kramnik – Chessdom

Average centipawn loss vs Avereage Relative Centipawn loss in Kramnik vs Navara

Sergio — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 12:00:45 +0000

In a brave public act, David Navara explains in details what he went through after the baseless allegations of Kramnik. Navara describes the emotional torture by Kramnik’s allegations, the silence of FIDE, their posterior inadequate reaction and total disregard on basic FIDE ethical and moral values.

The basis of the story is a post by Kramnik on Twitter/X that is connecting Navara’s name with “stats” on “Cheating Tuesdays”. As Kramnik admitted, he is not making accusations but allegations. These allegations are based on data that Kramnik compiled himself and used an undisclosed method to analyze and tweet about.

In a post titled Checking the cheating allegations made by Kramnik on David Navara on Reddit, the user bhajji22 presents his analysis on Kramnik’s data and specifically the data in the tweet. Bhajji22 says, “I downloaded Navara’s and 8 other players’ all games they played in Titled Tuesdays in 2024 from letsdotheprocedure.com. Then I calculated their average centipawn losses and compared the results. […] Firstly, even the most basic thing – the number of moves Navara and others made when time on their clock < 10 seconds was wrong in Kramnik’s post. For instance, on his post , Kramnik said that 748 moves were played by Navara but I found nearly 1500 moves. Similarly, other values are also wrong.” Bhajji22 continues, “Now the cheating part – It can be seen that average centipawn loss for Navara is infact lower than one might expect but statistics is not that simple. Let us understand through an example. Let us say that a position is +5. Then a move that reduces the evaluation to +4 will not have the same effect as reducing the position from +1 to 0. As we all know, in blitz, the top players have the ability to simplify the game to a winning endgame which is necessary in time pressure and hence the +5 to +4 is a common thing. So instead of the Average Centipawn Loss, a better metric would be the Average Relative CPL. This would scale down the large values. So when this was calculated for each player, Navara’s value came out to be quite normal. Not only this, I also plotted a graph for the critical moves when the evaluation is between +1 and -1. And infact, Navara was the weakest player in that scenario.”

User fuettli comments, “I already did something like this and have done some more in the mean time with a little more info. I limited the data to the same time frame Vladimir Kramnik used (you used the entire year 2024) but of course even if you try to go as close to what VBK did, the results are always way different. According to some tweets he used positions with +2 to -2 and a loss of at least 100 centipawns.
But what about blunders from +8 to -1? Aren’t those also real blunders?”

Bhajji22, unlike Kramnik, published the full method and code behind his findings. While the period of Bhajji22 calculations is off, it is public for the mathematicians, statisticians, and chess experts to analyze the centipawn loss vs the suggested Relative centipawn loss. Check out the full post on Full post on Reddit here

Timeline of events

23.05.2025 Navara publishes an open letter about Kramnik’s actions
23.05.2025 Reactions to Navara’s open letter – Aronian, Polgar, etc
23.05.2025 Navara and Kramnik to meet at FIDE World Rapid and Blitz
24.05.2025 David Navara, “I firmly believe that Mr Dvorkovich should resign”
24.05.2025 Kramnik, “I am deeply disappointed Navara participates in unjust PR campaign against me”
24.05.2025 Kramnik rage-blocks Chessdom over a comment on David Navara’s case
24.05.2025 Live: David Navara at French Top 16
25.05.2025 Kramnik admits to allegations, FIDE has grounds to act
25.05.2025 Open call to action for FIDE
26.05.2025 David Navara now has personal chess calendar
26.05.2025 Czech Chess Federation: We stand behind chess legend GM David Navara
28.05.2025 MrDodgy : “Kramnik bullies Navara, will he be satisfied if he ends in hospital or worse?”
29.05.2025 Emil Sutovsky : “I find Kramnik’s latest address to David Navara inhuman”
12.06.2025 David Navara: “When I heard Kramnik’s reaction, I slept really poorly”
26.06.2025 Official Statement of Hetman GKS Katowice Chess Club + Keti Tsatsalashvili of support of David Navara
28.06.2025 Levon Aronian addresses Kramnik’s lawsuit threats towards David Navara
29.06.2025 FIDE addresses the Kramnik vs Navara case
29.06.2025 The entire Nový Bor Chess Club stands firmly behind David Navara
29.06.2025 Prague International Chess Festival thanks cFIDE for taking a clear stance on Kramnik vs Navara
04.07.2025 David Navara in an interview with Greg Mustreader
08.07.2025 Average centipawn loss vs Avereage Relative Centipawn loss in Kramnik vs Navara

The highest governing body of chess @FIDE_chess publishes an open statement on the Kramnik vs David Navara casehttps://t.co/8bHejXMv4F
— Chessdom (@chessdom) June 29, 2025

David Navara https://t.co/0xcv4gbpce
— Chessdom (@chessdom) May 29, 2025

Dear @VBkramnik

Forgive me for addressing you publicly, but I feel that the chess world and the new generation need to know about who you are and I want you to remember it as well.

