Gold Medal team at the Olympiad, and
how he undertook the Herculean task of beating his former mentor and teacher
Garry Kasparov. Kramnik dissects his wins against Leko and Topalov, giving us
a vivid impression of the super-dramatic final games of the 2006 match. His
commentary is full of useful advice and provides a fascinating insight into
the thought processes that govern top level play.

The DVD contains more than six hours of video with narrative and game analysis.
There are also five additional segments from an exclusive video interview on
the intrigues that surrounded the 2006 world championship, and on the state
of the chess world in general.


Vladmir Kramnik:
MY PATH TO THE TOP
- ChessMedia format
- on DVD-ROM
- Video running time: 6 hrs
- Language: English
- EAN 4027975004990
- recommended retail price:
- 39.99 € incl. VAT
- 33.61 € without VAT (for customers outside the European Union)
- US $45.7 (without VAT)