Vladimir Kramnik

Biography (1975)

A pupil of the Botvinnik chess school, Vladimir Kramnik (b. 1975) showed great potential early and debuted on the Russian team at the Olympiad in Manila (1992) at the age of 17. He built an awe-inspiring tournament record in the following years and became #1 on the FIDE rating list in January 1996.In 2000, Kasparov organized a title match against Kramnik in London. Kramnik dethroned Kasparov in a memorable battle, 8½–6½, without losing a single game. Four years later, he defended his title, drawing the match against Peter Leko in Brissago (2004).In April 2006, FIDE announced a reunification match between Kramnik and Topalov, the FIDE World Chess Championship 2006. The competition took place in Elista, Kalmykia. Vladimir Kramnik beat Veselin Topalov on a tiebreaker and became the undisputed World Champion.In 2007, Kramnik lost the title to Viswanathan Anand, who won the World Chess Championship 2007 tournament ahead of Kramnik. He challenged Anand at the World Chess Championship 2008 to regain his title but lost.Kramnik played in the 2013 Candidates Tournament in London and finished with 8½ points, sharing first place with Magnus Carlsen, but lost in the tiebreak. Kramnik publicly announced his retirement from classical chess in January 2019. He still sometimes takes part in rapid and blitz competitions.