Vlad, you have always been an inspiration to me and to the majority of people who know you, as…
— Levon Aronian (@LevAronian) June 28, 2025

Context (28.05)

Kramnik is known to have published numerous articles and videos regarding cheating in chess. On multiple occasions he uses a small sample size. As a result, his conclusions may be perceived as accusations (this is the case in a multitude of well documented videos, articles, and opinions by experts here, here, here, here are just a few examples), allegations, or suspicions about cheating in chess, and even as insults to players’ professionalism. Despite how each individual perceives his words, on Chessdom, starting 25 May, we have adopted a term that Vladimir Kramnik used himself – allegations.

In accordance with established journalistic practices, we work with information and quotations from sources, including Kramnik himself. Kramnik has never contacted Chessdom via its official communication channel posted in the header of the website. Our attempt to contact Kramnik was futile and met with a swift block. The latest threats by Kramnik on social media leave little room for any good-faith discussions (further details to follow)

Regardless, we stand by accuracy, fairness, and independence of journalism and will continue reporting on the Kramnik – Navara case and its tremendous social importance.

David Navara in an interview with Greg Mustreader

Sergio — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 08:03:45 +0000

After the open letter from this month of May, David Navara has concentrated on his mental health and playing chess tournaments, including the French Top 16, the World Rapid and Blitz and a match with Ediz Gurel. This week was one of his rare online appearances, and it was a long one! The nearly 1 hour podcast of Greg Mustreader, titled “I was pushed to the edge – David Navara vs Kramnik” is a detailed account of David Navara’s view point on the recent developments.

Greg Mustreader is a multifaceted content creator, podcaster, and entrepreneur originally from Russia, now living in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He is known for his work across various platforms, focusing on multiple topics including chess. Make sure to check Greg’s Twitter/X for the latest podcasts

Scroll down for the full video of David Navara and Greg Mustreader (expect a detailed transcription of the conversation soon)

Timeline of events

The highest governing body of chess @FIDE_chess publishes an open statement on the Kramnik vs David Navara casehttps://t.co/8bHejXMv4F
— Chessdom (@chessdom) June 29, 2025

Context (28.05)

Regardless, we stand by accuracy, fairness, and independence of journalism and will continue reporting on the Kramnik – Navara case and its tremendous social importance.

Prague International Chess Festival thanks FIDE for taking a clear stance on Kramnik vs Navara

Sergio — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 16:31:36 +0000

Messages of support continue pouring for David Navara. Yestreday we saw the Official Statement of Hetman GKS Katowice Chess Club + Keti Tsatsalashvili , followed by Novy Bor Chess Club comments on the FIDE’s official statement on the Kramnik vs Navara case. Now the Prague International Chess Festival says, “We fully stand behind David Navara. We deeply appreciate the support expressed by FIDE. Thank you for taking a clear stance, and we wish David a swift resolution to the situation!”

Timeline of events

We fully stand behind David Navara. We deeply appreciate the support expressed by @FIDE_chess. Thank you for taking a clear stance, and we wish David a swift resolution to the situation! https://t.co/ePtpQlT8t3
— Prague International Chess Festival (@PragueChess) June 29, 2025

Context (28.05)

Regardless, we stand by accuracy, fairness, and independence of journalism and will continue reporting on the Kramnik – Navara case and its tremendous social importance.

No Castling Chess 2022

Sergio — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 07:50:49 +0000

After the successful start of the No Castling Chess last year, the NC World Masters will be expanded in Dortmund in July 2022: The two world chess champions Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand will meet two more strong grandmasters in a double-round tournament: the winner of the NC Sparkassen Online Open 2021 Krishnan Sasikiran (India) and local hero Daniel Fridman (Germany).

No Castling World Masters 2022 participants:

Viswanathan Anand, 15th World Chess Champion

Vladimir Kramnik, 14th World Chess Champion

Krishnan Sasikiran, Winner Sparkassen NC Online Open 2021

Daniel Fridman, European Team Champion with Germany 2011

In addition, top German players will compete with international grandmasters in the Deutschland Grand Prix. The open tournaments will return as Sparkassen Open A and B, so that every chess enthusiast will have the chance to participate. Together with the Sportland NRW Youth Cups, numerous events will take place from 16 – 24 July 2022 at the Westfalenhallen congress centre in the heart of the Ruhr region.

“After the successful kick-off last year, we are looking forward to a great chess event in the tradition of the 90s. The Duel of the World Champions will be extended and this year we want to offer the framework for large open tournaments again. Our goal is to break the participation record from 1992 with 541 players,” says event director Carsten Hensel, looking ahead to the 49th International Dortmund Chess Days. It is a matter of concern for the entire team to welcome chess players from near and far to Dortmund and to give them the opportunity to experience some of the greatest players of all times up close”.

NC World Masters in focus at its second edition

After winning last year, the 15^thWorld Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand is aiming to defend his title in the innovative mode of “No-Castling Chess”. In the double-round-tournament, he will once again face the 14^th World Chess Champion, Vladimir Kramnik, with classic time control to play. The field of participants will be expanded by the winner of the Sparkassen Online Open 2021 in NC chess, Krishnan Sasikiran from India. The fourth participant is the Ruhr-based German top Grandmaster Daniel Fridman, European Team Champion with Germany in 2011.

