In 2007, Kramnik lost the title toViswanathan Anand, who won theWorld Chess Championship 2007 tournament ahead of Kramnik. He challenged Anand at theWorld Chess Championship 2008 to regain his title, but lost. He played in four moreCandidates tournaments between 2012 and 2018. Kramnik publicly announced his retirement as a professional chess player in January 2019 to focus on projects relating to chess for children and education.
Kramnik has since been widely criticized by other professional chess players and the media for frequently accusing fellow players of cheating without substantial evidence. FIDE was investigating him for his comments before the death ofDaniel Naroditsky, an American grandmaster Kramnik accused of cheating, and the investigation is ongoing.
Kramnik was born in the town ofTuapse, on the shores of theBlack Sea. His father's birth name was Boris Sokolov, but he took his stepfather's surname when his mother (Vladimir's grandmother) remarried. His mother Irina Fedorovna isUkrainian and is a music teacher; his biological father Boris Sokolov is aRussian painter and sculptor.[3][4] As a child, Kramnik studied in the chess school established byMikhail Botvinnik. His first notable result in a major tournament was his gold medal win as first reserve for the Russian team in the1992 Chess Olympiad in Manila. His selection for the team caused some controversy in Russia at the time, as he was only aFIDE Master, butGarry Kasparov supported it.[5] He scored eight wins, onedraw, and no losses, a performance of 2958, which won a gold medal for best rating performance.[citation needed]
Kramnik in 1993
In 1993, Kramnik played in the very strong tournament inLinares. He finished fifth, beating the then world number three,Vasyl Ivanchuk, along the way. He followed this with a string of good results, but had to wait until 1995 for his first major tournament win at normal time controls, when he won the strongDortmund tournament, finishing it unbeaten.[6]
In January 1996, Kramnik became theworld number-one rated player; he had the same FIDE rating as Kasparov (2775), but was number one because he played more games during the rating period in question. This was the first time since 1985 that Kasparov was not world number one, and Kramnik's six-month stretch (January through June 1996) as world number one was the only time from January 1986 to March 2006 when Kasparov was not world number one. Kramnik was the youngest ever to reach world number one, breaking Kasparov's record; this record stood untilMagnus Carlsen broke it in 2010.[citation needed]
Kramnik continued to produce good results, including winning at Dortmund (outright or tied) ten times from 1995 to 2011. He is the second of only 15 chess players to have reached arating of 2800 (Kasparov was the first).[7]
During his reign as world champion, Kramnik never regained the world number-one ranking, doing so only in January 2008 after he had lost the title toViswanathan Anand; as in 1996, Kramnik had the same FIDE rating as Anand (2799) but was number one due to more games played within the rating period. Kramnik's 12 years between world number-one rankings is the longest since the 1971 inception of the FIDE ranking system.[citation needed]
In the mid- and late 1990s, Kramnik, although considered one of the strongest players in the world, suffered several setbacks in his attempts to qualify for a World Championship match.[citation needed] In 1994, he lost a quarterfinal candidates match for the PCA championship toGata Kamsky 1½–4½, and later that year, lost a semifinal candidates match for the FIDE championship toBoris Gelfand with the score 3½–4½. In 1998, Kramnik facedAlexei Shirov in aCandidates match for the right to playGarry Kasparov for the Classical World Chess Championship, and lost 3½–5½. In 1999, Kramnik participated in theFIDE knockout championship inLas Vegas, and lost in the quarterfinals toMichael Adams 2–4.[citation needed]
Suitable sponsorship was not found for a Kasparov–Shirov match, and it never took place. It appears Shirov refused to play for what he considered too small a prize fund.[8] Kasparov decided to try to arrange a match with the highest rated-player according to FIDE's rating list. At the time Anand was the highest-rated player, but Anand refused the match.[8][9] Therefore, in March 2000 Kasparov announced he would play a match against Kramnik, who at the time was third in the rating list behind Kasparov and Anand (Shirov was fourth). This was somewhat controversial, especially since he had lost the qualifier to Shirov. It made Kramnik the first player since 1935 to play a world championship match without qualifying.[citation needed]
