Brain Game World Chess Championship
G. Kasparov- V. Kramnik
A news conference was organized in London on Wednesday 5th April 2000 at Home House in London. Raymond Keene, who was fronting a consortium to bring about a match between Garry Kasparov and a challenger for the “World Chess Championship” as claimed by Kasparov. The match will be over 16 games. The winner of the title match, to be played in October will receive 1,333,000 dollars and the loser half that much.
Alexei Shirov has said in an interview with El Pais that “I believe that Kramnik must reject the offer because I gained the right to challenge Kasparov over the board”.
Anand was in negociation with Kasparov since 1999. After a long thinking he finally rejected the offer. Later in the press he has been talking on the record about the reasons why he declined the world championship contract.
Anand was unhappy with many clauses of the contract, including:
(i) Anand would be required not to compete in any other World Championship for the next five years.
(ii) Kasparov is guaranteed $US1m if the match does not take place. Anand was not sure of receiving anything unless he relied on Kasparov’s goodwill, which is why he asked for $300,000 up front.
(iii) He was given until April 21 to consider the contract. On March 21 the organisers claimed that this was a typing error and that he must make a decision immediately!
(iv) At one point in the negotiations Anand offered a list of changes to the contract which were accepted by the negotiator. Then that same evening he was told that all these conditions were not acceptable. He was later told that his changes would be considered only after he had signed the contract!
(v) The contract was to be signed with a new organisation which did not yet exist, but this would be the party Anand would have to sue if things went wrong.
(vi) Anand was told to keep the plans for the match completely confidential but then in Linares he discovered that information about the match had been leaked to ‘The Times’ of London.
(vii) The source of the funding was never named.
Anand is quite upset that he was given such an unfair contract and that all his suggested changes were rejected. He said he would happily have accepted a fair contract for a match against Kasparov but was unwilling to invest time and money for seconds and training without any guarantees that he would have compensation if the match collapsed. With Shirov and Anand out of business, Kramnik was sthe next on the list to be solicited. He didn’t take too much time before he accepted the match conditions and its obliogations.
Vladimir Kramnik, son of a sculptor and a musician, was born on June 25, 1975 and grew up in the Russian city of Tuapse, on the Black Sea coast. By the time he was 4 he was playing chess. He captured the attention of master players when he won Tuapse’s adult chess tournament at age 7. Two years later, he claimed his first regional Junior Championship title. At 16, Kramnik achieved the rank of grandmaster. He exploded onto the world chess scene at the 1992 Chess Olympics in Manila, putting in a brilliant performance that helped secure a gold medal for the Russian team. Chess masters describe Kramnik’s game as a potent combination of aggressiveness and control, but the young champion criticized himself in his autobiographical book as lacking the instincts of “a cold killer on the chess board.”
The 6-foot-4-inch Kramnik allowed himself to be bullied by the smaller Kasparov during a match in 1996, according to the book, and was so shaken afterward that he announced he no longer had any interest in chess. Yet over the years, only Kramnik has equaled Kasparov in head-to-head play. The two have played 67 times before this match, 23 times in serious tournament play. Kramnik has won 15 times, Kasparov has won 11 times, and 41 games have been drawn. In serious play, the score stands even with 3 wins each and 17 draws since 1993.
Kramnik’s second is Grandmaster Joel Lautier. Lautier is the only player with a plus score against Kasparov, winning 2, losing 1, and drawing 7 times
The Braingames Network (BGN) World Chess Championship began in London on October 8, 2000. The match was being held at the Riverside Television Studios in Hammersmith, West London. The prize fund was $2 million, including The Howard Staunton Memorial Trophy. Kasparov could retain “his title” if it is a tie at 8-8.
Kasparov drew the white chess pieces from the Staunton Trophy during the opening ceremony.
Game 1
Game 1
Ruy Lopez
A visibly nervous Garry Kasparov made a tentative start to the first defence of his world title in five years, as he was comfortable held to a 25-move draw by his challenger, and former pupil, fellow Russian Vladimir Kramnik, in the first game of their 16-game London title match.
In game one, Kramnik (and to a certain extent Kasparov himself) sprang an early surprise with his opening choice. Departing from his usual repertoire of the Sicilian and Petroff Defence – which are virtually certain to appear at a later stage – for now, the challenger opted to answer 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3, with 2 ..Nc6. However, perhaps fearing a well-prepared counter to his favourite Scotch Opening, the world champion likewise differed with the Ruy Lopez, with Kramnik opting for what must surely have been a one-off super-solid Berlin Defence. The game ended in a draw in 25 moves.
Game 2
Game 2
Gruenfeld defense
After making a comfortable draw in game one, the challenger has now got off to the best of possible starts and leads his former master 1.5-0.5 in the 16-game title match. However, not to be complacent, after the game the challenger commented, “Although pleased that he had won, the match was far from over and still had a long way to go.”
Kasparov was under pressure from the opening when the challenger decided to take the champion head-on in his favourite Gruenfeld Defence with the new idea of 10 Rb1 and 11 Rxb7. In the Press Room, the general consensus was that, instead of 17. ..Nd4, Kasparov should have played 17 Rac8. Also of interest was the idea of 16… ..Qxd2 17 Bxd2 Rfc8.
Instead, Kramnik went a pawn ahead as Kasparov looked uncomfortable defending a very difficult endgame. Under pressure, Kasparov snapped just before the time-control with the blunder 39 …Ke7?, which lost a piece. After the game, both players had differing views on what the final outcome would have been before the blunder. Kasparov thought that, although difficult, he felt he could have held for the draw if he had opted instead for 39 …Kg7. However, Kramnik was adamant that “…he would have won this position also.”
Game 3
Game 3
Queen Gambit Declined
In game three, Kasparov as black returned to the Tartakower variation of the queen’s gambit declined and improved on his own 15th move in the game he played against Viktor Korchnoi in the 1983 Candidates. In the opening game on Saturday he had chosen to play accept the queen’s gambit. Kramnik could not stop black from exchanging the vital pieces and after 21 moves he accepted black’s draw offer.
Game 4
Game 4
Queen’s Gambit Accepted
World Champion Garry Kasparov has found himself embroiled in the fight of his life to retain the world crown that he so covets as his former pupil, Vladimir Kramnik, seems determined to topple his former master.
Kramnik is proving to be one of the toughest opponents Kasparov has ever faced in a match since his epic four world title duals with archrival Anatoly Karpov, between 1984-1990. The young pretender almost had Kasparov on the verge of resignation after nearly six-hours of play in game four, a result that would have given Kramnik a 2-0 lead after the first week.
However, when most players would simply have given up and resigned, Kasparov worked “miracles” to produce one of the saves of the 114-year history of world championship chess, to thwart Kramnik taking a 2-0 lead. Going into the end of the first week, Kramnik leads Kasparov 2.5-1.5, with twelve games still to be played.