“No-Castling Chess” is the brainchild of Vladimir Kramnik, who worked with the world´s leading artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepMind and its system AlphaZero, to explore the possibilities of the variant. DeepMind will once again sponsor the No-Castling Chess 2022.

Games played with the rule change thrilled both players, spectators and players in the online open last year. Demis Hassabis, CEO and founder of DeepMind, said: “It was incredibly exciting to see world-class players like Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand play the No Castle chess variant explored by AlphaZero. The games were fresh and original [with some incredible king travel]. I´m looking forward to watching this year´s expanded tournament in Dortmund and hope the games spark the imaginations of players everywhere.”

Deutschland Grand Prix and NRW Youth Cup

As a second event highlight, the “Deutschland Grand Prix” will be held, just like last year. Young German national players will compete with the extended world elite in classical chess.

Tournament director Andreas Jagodzinsky already has confirmations from last year’s winner Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine) and the strongly performing runner-up Dmitrij Kollars (Germany). A total of seven invited grandmasters will compete in the German Grand Prix. The uneven number of participating players provides a special treat for the chess fans: the player who is not playing will be on site as a co-commentator to provide live commentary on the games in progress. He will then support the main commentator Artur Jussupow (Germany). Jussupow is a great figure in national and international chess, as a top ten player he has reached the semifinals of the World Championships three times and is considered one of the most popular chess trainers and chess authors worldwide.

With the Sportland NRW Cups, two other well-known formats from the previous year will be further developed. Young German talents will be given the opportunity to compete with strong title holders and earn title norms. In addition to a 10-player round robin tournament, a Sportland NRW Girls’ Cup will be held to provide special support for young female players. Both tournaments are supported by the state of NRW and its “Sportland NRW” initiative.

Aimed for record number of participants due to the Sparkassen Open

The association “Initiative Pro Schach” (IPS) with its chairman Stefan Koth and event director Carsten Hensel not only wants to promote top chess, but also to place popular chess within the framework of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy. For this purpose, Sparkassen Open A and B will return this year: both an open A-Open for players with a playing strength of 1900 DWZ/Elo and above and a B-Open for players up to 1900 DWZ/Elo will take place in the congress centre of the Westfalenhallen Dortmund.

Besides tournament director Andreas Jagodzinsky, Christian Jochmann has been won as tournament manager for the organisation of the open tournaments. As the organiser, IPS e.V. is aiming for a new participation record. At the legendary event in 1992 – the 20th International Dortmund Chess Days – a total of 541 participants were at the table at the same location in the various performance classes of the open tournaments: this year, with 600 participants, a new record is being aimed for in Dortmund.

Sparkassen NC Online Open as event kick-off

Already in the run-up to the events on site, a large digital tournament will be offered for the second time: The Sparkassen NC Online Open. It will be accessible worldwide on the servers of lichess.org and will take place in chess without castling and with short time controls. The tournament already featured prominently in 2021 and the winner Sasikiran played his way into the limelight, so that he is now invited to the NC World Masters. The event will give everyone a chance to try their hand at innovative no-castling chess and will provide further exciting insights into the format.

The tournament will be timed ahead of the physical events at Westfalenhallen, likely taking place at lichess.org in May/June 2022. There will be three open preliminary tournaments in the Swiss system. The best players of the preliminary rounds will qualify for the grand final. Further details, including the exact timeline and the announcement, will be announced by IPS in due time.

Live streaming with top-class line-up

Since last year, not only the sporting concept has been revolutionised, but also the entire communication has been intensified together with the aforementioned partners. After the popular interview videos from last year, a high-class live commentary directly from the venue will be added in 2022. Besides Jussupow, Sebastian Hensel as technical director and Patrick Zelbel as press spokesman will take care of the communication. The team will be supported by Fiona Steil-Antoni (Luxembourg). She is not only a strong chess player herself, but also an internationally renowned personality in chess as a commentator, streamer and blogger. Furthermore, the former blindfold chess world record holder Marc Lang and Nicolas Lagassé could be won for the team.

Hygiene concept for a safe event

The regulations in force at the time of the tournament apply and we are bound by them as organisers. Should these make it impossible for individual participants to take part, the organisation will of course refund the entry fee after informing the player before the start of the tournament. If players are travelling from abroad, they are kindly asked to observe the applicable travel regulations and, if applicable, the valid vaccination status.

All further measures will be developed in close cooperation with the venue. A high-performance filter and ventilation system will ensure that the air is changed several times an hour. Sparkassen Open A and B will be separated in time, so that large distances between respective boards are ensured and participants are not seated too close to each other. IPS will keep interested players and visitors regularly informed about the requirements.

As a supporting programme, an evening with the participating stars and invited guests is planned for the rest day, Thursday, 21 July. Sabine Oecking is involved in this as artistic director of the event.

Participation of Russians and Belarusians

In accordance with the practice of the world federation FIDE, the German Chess Federation and comparable tournament organisers, chess players from Russia and Belarus are in principle entitled to start in individual competitions. They then compete under the neutral flag of FIDE.