In 2000, Kramnik played a 16-game match againstGarry Kasparov in London, for the Classical Chess World Championship. Kramnik began the match as underdog, but his adoption of theBerlin Defence to Kasparov'sRuy Lopez opening was very effective. With the white pieces, Kramnik pressed Kasparov hard, winning Games 2 and 10 and overlooking winning continuations in Games 4 and 6.[citation needed] Kasparov put up little fight thereafter, agreeing to short draws with the white pieces in Games 9 and 13. Kramnik won the match 8½–6½ 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, the other time beingLasker in 1921. It also marked the first time Kasparov had lost a World Championship match.[citation needed]
Kramnik's performance won him theChess Oscar for 2000; this was the first time he had received the award.[citation needed]
In October 2002, Kramnik competed inBrains in Bahrain, an eight-game match against the chess computerDeep Fritz. Kramnik started well, taking a 3–1 lead after four games. But in game five, he made what was called the worst blunder of his career, losing a knight in a position that was probably drawn. He quicklyresigned. He also resigned game six after making a speculative sacrifice, although subsequent analysis showed he had drawing chances in the final position. The last two games were drawn, and the match ended at 4–4.[citation needed]
In February 2004, Kramnik won theTournament of Linares outright for the first time (he had tied for first withGarry Kasparov in 2000), finishing undefeated with a +2 score, ahead of Kasparov, the world's highest-rated player at the time.[citation needed]
From 25 September 2004 until 18 October 2004, Kramnik retained his title as Classical World Chess Champion against challengerPéter Lékó atBrissago, Switzerland, by barely drawing the match in the last game. The 14-game match was poised in favor of Lékó right up until Kramnik won the final game, thus forcing a 7–7 draw and ensuring that Kramnik remained world champion.[10] The prize fund was 1 millionSwiss francs, which was aboutUSD $770,000 at the time. Because of the drawn result, the prize was split between the two players.[citation needed]
When Garry Kasparov broke withFIDE, the federation governing professional chess, to play the 1993 World Championship withNigel Short, he created a rift in the chess world. In response, FIDE sanctioned a match betweenAnatoly Karpov andJan Timman for the FIDE World Championship, which Karpov won. Subsequently, the chess world had seen two "champions": the "classical" championship, claiming lineage dating back toSteinitz; and the FIDE-endorsed champion.[citation needed]
When Kramnik defeated Kasparov and inherited Kasparov's title, he also inherited some controversies. AtFIDE World Chess Championship 2005, Kramnik refused to participate, but indicated his willingness to play a match against the winner to unify the world championship. After the tournament, negotiations began for a reunification match between Kramnik and the new FIDE World Champion—Veselin Topalov ofBulgaria.[citation needed]
In April 2006, FIDE announced a reunification match between Kramnik and Topalov—theFIDE World Chess Championship 2006. The match took place inElista,Kalmykia. After the first four games, Kramnik led 3–1 (out of a maximum of 12). After the fourth game, however, Topalov's coach/manager Silvio Danailov 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.[citation needed]
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 matchcontract, which allows use of the bathroom at the players' discretion.[citation needed]
The controversy resulted in a heavy volume of correspondence toChessbase and other publications. The balance of views from fans was in support of Kramnik.[11] Prominent figures in the chess world, such as John Nunn, Yasser Seirawan, and Bessel Kok also sided with Kramnik.[12][13][14] The Russian and Bulgarian Chess Federations supported their respective players.[15]
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 match. On 13 October 2006 the result of this disputed game became irrelevant as Kramnik won the rapid tie-break by a score of 2½–1½.[citation needed]
Kramnik played a six-game match against the computer programDeep Fritz inBonn, Germany, from 25 November to 5 December 2006, losing 2–4, with 2 losses and 4 draws. He received 500,000Euros for playing and would have received twice as much had he won the match. Deep Fritz version 10 ran on a computer containing twoIntel Core 2 DuoCPUs. Kramnik received a copy of the program in mid-October for testing, but the final version included an updatedopening book.[16] Except for limited updates to the opening book, the program was not allowed to be modified during the match. Theendgame tablebases the program used were restricted to five pieces[17] even though a complete six-piece tablebase was widely available.
