KRAMNIK WORLD CHAMPION 2006
Immediately after Topalov extended his hand in a sign of resigning the 4th tiebreak game, the crowd became ecstatic. There were shouts, applause, friendly slaps and handshakes… Kramnik got off the table, threw his fists in the sky, just like in Moscow 1994 after his sensational victory over Kasparov, and got into tight embrace of his manager Hensel. Other team members were also there – Illescas, Rublevsky, Motylev, Krylov, Rösch, and even the cook… In a few minutes the new ‘absolute’ FIDE world champion moved to the press conference hall, where he was warmly met by dozens of journalists.
– In a situation that was similar to yours Mikhail Tal said ‘My head is filled with sun!’ What were your first words after the match ended?
– I was very concentrated on the play, and even after I won the last game, I was still in a fighting mood. The moment after Veselin played 44…Rc5 was very emotional for me – I felt very happy. The joy passed after I replied 45.Rb7+. I need time to realize what happened. This was a very tough match, and I think I did a good job, considering the odds given to the opponent. Maybe it was the first case in the history of the world championship matches when one of the players had extra point and extra White. I am glad I managed to win under such circumstances.
– What can you tell to your Russian supporters?
– I am very glad that the crown stays in Russia. Personally for me this achievement is comparable to the victory against Kasparov. There aren’t many three-time world champions in the history, and I hope I will not stop there… Considering the atmosphere around the match and behavior of the opposing team, winning the match was a matter of principle.
– This match will now be extensively discussed within the chess community. Can you tell which tendencies of chess development it revealed?
– First of all, this was extremely tense match. Chess changes – for instance, nobody paid attention that there was not a single serious time trouble in 12 games. It is a significant step forward. People play faster and more practical, and the crisis occurs at fourth or fifth hour of play. This match signified certain tendencies of modern chess, which are still to be found. And the main conclusion, I repeat, is exceptionally high level of tension. There were no short draws at all. I think all chess fans are happy about it! Maybe not everybody is happy about my victory, though…
– I got a feeling that chess fans’ delights were caused by the fact that the title was determined at a rapid pace. Maybe we should talk about speeding the play up?
– My opinion on time controls did not change. There are three controls in chess: classical, rapid and blitz. All three have the right to exist. They should supplement each other, like in tennis, where the games consist of three or five sets, depending on significance of the competition. I adhere to the opinion that the most important events must be held under classical time control; however, I am not against seeing many rapid tournaments. They are spectacular and attract the crowd. But classical chess must stay, at least for such matches. Classical chess has many supporters, and it is not out of place to say it has more than a century of history.
– Do you consider symbolic that both players won games in their styles? Topalov won a tactical battle, and you converted two calm endings! Do you think you won the title because showed more versatility than Veselin?
– I am not sure about versatility, but I am objectively stronger in such positions as occurred in 2nd and 4th games – i.e., slightly better endings. I was somewhat lucky to get them. I handle them very well, I can say it without false modesty, while Veselin is not that good in them. I squeezed two wins out of nothing, so to speak, and he won an attacking ‘all-or-nothing’ game: g4, f5… In this regard the tiebreak was a litmus paper, revealing styles of the players. I am very glad that in the end I won one game more than Veselin.
– Vladimir Belov, official match commentator, said that the tiebreak games turned nearly the most flawless in the match. What do you think about it?
– Flawless? I wouldn’t say that – just recall Topalov’s blunder in the Game 4 (albeit in a lost position), or my play in the Game 3… In principle, 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move is sufficient amount of time to avoid bad mistakes. The struggle was nervous and tough, and I think the level of play is high enough for such circumstances.
– Vladimir, after you won on the board, will you continue the duel in Arbitration Court in Lausanne?
– Let us not talk about sad things. I’d rather enjoy the moment of triumph and tell more about the games I won! I am not thinking about future right now, except for the match against the computer. I was so concentrated on the WCC match that I am not going to start making plans any soon. Today I have to relax and drink with my team and people who supported me in Elista. And only then we’ll start thinking…
– Could you tell more about the match against Fritz10? Are you going to be the last man standing?