This applies to participation in the already announced open tournaments and the planned online open in NC format and also to the participation of Belarusians and Russians in the closed tournaments NC World Masters, Deutschland Grand Prix as well as the NRW Youth Cups (boys and girls). All competitions are played in accordance with the relevant practice of the World Federation.

IPS e.V., as organiser, fulfils already existing contracts and agreements according to these standards, as long as German law does not conflict with this procedure.

No Castling Chess – interview with Anand and Kramnik

Sergio — Mon, 24 May 2021 14:49:33 +0000

This summer, as part of the Sparkassen Chess in Dortmund, Viswanathan Anand will play the first match in chess without castling in the duel of the world champions against Vladimir Kramnik. After Vladimir Kramnik had already talked about the special features of the No Castling Chess variation in an exclusive interview, Anand was now the guest and looked ahead to the big match. He also talks about his current projects in the pandemic and explains the personal significance that both Dortmund and Germany in general have for him.

Viswanathan Anand gives exciting insights into his view of the chess world in 2021. He talks about his current projects, explains the exciting format of No Castling Chess and looks ahead to his match against Vladimir Kramnik at the Sparkassen Chess Trophy.

Vishwanathan Anand about No Castling Chess

Vladimir Kramnik about No Castling Chess

Official website of Sparkassen Chess

Two World Champions face-off at Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2021

The chess world is expecting a major highlight in the heart of Germany’s Ruhr region this summer: With Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Viswanathan Anand (India), the 14th and 15th chess world champions will duel in an innovative chess variant at the No-castling (NC) World Masters. In addition, Germany’s top players will compete with international grandmasters at the Deutschland Grand Prix. Both top events, as well as the NRW Youth Cup, will take place from July 13 to 18, 2021, at the Westfalenhallen Congress Center, while the digital Sparkassen Playchess Open will be held online from July 10 to 18, 2021.

Mayor Thomas Westphal: “The Chess Days are experiencing a digital boost. This way, this extraordinary tournament, which involves world champions, grandmasters and top players as well as junior athletes and amateurs alike, will be experienced even more intensively worldwide. Direct participation from anywhere is possible via the digital Open. This fits very well into the era of a digital metropolis. I was very happy to take on the patronage of this internationally renowned tournament, which has been a guarantor of world-class chess for decades. I wish the organizers, who have succeeded in creating a good tournament mix here, every success with this novel format.”

“We are very pleased to return to the Westfalenhallen after a long interval with the first-ever staging of the NC World Masters. Germany’s most prestigious chess tournament provides a worthy setting for a duel of world champions,” says event director Carsten Hensel, looking ahead to the chess highlight of the year.

As in previous years, Sparkasse Dortmund remains on board as title sponsor and co-organizer. Chairman of the board Dirk Schaufelberger: “I note with enthusiasm with how much commitment and innovative conceptions the organizers are at work. Chess, the City and Sparkasse Dortmund – they simply go together!”

The event team is equally pleased about the longstanding support of the city of Dortmund, which has been involved since the first organization of the Chess Days in 1973.

NC World Masters in the spotlight of the chess world

In the duel, quite a novelty will be in the focus of the chess world from July 13 on: With Vladimir Kramnik und Viswanathan Anand two living legends of the international chess scene will play four chess games against each other with classical thinking time, yet without the possibility of castling. The so-called “No-Castling Chess”, an idea explored by the DeepMind AlphaZero team and Vladimir Kramnik, will use this tiny rule change to force players to deviate from memorized opening lines and thus lead to completely new creativity. The game promises to become more dynamic and entertaining without deviating from its familiar rules and patterns.

Demis Hassabis, CEO and founder of DeepMind, the most advanced enterprise in developing Artificial Intelligence said: „When we first introduced AlphaZero, its creative and dynamic style inspired chess players around the world. Now, it’s exciting to see world-class players like Vladimir Kramnik work with AlphaZero to design novel possibilities for the game. I look forward to seeing the No-Castling variant played between two former World Champions, and I hope it will once again inspire players of all levels to explore new possibilities and ideas in chess.“

Both players share an eventful history. Indian Viswanathan Anand became the 15th World Chess Champion in history by winning the 2007 World Chess Championship in Mexico City, replacing Russian Vladimir Kramnik after seven years on the throne. Kramnik, who had defeated Garry Kasparov in a legendary world championship match in the year 2000, held the world title from 2000 to 2007. The two players sat opposite each other again in the 2008 world championship match in Bonn, Germany, where Anand defended the title. The overall record of the two world champions in classical chess is even.

Vladimir Kramnik is the record winner of the Dortmund Chess Days with an outstanding ten tournament victories and is closely associated with the tournament as a representative and envoy. The fact that he will be sitting down at the board in his Dortmund “living room” once again after the end of his career at the beginning of 2019 will make chess fans all over the world particularly happy. Viswanathan Anand is still very active, but he hasn’t competed in the Westphalian metropolis after 2007. At that time he finished in a shared second place behind Kramnik, just three months before his title win in Mexico. The global public will be feverishly awaiting the match between the world champions.

