Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik turns 48!
Author: Maria Fragaki
Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik aka “Big Vlad” was one of the very top chess players for more than two decades before retiring in January 2019, and today he turns 48 years old!
GM Vladimir Kramnik was born in 1975 on the Black Sea in the provincial town of Tuapse, Russia (then Soviet Union), and became the Classical World Champion in 2000 in London, dethroning Garry Kasparov.
Kramnik won his first Championship in 1991, and beat Kasparov for the first time in 1994 at the Linares Tournament. It was not until 2000 though that Kramnik challenged Kasparov for the World Title, and became the 14th World Champion. A year after his biggest achievement, in 2001, Kramnik became the second player in the history of chess to achieve a 2800 rating.
In 2004 Kramnik successfully defended his title against Peter Leko, and in 2006 he beat Veselin Topalov to become the undisputed World Champion, and hold the title for a total of 7 years.
In 2006, Kramnik didn’t only got to keep his Title, but also married the French journalist Marie-Laure Germon at the Orthodox Church of St-Alexandre-Nevsky in Paris in a private ceremony with family and good friends.
Except the World Championship crown, Kramnik has won an Olympiad gold, the World Cup and countless super-tournaments, including a record 10 Dortmund titles.
2019 Retirement
“I already decided to finish my professional chess career a couple of months ago and now, after having played my last tournament, I would like to announce it publicly.
The life of a professional chess player was a great journey and I am very thankful to chess for all it has given me. It has sometimes been difficult, sometimes more successful than I could ever imagine, but in any case it has been a priceless human experience for me. I have always tried my best to give it all from my side, being fully involved in it while working and playing chess.
But I have also expressed in interviews before that I would like to try doing something else one day, and since my chess player motivation has dropped significantly in recent months, it feels like the right moment for it. I would like to concentrate on projects which I have been developing during the last months especially in the field of chess for children and education. I will soon provide more detailed information about those.
I might still like to play a rapid or blitz chess tournament at times, or do a simultaneous like the Tata Steel Chess simultaneous in the Dutch parliament building this afternoon and will participate in various events connected with chess, popularising this great game.”
That was Kramnik’s statement on his retirement at the age 43, after playing his last tournament as a professional chess player, the 2019 Tata Steel Chess in Wijk aan Zee. The chess world was saddened, and flooded Twitter with their comments, thoughts, and memories!
2023 World Chess Armageddon
This April we had the honor to have Vladimir Kramnik on board for the World Chess Armageddon Series: Asia & Oceania to compete under intense time pressure against some of the greatest new generation players, like Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Gukesh D, but also his good friend Daniil Dubov.
During the event in Berin Kramnik gave us two exclusive interviews, discussing his retirement from professional chess, the rise of online chess, coaching young talents like Firouzja, working with DeepMind, and the key ingredients to become a world champion in chess. He shares his thoughts and advice for aspiring players, making it an enlightening and engaging interview.
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