14th World Champion
2006-2007
Classical World Champion
2000-2006
Vladimir Kramnik was born in Tuapse, Russia in 1975. His
father's birth name was Boris Sokolov, but he took his stepfather's
surname when his mother (Vladimir's grandmother) remarried. As a
child, Vladimir Kramnik studied in the chess school established by
Mikhail Botvinnik. His first notable result in a major tournament
was his gold medal win as first reserve for the Russian team in the
1992 Chess Olympiad in Manila. His selection for the team caused
some controversy in Russia at the time, as he was only sixteen
years old and had not yet been awarded the grandmaster title, but
his selection was supported by Garry Kasparov. He scored eight
wins, one draw, and no losses.
In 2000, Kramnik played a sixteen game match against Garry
Kasparov in London, for the Classical Chess World Championship.
Kramnik won the match without losing a game. This was only the
second time in history that a World Champion had lost a match
without winning a single game. This event marked the first time
Kasparov had been beaten in a World Championship match.
In late 2004, Kramnik successfully defended his title against
challenger Peter Leko in a drawn match played in Brissago,
Switzerland.
When Garry Kasparov broke with FIDE, the federation governing
professional chess, to play the 1993 World Championship with Nigel
Short, he created a rift in the chess world. In response, FIDE
sanctioned a match between Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman for the
FIDE World Championship, which Karpov won. Subsequently, the chess
world has seen two "champions": the "classical" championship,
claiming lineage dating back to Steinitz; and the FIDE endorsed
champion.
In April 2006, FIDE announced a reunification match between
Kramnik and Topalov, the FIDE World Chess Championship 2006. The
match took place in Elista, Kalmykia. After the first four games,
Kramnik led 3-1 (out of a maximum of 12). After the fourth game,
however, Topalov protested that Kramnik was using the toilet
suspiciously frequently, implying that he was somehow receiving
outside assistance whilst doing so. Topalov said that he would
refuse to shake hands with Kramnik in the remaining games. The
Appeals committee decided that the players' toilets be locked and
that they be forced to use a shared toilet, accompanied by an
assistant arbiter.
Kramnik refused to play the fifth game unless the original
conditions agreed for the match were adhered to. As a result, the
point was awarded to Topalov, reducing Kramnik's lead to 3-2.
Kramnik stated that the appeals committee was biased and demanded
that it be replaced. As a condition to continue the match, Kramnik
insisted on playing the remaining games under the original
conditions of the match contract, which allows use of the bathroom
at the players' discretion.
The controversy resulted in a heavy volume of correspondence to
Chessbase and other publications. The balance of views from fans
was in support of Kramnik. Prominent figures in the chess world,
such as John Nunn, Yasser Seirawan, and Bessel Kok also sided with
Kramnik. The Russian and Bulgarian Chess Federations supported
their respective players. Kramnik's behavior during the match
earned him widespread support in the chess community.
After twelve regular games the match was tied 6-6, although
Kramnik continued to dispute the result of the unplayed fifth game
until the end of the tournament. On 13 October 2006 the result of
the disputed fifth game became irrelevant as Kramnik won the rapid
tie-break making him the first undisputed World Champion, holding
both the FIDE and Classical titles, since Kasparov split from FIDE
in 1993.
The Cipher:
lo qkr dco-xsvv kr-dkn dcsx-dvsds kr-tkr k-gyr xo-krc-tkr
drkx-jso dco-qkr njor nslor drkx-jso nkr-xoc-dck njor kr-tkr
drkx-jso gyv-vk-mroo k-mrsx mrsxns xkcr-nyso-dcy kr-tkr n-kr
xk-kc-dcy-cs kr-xkr kr-vycj njor gyv-vk-mroo vrk-mrk-or k-gyr vsx
kr-xkr nkr-xoc-dck dvy-mrsx lo-vk-ckxk mrsxns