Deutschland Grand Prix and North Rhine-Westphalia Youth Cup

The second event highlight will be the Deutschland Grand Prix, which will also be an integral part of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy in the future. Tournament director Andreas Jagodzinsky is looking forward to a top-class round robin tournament. German national players will compete with the extended world elite. For the first time since 2013, the number of invited grandmasters will be increased to ten again.

The association Initiative Pro Schach (IPS) with its chairman Stefan Koth and event director Carsten Hensel at the helm wants to further develop the Sparkassen Chess Trophy with the new formats and promote top chess in Dortmund. This includes the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) Youth Cup, also planned for July 13 in the Westfalenhallen. This tournament will feature Germany’s strongest young talents in international competition. The event is supported by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with its “Sportland NRW” campaign.

In its 47 editions so far, the International Dortmund Chess Days have contributed to raising Dortmund’s worldwide profile in a positive sense. Apart from the soccer club Borussia Dortmund, there is no single event in Dortmund that sparks greater international media interest year after year than the Sparkassen Chess Trophy.

To ensure that Dortmund can continue to occupy an international position as a chess location, not only is the tournament format being revolutionized, but also the entire communications sector is being intensified together with partners – first and foremost Sparkasse Dortmund, the City of Dortmund and Westfalenhallen. This applies both to the classic public media and to the specialist media, for which Dortmund’s homegrown International Master Patrick Zelbel has been recruited as the new press spokesman. Twenty-seven-year-old Zelbel has set himself the particular task of further developing communication in the field of digital media for the interested target group.

Chess television und Sparkassen Playchess Open on the internet

The ChessBase company, Hamburg, could be won as media partner. As part of this collaboration, the event will undergo a digitization offensive. Not only the chess games played, but also the pictures from the Westfalenhallen will be broadcast live all over the world. Guido Kohlen will work with his team as technical director together with ChessBase on the live broadcast and interview formats for the worldwide public.

This cooperation will lead to a fourth major event entitled Sparkassen Playchess Open. An open tournament will be offered, which will be held online under the umbrella of the event and will start already on July 10. It will be a tournament with high numbers of participants from all over the world in the innovative “no-castling“ chess, which can also provide trend-setting insights in this format. The background for the digitalization of the Sparkassen Playchess Open is the corona pandemic. Under the leadership of Christian Jochmann, a “hygiene concept” is continuously being developed and updated in this context. This is being done in close cooperation with the Westfalenhallen and the health authorities.

Digitization offensive and hygiene concept

“We want to try everything to avoid another cancellation of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy due to the pandemic,” says Carsten Hensel. This includes the digitalization of certain areas such as the Open. The circumstances are currently highly problematic for all organizers. However, there would also be opportunities for the Chess Days, for example to accelerate the digitization of this event, which was intended anyway. Hensel continues: “What we would otherwise have achieved in two or three years in the area of broadcasting chess TV, we are now trying to implement in 4-5 months. Not everything will be perfect by then, but we are on the right track.”

The event in Dortmund will be designed under the best possible hygiene conditions in the Westfalenhallen. A powerful filter and ventilation system will ensure that the air is exchanged several times an hour. Due to the reduced number of players, large distances will be maintained between the participants. In addition, plexiglass screens will be placed between the opponents so that every conceivable safety precaution will be taken against Covid-19. FFP2 masks and disinfectants will be provided to all participants, organizers and reporters. Testing must be carried out and possible quarantines of foreign players must be observed.

Whether the Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2021 – 48th International Dortmund Chess Days – can be opened to the general public is rather unlikely under the given circumstances. “If at all, we can only decide that in case of a very favourable pandemic development and immediately before the event. At the moment, however, it rather doesn’t look like that,” says Stefan Koth.

On Friday, July 16, an evening with the participating stars is planned as part of the supporting program, which will be held on a small scale due to the pandemic. Sabine Oecking from Munich, who has chosen Dortmund, is involved with the artistic direction of the event and would like to create some space for the subject of art even under the extraordinary circumstances.

Vladimir Kramnik ends his chess career

Goran — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 12:30:02 +0000

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik (43) has just announced that he will end his career as a professional chess player. Kramnik was world champion from 2000 until 2007. He dethroned Garry Kasparov by beating him 8.5 – 6.5 in 2000. Kramnik didn’t lose a single game during this world championship match. He has won virtually all top tournaments, most notably ten clear of shared victories in Dortmund.

Kramnik: “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.”

Vladimir Kramnik (photo by A.Karlovich)

“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.”

Vladimir Kramnik developed a training program for the chess section of Sirius Educational Center in Sochi, the elite Russian establishment for talented children.

“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.”

Jeroen van den Berg, director of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament: “I am honoured that Vladimir Kramnik has picked the Tata Steel Chess Tournament to be his last. I would have liked to see him to take leave with a better result, though. Vladimir is a great player. He is dynamic, all-round and a great fighter with a very keen insight. But above all he is a wonderful and warm person, with a great sense of humour. I will miss his presence in the top of the chess world, as will many chess aficionados all over the world. I wish him all the best with everything he is going to undertake and am sure our paths will cross again many more times.”