The first game ended in a draw.[18] A number of commentators claimed that Kramnik missed a win.[19] Deep Fritz won game 2 due to a mistake by Kramnik, who failed to defend against a threatened mate-in-one.Susan Polgar called it the "blunder of the century".[20] Games 3, 4, and 5 were draws. In game 6, Kramnik played the aggressive Sicilian Defense in an attempt to win with black and even the match, but was outplayed. Kramnik resigned.[21]
This match turned out to be the last major human–computer match. According to one expert at the time, "I don't know what one could get out of [a further match] at this point. The science is done."[22]
When Kramnik won the 2006 unification match, he also won Topalov's berth in the 2007 World Championship as the incumbent FIDE champion. Although the rationale behind his (and Garry Kasparov's) "classical" title is that the title should change hands by challenge match rather than by tournament, Kramnik stated that he would recognize the winner of this tournament as being the world champion.[23]
In the tournament, held in September 2007, Kramnik and Anand drew both of their games but Kramnik finished second. The tournament, and the world championship, was won byViswanathan Anand.[citation needed]
Pursuant to the agreement reached before the 2007 tournament, Kramnik and Anand played a match of the World Championship title in 2008 inBonn. He fell victim to Anand's superior preparation, and lost three of the first six games (two with the white pieces). Kramnik's play gradually improved, and although he managed a 29-move victory in game 10,[24] he did not win any other game, and lost the match to Anand by a score of 6½ to 4½ (three wins to Anand, one win to Kramnik, seven draws).[citation needed]
He also participated in the London Chess Classic in December, finishing second toMagnus Carlsen, losing their head-to-head encounter on the Black side of theEnglish Opening. Kramnik's performance in 2009 allowed his rating (average of July 2009 and January 2010 ratings) to be high enough to qualify for theCandidates Tournament to determine the challenger for theWorld Chess Championship 2012.[citation needed]
Kramnik began 2010 at theCorus chess tournament in the Netherlands, during which he defeated new world number one Carlsen with the black pieces in their head-to-head encounter, ending Carlsen's 36-game unbeaten streak.[26] A late loss toViswanathan Anand knocked him out of first place, and Kramnik finished with 8/13, tying for second place withAlexei Shirov behind Carlsen's 8½ points.
In April–May 2010 he tied for 1st–3rd withShakhriyar Mamedyarov andGata Kamsky in the President's Cup in Baku and won the event on tie-break after all finished on 5/7.[28]
Kramnik also participated in Dortmund, but had a subpar showing, losing to eventual championRuslan Ponomariov and finishing in joint third place with 5/10.[29]
He then participated in the Grand Slam Chess Masters preliminary tournament in Shanghai from 3 to 8 September, where he faced world number fourLevon Aronian,Alexei Shirov, andWang Hao; the top two scorers qualified for the Grand Slam final supertournament from 9 to 15 October in Bilbao against Carlsen and Anand.[30] Scoring 3/6, Kramnik tied for second place with Aronian behind the winner Shirov's 4½/6. In the blitz playoff, Kramnik defeated Aronian to qualify along with Shirov for the Grand Slam final.[31]
Shortly after qualifying for the last stage of the Grand Slam, Kramnik played on board one for the Russian team in the 2010 Olympiad. He scored +2–0=7.[citation needed]