– I’m afraid it will be a very difficult match. Playing against computer is generally hard. Every year a tournament 3 vs. 3 is organized in Spain: three computer programs play against three top grandmasters. Last year there were Topalov, Ponomariov… And every human win there is seen as a great gift! I realize that I am not a favorite in that match. However, I really want winning it – not because of the money, but because this may be one of the last chances to beat the machine! I’ll do the best I can. After all, I have some experience playing against computer. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t have much time for preparation, but it can’t be helped. I am a professional.
– How could you evaluate your team’s work at the match?
– I am highly satisfied with it. For some reason newspapers wrote that I implied about my dissatisfaction, but this is not true. If I said I got a worse position in the opening, it doesn’t mean that I am unhappy with anything. I am the only person responsible for the loss in the Game 9 – Black had no problems, but I found them… I am very pleased about both atmosphere in the team and boys’ determination…
– What are your feelings now, as you leave Kalmykia?
– I feel deeply tired. But of course, Elista will become a memorable place for me – such events do not occur often. It was a very hard test – even harder than I expected – but the winner’s joy outweighs everything negative.
Topalov was indeed very desapointed to lose ‘his title’ and insisted on the ‘problems’ occurred during the tournament
From Sofia, the FOCUS Agency wrote. I’m glad that everything ended. I’m sure that whole Bulgaria supported me. What happened in Elista could have happened everywhere but we were ready. I shouldn’t say I lacked experience from international matches. The rules are the same everywhere. It’s strange that Kramnik’s violation remained unseen but my manager Silvio Danailov will give you more details on the case , were Topalov’s fist words when he landed.
The Russian press was jubilating and the Moscow newspaper ‘Kommersant’ printed front page the first words of the 200 champion: I’m really happy that the Crown remains in Russia, Kramnik said a few minutes after the victory. I can compare this achievement only to a win over Garry Kasparov. Taking into account the environment that my rivals have created, the victory was a matter of principle for me.
Both Kramnik’s Rusian seconds Rublevsky and Motylev pictured deeper the contest in a interview to Ilya Odessky
The match was so difficult and at times disgusting… How did it look from inside? Our team gathered for almost two months: there was a month of training sessions and then a month here in Elista. Team chemistry was surprisingly good. It is understandable that in the end we all got a bit bored, but it had been agreed on the very first day that under no circumstances we’ll spoil each other’s mood. And everything went smoothly.
How the roles were assigned? I tried to guess about them in one of my first reports, but I am not sure I guessed it right… We all did our job. The cook cooked, the masseur did his work, and we worked on chess. We did not assign any special roles inside the group – everybody worked on everything together.
Did you have a chance for jogging? We didn’t even have a chance to play table tennis regularly… There were just evening walks.
To be honest, after ‘the chief’ lost the 9th game without much fight, did you have any dark thoughts?.. I don’t know… There was certain confidence that Volodya wins the match. Before that he played a couple of games in dreadful style, not stronger than an average master. And we even thought: okay, there is nothing to fear if he loses a game or two – this will return him on his usual level. He will be forced to play stronger!
I felt some fear after the 8th game, because it was a loss as White. The situation was odd, and we worried that Volodya will start playing extremely solid and defensive even with White. And then he suddenly lost the very next game. I cannot recall two such a weak games in his career. This was incomprehensible!
In addition, Topalov was pushing like a tank… Right, because he had just one chance. He prepared well and started pushing. In some aspects of chess he is simply brilliant. However, there are things he cannot do as good as Volodya. This is my own opinion, of course. Therefore we were confident that if Volodya plays normally, he will win the match.
I wrote in one of my reports that Rublevsky is undoubtedly a soul of the team. Did you have to use any non-chess methods to shake up ‘the chief’? No, he did everything himself. It was obvious that he underperformed in those two games, and he had to find out what’s going on.