In the past weeks Kramnik participated in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. This afternoon he will play the Tata Steel Chess simultaneous (Torentje Schaak) Tata Steel has organised for members of parliament and journalists in the parliament building in The Hague. This simultaneous is always the last event of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament.

Kramnik was recently appointed member of FIDE Planning and Development Commission (PDC).

Vladimir Kramnik nominated for FIDE Candidates Tournament

Goran — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 08:53:28 +0000

World Chess, the organizer of the 2018 FIDE World Chess Candidates Tournament, nominated GM Vladimir Kramnik (Russian Federation) as a wildcard choice for the Candidates Tournament that will take place in Berlin, Germany on March 10-28, 2018.

World Chess and FIDE have decided to issue its wildcard nomination before the final leg of the World Chess Grand Prix Series in consideration of the fact that should the wildcard choice be announced, it might affect the preparation and determination of players who are fighting for the Candidates qualification via the Grand Prix Series.

Ilya Merenzon, World Chess CEO, said: “We believe that inviting Mr. Kramnik to the Candidates will make the Tournament line-up the strongest possible and will ensure the choice of the best challenger to incumbent World Champion, Magnus Carlsen”.

Vladimir Kramnik

Vladimir Kramnik, 14th World Chess Champion, said: “I’d like to thank everyone who helped my nomination to the Candidates. Usually, the chess world’s attention is drawn to the tournament and taking part in it is a challenge for any grandmaster. I hope to show worthy performance and fight for first prize!”

Andrey Filatov, President of the Russian Chess Federation said: “I am pleased that FIDE and World Chess had selected Kramnik. For over 20 years he is in the top three world’s strongest chess players, and for seven years he’s been the World Champion. Kramnik is extremely popular among chess players and will his participation will certainly generate additional attention and drama.

Now Russia has at least two players who have a chance to become the challenger to the incumbent World Champion. With a bit of luck, the third contender, Alexander Grischuk, can join them. I very much hope that a Russian chess player will ‘capture Berlin’ and will face Magnus Carlsen in the Match in November of 2018”.

The World Chess Candidates will take place at Kühlhaus Berlin (Luckenwalder Str. 3, Berlin, Germany) on March 10—28, 2018. The prize fund will total €420,000, or an estimated $500,000 at the current exchange rate. In addition to €420,000, the prize will also include 10% of the pay-per-view revenues from the event.

More information

Kramnik to take the number 1 spot from Carlsen in Dortmund?

Sergio — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 13:16:17 +0000

Vladimir Kramnik loves playing in Dortmund, he has won the title ten times, the most successful player of the event.

Who is number 1 in chess according to ratings? This question has not been a central topic of conversation in chess circles for years. For 73 rating lists Magnus Carlsen has dominated the FIDE rankings, with spectacular performances and convincing wins.

But for the past several months a wind of change is in the air. Carlsen’s rating has gone on a slight but steady decrease, while his opposition is making huge leaps in a race towards the top. Within 22 ELO points of Carlsen are five players, all above 2800 ELO – GM Vladimir Kramnik, GM Wesley So, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Levon Aronian, and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

The one that will first have a shot at the number 1 spot from the chasing pack is the ex Wold Champion Vladimir Kramnik. He is just 10 ELO points behind Carlsen and he is playing an event which starts this week – the Dortmund Chess Sparkassen Meeting 2017.

Dortmund Chess 2017 will be an eight player single round robin event that will take place from 15-23rd July. It includes GM Vladimir Kramnik, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, GM Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu, GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek, GM Dmitry Andreikin, GM Wang Yue, GM Vladimir Fedoseev, and GM Matthias Blubaum.

Live games with analysis will be daily on Chessdom and you can follow the event on the ChessArena android application for mobile phones.

The big battle Carlsen vs Kramnik started long time ago. Exactly this clash was the basis of Carlsen winning his first World Title in India. To reach the right to challenge the throne, Magnus had to go through the Candidates tournament in London. His main opponent there was Kramnik and in the dramatic last round Kramnik had all the chances to win the event and misplayed it all in the final game.

Carlsen reached his best rating in May 2014. At that point in time the young Norwegian boasted the impressive 2882 ELO points and the question was not if anyone will overtake him, rather can Carlsen break the 2900 barrier.

Carlsen has been 73 times on the top of the rating list. Kramnik on the other hand was first in the rating list of FIDE only twice – for the first time in January 1996 and for the last time in January 2008. However, he achieved his peak rating very recently – in October 2016 at the age of 41.

In Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting GM Vladimir Kramnik has the chance to regain the number 1 position in the FIDE rating list. Will he take this chance or the strong opposition from the French GM Vachier-Lagrave, the German top player Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, or the Chinese rock Wang Yue, can stop Kramnik’s steady walk to the top.