Following the Olympiad, Kramnik participated in the Grand Slam Chess Masters final in Bilbao where he competed against Anand, Carlsen and Shirov. The average rating of the field was 2789, the highest in history. After defeating world number one Carlsen for the second consecutive time, and then Shirov in his first two games, Kramnik drew his final four games to finish in clear first with 4/6. This gave Kramnik the distinction of having won the two strongest tournaments in chess history.[citation needed]
Kramnik's attempt to defend his 2009 title at the Tal Memorial in Moscow ended with a 7th place, while he finished 5th in the London Chess Classic in England.[citation needed]
2011 brought varied results. In Wijk aan Zee Kramnik shared fifth withMaxime Vachier-Lagrave, and in the Candidates he was eliminated byAlexander Grischuk. He won Dortmund for the tenth time, withLê Quang Liêm in second place, and shared third behindPeter Svidler andAlexander Morozevich in the Russian Superfinal. Kramnik won the third London Chess Classic with four wins and four draws, and a rating performance over 2900 Elo.Hikaru Nakamura came second.[32] However, in the earlier 6th Tal Memorial 2011 Moscow he came 8th out of 10, with 2 losses (to Nepomniachtchi and Svidler) and 7 draws, withMagnus Carlsen winning the overall tournament on tiebreak fromLevon Aronian.[citation needed]
Kramnik played in the2013 Candidates Tournament, which took place in London, from 15 March to 1 April. He finished with 8½ points, sharing the first place with Magnus Carlsen, who won due to having better tiebreaks.[33]
In the 2013Alekhine Memorial tournament, held from 20 April to 1 May, Kramnik finished seventh, with +2−2=5.[34]
In the 2013Tal Memorial tournament, held from 13 to 23 June, Kramnik finished tenth out of ten, with +0−3=6.[35]
In theChess World Cup 2013, held in Norway from 11 August to 2 September, Kramnik finished in first place, defeatingDmitry Andreikin in the four-game final match 2½–1½.[36]
Kramnik in the 18th round of the World Blitz Championship 2015 (winning againstLevon Aronian)
Kramnik did not succeed in defending his title in the Chess World Cup. In the third round he was defeated by Andreikin. He narrowly missed out on qualifying by rating for theCandidates Tournament 2016. This was the first Candidates Tournament Kramnik had missed, since their re-introduction in the2012 World Championship cycle.
He participated as one of 130 grandmasters at the combined World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Berlin that was organized by FIDE from 10 to 14 October. In the World Rapid Championship he remained unbeaten, winning five games of 15 and reaching the 6th place.
Kramnik finished third in the World Blitz Championship in Berlin with 15 / 21. He was a half-point behind the winnerAlexander Grischuk and lost second place on tiebreak toMaxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Kramnik competed in the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, held from 9 – 17 July and finished joint second with 4/7.[37][38]
He played in the Tal Memorial (a ten-playerround-robin tournament) in Moscow from 26 September – 6 October. He finished sixth with 4.5/9 in the opening blitz round-robin on 25 September, meaning that he was given one more game to play with the black pieces than with the white in the classical tournament.[39][40] He finished joint fifth in the classical tournament, again with 4.5/9.[41]
He participated in three of the four events of theGrand Chess Tour (he withdrew from theSinquefield Cup due to health issues and was replaced by Svidler[42]): Kramnik played the Paris Grand Chess Tour speed chess tournament, the Your Next Move Grand Chess Tour speed chess tournament, and the London Chess Classic classical chess tournament. All the events of the Grand Chess Tour were 10-player round robin tournaments.