Where did he find the strength? In the 10th game Kramnik looked completely different. Did he have a choice? He already could not be defensive, it was time to get more combative and even the score. And we did not worry about the tiebreak from the beginning. Just one extra day – no big deal. My view was that Volodya’s chances in rapids are even higher, because I know how Topalov plays speed games, I met him many times. One just had to get the right motivation, and that’s it. I had no doubts about the victory.
I have to return to the events around the 5th game. I am sure the situation looked differently from inside. There were many people, respectable people, who advised leaving Elista – Karpov, Korchnoi… They said: health is more important than title, go leave. Why it was decided to continue the struggle? In principle, this decision was taken by Volodya. He decided everything alone. We thought that the match is over, and did not even prepare for the 6th game, because nobody wants doing futile work.
I see. It is our mistake that there was no protest about the 5th game result, I agree. We read the contract carelessly. However, this was a human reaction, so to speak. When you face such offense, you forget about everything.
Volodya was completely confident that the 5th game will be played. We prepared as usual. In the morning we found that there was certain toilet protest. Volodya said: ah, forget it, I will not play with the toilet being locked, they will open it, everything will be okay. He was sure that in the worst case he’ll lose about 15-20 minutes, then the toilet will be opened, and the game will continue normally. He did not believe in such meanness.
So, he did not realize that the toilet protest is a genius provocation? Yes-yes-yes! He thought: maybe the game will not start on time, he’ll lose a few minutes, but then everything will be alright.
This is a very important nuance in my opinion. It is clear that you expected provocations, but did not recognize this one as the most important. Yes, we did not. Nobody just could believe it. We thought Volodya will approach the arbiter, show him the contract – come on, order to open the toilet and let us play chess, what’s the problem? We sincerely could not believe the problem is so severe.
So the 5th game is forfeited, and the Appeals Committee decision is also not in your favor. The most human decision is to slam the door saying ‘get lost with all these toilets and committees’. And Volodya decided to continue the match. A correct decision in principle, I think.
Now we can say it, of course. And what if he lost the match? The journalists agreed that Kramnik had no chance winning in a court. There could be some money compensation, but the match result would stand. We weren’t fools either. Everyone knew he will not get the title back. Therefore his decision is decision of a man. No attorneys would help him if the match was lost with one-point margin. Leaving was an option, too. However, everything ended in the best way.
Is Kramnik the main candidate for the Fair Play prize? I don’t know, but I really want the world of chess to condemn Topalov and his people.
The world of chess is not uniform, you know, and it is naïve to expect certain consolidated reaction. I agree. If there will be consolidated reaction, it will not last for long.
Seeing any consolidated reaction will greatly surprise me. I read some literature before the match – about Korchnoi’s matches, and other WCC scandals. I thought it will be useful as general knowledge. However, I could not expect such a shit as Danailov created. And I really want FIDE to get rid of this Appeals Committee.
The Appeals Committee has lost its face, and Japanese say. I’d say they never had any face. Or there was face, but it was so… special – from the beginning.
Sasha(Motylev), what was the most difficult moment of the match? Not exactly difficult – uncertain… It was when Vladimir did not show up for the 5th game. It wasn’t clear whether the match continues or not. We kept working, but the situation was very uncertain. Will the 5th game be replayed, or…
Or you give up a point. Yes, and although this option was not really considered, it actually happened. Themostunfairdecision! I think if I wasn’t a member of Kramnik’s team, I would nevertheless insist on replaying the game… We all got very tired during those days – seconds and of course Vladimir himself. It transpired that Danailov outplays him in this backstage struggle.
You know, it was also obvious for the journalists. Danailov tirelessly ran from one cottage to another, negotiated, while Topalov, in jeans and T-short, enjoyed sun and life. Topalov mentioned this in one of the interviews, saying that he rested for 3-4 days and started missing chess. Vladimir’ssituationwasnearlyopposite. I can say for myself. Sergey Rublevsky and I did not take part in the conflict, we just worked on chess, but got as tired as never before. This tiredness took its toll in 8th and 9th games. It was clear that Vladimir was in the dumps. His opening play is the 9th game is just disastrous. Vladimir himself fails to explain his moves. And there is nothing to explain – it is just tiredness.