Vladimir Kramnik: biography and interesting facts from life

Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a well-known chess player of Russia. He is a real master of the positional game. He prefers to practice closed positions, when it is difficult to count the variants of the development of events to the rivals. Kramnik is the 14th world chess champion. According to him, this is not a sport, but a real art. Already in his childhood, in Tuapse, where the chess player Vladimir Kramnik came from, he beat not only peers, but also all adults. Even then, his parents and his first coaches predicted a great future for Vladimir.

Family of Kramnik

Vladimir Kramnik was born on 25. 06. 1975 in the city of Tuapse. He has an older brother Eugene. Their parents are creative people. My father studied at the Art Academy and became a sculptor and artist. My mother graduated from the conservatory in Lviv and subsequently worked as a music teacher. First, the parents of Vladimir and Eugene went to Stavropol, where employers promised them housing and "golden mountains". But it did not work out, and they returned to Tuapse, where Vladimir Kramnik comes from.

Childhood

In chess, Kramnik began to play from early childhood. When he was 3 years old, he watched the party of his brother and father. Once, noticing the child's close attention, Vladimir's dad jokingly suggested that he arrange the pieces on the board. And the karapuz immediately fulfilled the task without error. To the astonished question of his father, does he know how to play, Vladimir answered "yes." A week later he quietly beat his dad.

The very first coach of the young chess player was the father, who taught Vladimir to play before the age of four. After that, he began attending a chess club at the Palace of Pioneers. There he first fought with the guys first-class. Then Vladimir coached Grandmaster Tseshkovsky.

At the age of seven, Vladimir Kramnik received 1 rank. At the age of 9 he became the champion of the Union among juniors. And in 10 years was considered the best player in the whole of Tuapse.

The beginning of the path to the chess Olympus

When Vladimir was 11 years old, they moved the whole family to Moscow, and earlier lived in Tuapse, where the chess player Vladimir Kramnik is from. In Moscow he was invited to his school Botvinnikov, who helped train Harry Garry Kasparov. So Vladimir turned out to be a pupil of two strongest chess players. At the age of eleven, Kramnik becomes a candidate for master of sports. It takes 2 years, and he is already a master of sports. At the age of 16 he is the world champion among juniors.

Chess Star

At the insistence of Kasparov in 1992, young Kramnik is included in the Russian national chess team. Vladimir justified his hopes and scored 8.5 out of 9 possible points. Then he received "gold": in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2013.

At the age of 17, Kramnik lost two final matches (at FIDE and PCA tournaments) to Kamsky and Gelfand. Since 1995, Vladimir begins to win more and more victories in numerous competitions. As a result, in Russia he came in second place after Kasparov. In 2009, Kramnik became the first chess player to win 10 times the Dortmund super tournament. This achievement was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.

Matches for the title of World Cup

The path to the title of world champion for Kramnik was somewhat unusual. Several designated matches with contenders broke through due to difficulties with money and some disagreements. Kasparov decides to help Vladimir, offering a duel and putting on the map his own title of world champion. Harry was sure that he would win, and did not enter into the match rematch. But Vladimir Kramnik is a chess player from God. And Kasparov loses, and his rank passes to the opponent.

In 2002, Vladimir played a game of chess with the computer program Deep Fritz. The match ended in a draw. In 2004, Kramnik fought against Hungarian Peter Leko and struggled to keep the title of world champion, having left the defeat in the last game. The score was 7: 7. Since 2004, Kramnik's health is deteriorating because of the rare form of arthritis that the doctors have discovered in the chess player. He hardly holds positions in the top ten.

The fight for the title of the absolute world champion

In 2006, a match was held between Kramnik and Topalov for the title of absolute champion. The match took place in Elista. It is necessary to describe separately, with what tenacity, despite the negative events, Vladimir Kramnik achieved this honorary title, whose biography contains many victories in chess tournaments. His duel for this title was accompanied by a loud scandal.

Kramnik was accused of using computer tips and frequent visits to the toilet. The Appeals Committee changed the contract for the match unilaterally and this violated Vladimir's rights. Kramnik did not come to the party as a sign of protest. And he was defeated.

But from the further struggle Vladimir Kramnik did not refuse and continued the fight. The first 12 games ended in a draw. Then Kramnik won the time-break. The general account outweighed in his favor. As a result, he was recognized as the absolute champion of the planet. Received a prize of half a million dollars and the right to participate in FIDE 2007.

In 2007, Kramnik gave up the title of another famous chess player - Viswanathan Anand. In December of the same year, a rematch was called, which took place in 2008 and ended again with the victory of Anand.

Personal life of Kramnik

In the mid-90's Kramnik had a short romance with a chess player from Slovakia Eva Repkova. The couple almost never visited the public and did not want to get caught by the importunate paparazzi. Roman quietly began and just as modestly and without scandals ended. Kramnik never liked to put his personal life on public display.

Then in 2005 Vladimir met with the journalist from France Marie-Laure Germont. Two years later they played a wedding. Marriage was modest. No more than 40 guests. Only very close people of the bride and groom. The father of Vladimir Kramnik, unfortunately, could not come because of illness, but he sent a gift (a silver elephant with precious stones) to his son.

The wedding cake for the newlyweds was made in the form of a chess board with figures of chocolate. And they were arranged the way they stood when Vladimir became the world champion. At first the newlyweds spoke English. Now Vladimir's wife already knows Russian a little. Kramnik's daughter, Daria, was born in 2008, and Vadim's son in 2013.