The Paris Grand Chess Tour tournament was held from 9 – 12 June and was composed of a mixture of rapid and blitz games.[43] Kramnik finished ninth with 5.5/18, above only comparatively low-rated wildcard playerLaurent Fressinet.[44]
The Your Next Move Grand Chess Tour tournament was held from 17 – 20 June inLeuven, Belgium. Like the Paris GCT, it was composed of a combination of rapid and blitz games. Kramnik finished joint eighth with 2.5/9.[45]
The London Chess Classic was held from 9 – 18 December.[46] Kramnik finished joint third with 5/9.[47]
Kramnik was still a 2800+ player for most of 2017 and therefore still competing at the highest levels.[48] He finished second in the Gashimov Memorial tournament (5/9) behindShakriyar Mamedyarov (5.5/9), third in Norway Chess behind Nakamura and Aronian. He finished fourth in the Dortmund Sparkassen. He was knocked out byVasyl Ivanchuk in the World Cup of 2017 in the third round. In December he performed in a simultaneous exhibition on 30 chessboards inGeneva, winning by 29,5-0,5.[49]
Kramnik seemed set to again narrowly miss qualifying for the Candidates on rating, but in late 2017 he was awarded the wild-card entry to theCandidates Tournament 2018. Kramnik started the Candidates tournament well, including a brilliant win with black againstLevon Aronian in Round 3. But he faded and finished equal fifth out of eight, on 6.5 points of 14.
Kramnik competed in the81st Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January, where he finished last with a score of 4½/13 (+2–6=5). He subsequently announced his retirement from professional chess: "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." He said he might still participate in rapid and blitz events and hold simultaneous exhibitions. He stated that he intends to focus on chess for children and education.[50][51]
Kramnik was previously active on theonline chess platformChess.com, where he played blitz games and regularly participated in tournaments, includingTitled Tuesday. He closed his account on June 24, 2025.[52]
In November 2023, Kramnik made a statement on his Chess.com profile purportedly insinuating that an unnamed high-level player was cheating.Hikaru Nakamura believed the post was about him, and responded onX: "Vladimir appears to be referencing my record...is he really accusing me of cheating???" Nakamura also expressed disappointment withIan Nepomniachtchi for reposting Kramnik's claims.[53][54]
In December 2023, Kramnik's conduct prompted Chess.com to close his blog and mute his account.[55] After he accused several more players of cheating, Kramnik himself was found to be violating Chess.com's terms of service and banned from prize tournaments after he was caught playing onDenis Khismatullin's account.[56] Kramnik then took to X to blame the whistleblower,IMMatvey Galchenko, calling him, in Russian, "aYouTuber posing as a chess player" and blaming him for the fact he would no longer be streamingTitled Tuesday.[57]
In May 2024, Kramnik published a list of players on the social media platformX under the title "Cheating Tuesdays" that includedDavid Navara.[58] Navara responded in public forums that he would submit a formal complaint to FIDE.[59] He later clarified in a blog post that his complaint was not solely about being personally implicated, but was based on four main objections to Kramnik's conduct: Kramnik's own prior violation of fair-play rules by playing on someone else's account; a pattern of poorly substantiated public accusations against other players, including minors; flawed statistical methodology; and the offensive nature of the tweet.[60][61] A year later, Navara recounted in a blog post the full story and the severe psychological impact it had on him, saying the experience "induced my suicidal thoughts and caused me a lot of pain."[62] Kramnik announced his intention to sue Navara, Chess.com, and Chessdom.com for defamation, demanding a public retraction and apology, and said a criminal case was forthcoming.[63]
In June and August of 2024, Kramnik played two blitz matches against grandmasterJosé Martínez Alcántara after accusing Martínez of cheating in online chess. The matches were a mix of over-the-board and online chess (held in-person). Martinez won the June 2024 Madrid match 14.5-11.5, while Kramnik won theAugust 2024 London match 19-17.[64][65][66][67][68]
On 22 October 2025, theWorld Chess Federation (FIDE) began reviewing Kramnik’s public statements about U.S. grandmasterDaniel Naroditsky, two days after his death at age 29 was announced.[69] Since October 2024, Kramnik had repeatedly accused Naroditsky of cheating in online chess, without substantial evidence.[70] Kramnik rebutted criticism of his behaviour, saying: "I have not bullied Daniel Naroditsky, nor ever made personal insults towards him".[71] Several leading players, includingMagnus Carlsen,Hikaru Nakamura, andNihal Sarin, publicly condemned Kramnik's conduct, calling his accusations unfounded and damaging.[72] In a statement toThe Indian Express, Sarin said that Kramnik "has kind of literally taken a life."[73] British IMJovanka Houska also expressed support for the FIDE inquiry, saying that players "should not be allowed to accuse others of cheating without consequences".[69]
Kramnik has been diagnosed withankylosing spondylitis, an uncommon form ofarthritis. It causes him great physical discomfort while playing. In January 2006, he announced that he would skip theCorus Chess Tournament inWijk aan Zee to seek treatment for his condition.[77] He returned from treatment in June 2006, playing in the37th Chess Olympiad. He scored a +4 result, achieving the highest rating performance (2847) of the 1307 participating players.