Dortmund Chess 2017 pairings

Round 1, 15. July, 15 hours CET
Nisipeanu – Blübaum
Vachier-Lagrave – Wojtaszek
Wang Yue – Andreikin
Kramnik – Fedoseev

Round 2, 16. July, 15 hours CET
Blübaum – Fedoseev
Andreikin – Kramnik
Wojtaszek – Wang Yue
Nisipeanu – Vachier-Lagrave

Round 3, 18. July, 15 hours CET
Vachier-Lagrave – Blübaum
Wang Yue – Nisipeanu
Kramnik – Wojtaszek
Fedoseev – Andreikin

Round 4, 19. July, 15 hours CET
Blübaum – Andreikin
Wojtaszek – Fedoseev
Nisipeanu – Kramnik
Vachier-Lagrave – Wang Yue

Round 5, 21. July, 15 hours CET
Wang Yue – Blübaum
Kramnik – Vachier-Lagrave
Fedoseev – Nisipeanu
Andreikin – Wojtaszek

Round 6, 22. July, 15 hours CET
Blübaum – Wojtaszek
Nisipeanu – Andreikin
Vachier-Lagrave – Fedoseev
Wang Yue – Kramnik

Round 7, 23. July, 13 hours CET
Kramnik – Blübaum
Fedoseev – Wang Yue
Andreikin – Vachier-Lagrave
Wojtaszek – Nisipeanu

Karpov and Kramnik on street signs in Paris

Goran — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 04:25:20 +0000

The streets in the Paris suburb of Asnières-sur-Seine will have the names of former World Champions Anatoly Karpov and Vladimir Kramnik.

The city council adopted the proposal of Mayor Manuel Aeschlimann, a long time chess fan.

“Russian players have always been among the best players in the world, consistently achieving brilliant victories in international tournaments and are great example for young people.” – Manuel Aeschlimann said.

Last year Anatoly Karpov personally was in Asnières-sur-Seine to hold a simultaneous exhibition with the students of the local chess club in the framework of the Days of Moscow in the French capital.

Vladimir Kramnik lives in Paris and is married to French journalist Marie-Laure Germon.

Anatoly Karpov simul in Normandy 4

Vladimir Putin opens Chess section at Sirius Center in Sochi

Goran — Wed, 11 May 2016 12:56:48 +0000

On May 10th a new Chess section has opened at the Sirius Educational Center in Sochi. The launch of the project was announced by Chairman of the Center’s Board of Trustees, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, who wished the youngsters and teachers success in mastering the new programme, under which pupils gifted at chess from all around Russia will improve their skills.

The programme’s opening ceremony was attended by Sirius Center Head Elena Shmeleva, the programme’s author – former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik, President of the Russian Chess Federation Andrey Filatov, pupils and teaching staff of the Center.

Sirius is a unique educational center set up by the Talent and Success Educational Fund on the initiative of the Russian President and based at the Sochi Olympic facilities. The main purpose of the project is to identify, develop and provide professional support for children demonstrating gifts in technical creativity, art, the natural sciences and sport. When he opened the Center in September 2015, Vladimir Putin stated that Sirius must become the key link in our nation-wide system for supporting talented youngsters, serving as a benchmark for all regions; it must set modern standards for schools specialising in specific subjects, for educational institutions under leading higher educational establishments, ballet and art, sports and music colleges and schools.

Speaking at the school opening ceremony, the President of the Russian Federation noted that eminent Russian chess players would help train new grand masters. “I am convinced that, at Sirius, they will definitely reveal their talents,” he said. “I would really like future world champions to come from Sirius.” The head of state went on to say that the Russian chess school was outstanding. “…Chess survived and helped people survive the Great Patriotic War. Yesterday we celebrated the 71st Anniversary of the Victory but, in 1942, when the Battle of Stalingrad had only just begun, a chess tournament was held in Moscow. This is simply amazing, astounding, difficult to imagine”. He added that, even in Leningrad during the blockade, they played chess. “This shows that our country always paid attention to chess and chess always helped the country,” Putin stressed.

Today Sirius runs programmes for young mathematicians, physicists, biologists, chemists, musicians, dancers, artists and sportsmen. The teaching is organised in shifts and includes lessons in the speciality and general education subjects. Chess if the third sports discipline at Sirius, alongside figure skating and ice-hockey. The programme, developed with the active participation of the Russian Chess Federation, is a project in which the advanced Sirius educational practices are combined with the chess school of the ness Russian grand masters.

Pupils throughout the country that have demonstrated outstanding abilities in chess will be trained according to a proprietary methodology developed by former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik under the guidance of Grand Masters Konstantin Sakaev, Vladimir Belikov, Alexander Raetskiy and international Master Mikhail Shereshevskiy. The programme lasts 24 study days. This year, chess shifts at Sirius will be conducted in May, June, August, October and December. Each month, the Center will take 16 young chess-players. In May, 9 schoolboys and 7 schoolgirls from 14 regions of the country will take part in the programme. Programme participants are selected on the basis of results of the Russian, European and world championships and the FIDE rating. The best of those who complete the Sirius chess sections in 2016 will have a chance to take part in the World Championship among school pupils in Sochi in December.

During the opening ceremony of the new chess section, games of multi-board chess were held by World Champions Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Kostenyuk and World Champion title contender Sergey Karyakin for the chess course pupils and other Sirius pupils. The participants in the ceremony also visited the exhibitions Chess at War and Chess and Music, organised by the Chess Museum of the Russian Chess Federation.

“The Chess programme at the Sirius Center is continuing the best traditions of chess training in Russia. Talented young chess players will gather in Sochi from all over the country in order to improve their chess skills and, in the future, worthily represent Russia at international chess championships,” Russian Chess Federation President Andrey Filatov announced. “Today, the RCF is endeavouring to set up grand master schools outside Moscow and St. Petersburg, to make chess training as accessible as possible for youngsters in different parts of the country. This will make it possible not only to have professional young players develop the necessary skills and to train future champions, but also to draw a greater number of school pupils into the ranks of chess fans. Chess is a very beneficial sport, allowing us to bring up a clever, thinking generation. On behalf of all the country’s chess players, I want to express sincere gratitude to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin for the attention he focuses on our game and for supporting the initiatives to open the chess section at Sirius. I would like to thank everyone who has participated in bringing this idea to life and I hope that, in the future, such projects will be implemented in many other cities of our country.”

“We are very pleased that such a multi-faceted sports discipline as chess has become part of our Center: in form – competition, in content – art, in complexity – science. The collaboration between Sirius and the Russian Chess Federation is extremely close, the result being an unparalleled training programme. The section pupils will experience a unique educational programme, giving them an opportunity to receive advice from several top world chess players at once,” Sirius Center Head Elena Shmeleva noted.

The initiators of the new Chess programme at Sirius are convinced that the joint efforts will help popularise children’s chess as a sport, develop the necessary skills in professional young players and draw other pupils of the Center into the ranks of chess fans.

For reference

Talent and Success Educational Fund (the Fund) was established in December 2014 by eminent Russian scientists, sportsmen and members of the arts on the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, who headed the Board of Trustees. The aim of the Fund consists in early identification, development and subsequent professional support of gifted children in the spheres of the arts, sport, and the natural sciences, as well as those with achievements in technical creativity. The Fund operates with the support and co-ordination of the Ministries of Education and Science, of Sport and of Culture of the Russian Federation.

For the purpose of achieving the Fund’s goals, in June 2015, the Sirius Educational Center was opened in Sochi at the Olympic facilities. Each month, up to 600 pupils 10 to 17 year-olds come to the Center, accompanied by more than 100 teachers and trainers, who undergo further training there.

The educational programme lasts 24 days and includes lessons in the special subject and training sessions (enhanced, specialised training), developmental and health-focused leisure pursuits, master classes and creative meetings, and during the academic year – general subject lessons constituting part of the school programme.

The lessons are given by leading teachers of sports, physics and maths, chemistry and biology schools, members of the Russian arts community in the sphere of academic music, classical ballet and the fine arts. The lectures and master classes at the Center are given by outstanding sportsmen, members of the arts, scientists and lecturers from leading higher educational institutions.

The Center’s programmes are free of charge for school children.

There are educational programmes covering three spheres:
• Science (maths, physics, chemistry and biology);
• Sport (figure skating, ice-hockey and chess);
• Art (academic music (piano, strings, wind and percussion instruments), choreography (ballet, classical dance) and painting).

Selection criteria

The participants in the chess classes at the Sirius Educational Center will be chosen from among 10-17-year-old talented young chess players of the Russian Federation studying in the 5th to 11th classes in Russia’s general educational institutions who have achieved high results in all-Russia and international competitions.

The following results will be taken into consideration in the selection:
• Results at the latest Russian championship – not below 6th place;
• Results at the latest World and European championships – not below 10th place;
• FIDE rating – not below 20th place in the world in their age group;
• High results at major international and all-Russia competitions;
• A rise in FIDE rating since the previous year – from 100 points ELO or higher.

A candidate that meets one of the above criteria may be invited to take part in training meets. On the basis of the overall results, a list will be drawn up of sportsmen invited by order of priority.

The list of sportsmen is agreed with the chief trainer of the chess team of the Russian Federation, the RCF trainers’ council and the children’s and young people’s commission of the RCF and is then approved by the members of the Expert Council.

Russian Chess Federation (RCF) is a public non-profit organisation that brings together individuals and chess federation of republics, territories, regions, federal cities, autonomous regions and autonomous areas of the Russian Federation. RCF activities are aimed at the development and popularisation of chess in the Russian Federation. RCF was established on February 15, 1992. The management bodies of the Russian Chess Federation are the Congress and the Supervisory Board of the Russian Chess Federation. The Board of Trustees of the Russian Chess Federation is a collegial advisory and consultative body, acting on a voluntary basis.

RCF organises the annual nationwide White Castle Children’s Chess Tournament for Schools, the Russian Chess Championship and numerous other chess competitions. The Federation’s Chess in Museums initiative has been running successfully in Russia since 2012.

RCF initiates and implements chess development programmes, including those targeting children, and promotes expansion of the network of chess clubs and sections in the regions. RCF manages individual and team competitions in Russia, organises participation of Russian players in international competitions, promotes Russian chess in the international arena, and develops sporting links with national chess federations, national and international organizations, including FIDE.