Kasparov has described Kramnik's style as pragmatic and tenacious, in the latter similar toAnatoly Karpov.[80] He is one of the toughest opponents to defeat, losing only one game in over 100 leading up to his match with Kasparov, including 80 consecutive games without a loss.[81][82] Kasparov did not defeat Kramnik during their 2000 World Championship match, partly due to Kramnik's use of theBerlin Defence of theRuy Lopez. Kramnik is renowned for hisendgame skills.[83][84][85][86]
Kramnik has significantly shapedopening theory in chess.Anand said of him in 2012: "I don't know exactly how many lines he's established, but you get the impression that for the last 10 years we've only been using his ideas [...] His stamp on opening theory is much more significant than mine."[87] Kramnik's results with the white pieces against theKing's Indian Defence made Kasparov drop the opening from his repertoire, and caused the opening to drop in popularity from top-level play for many years.[88] His use of the Berlin Defense in his 2000 match against Kasparov led to a massive increase in its popularity.[89] Kramnik was the world's leading exponent ofPetrov's Defence for much of his career and also revived theCatalan Opening.[90]
Kramnik also playsmakruk. On 1 May 2004, while visiting theFederal Exhibition Hall, he immediately learned the rules and beat Dr. René Gralla. In his opinion, Thai chess is morestrategic than Indian (international); players need to plan combinations with care, since Thai chess can be compared to theendgame in international chess. As the reigning world chess champion, he expressed his wish to play a mixed match of makruk and chess with the reigning makruk champion Tor Pagnaam.[91]
Levon Aronian vs. Kramnik, Candidates Tournament 2018, Berlin, Round 3;Ruy Lopez,Berlin Defense (C65)[92]Using an opening novelty discovered years earlier, Kramnik overwhelms Aronian on the board, foregoing castling in favor of the attack, culminating in a rook sacrifice followed by imminent checkmate against the white king.[93]
Evgeny Bareev, Ilya Levitov (2007).From London to Elista: The Inside Story of the World Chess Championship Matches that Vladimir Kramnik Won Against Garry Kasparov, Peter Leko, and Veselin Topalov. New In Chess.ISBN978-9056912192.
D. Barlov, P. Ostojic (2006).Vladimir Kramnik. Chess Emperors.
Igor Sukhin, Vladimir Kramnik (2007).Chess Gems: 1,000 Combinations You Should Know. Mongoose Press.ISBN978-0-9791482-5-5.
Daniel Lovas (2007).Vladmir Kramnik (The Chess Greats of the World). Caissa Chess Books.ISBN978-963-87141-5-2.
Alexander Kalinin (2011).Vladimir Kramnik. Great Chess Combinations. Russian Chess House.ISBN978-5-94693-171-7.
Richard Forster, Vladimir Kramnik (2011).The Zurich Chess Club, 1809–2009. McFarland & Co Inc.ISBN978-0-7864-6064-9.
^"Vladimir Kramnik withdraws from Sinquefield Cup". ChessBase (mostly repeating a press release by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis). 29 July 2016. Retrieved19 December 2016.In a recent field change, GM Vladimir Kramnik regretfully withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup due to health issues. The CCSCSL invited fellow Russian, GM Peter Svidler to replace Kramnik as the 10th participant in the tournament.
.JPG)
