Vladimir Kramnik---World Chess Champion 2005-2008
Newly anointed World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik scarcely had time to revel in the fact that he was champion. The rematch against Kasparov was scheduled just three months after he claimed the title. Kasparov’s team advised him to hold off on having the rematch so quickly in order to familiarize himself better with the database technology. Kasparov refused believing that Kramnik’s win over him was merely a fluke. Team Kramnik was elated for a quicker rematch and believed that Kasparov’s ego was pushing him into a fatal mistake. Kramnik’s team proved right in their analysis when, three months later, Kramnik once again easily defeated Kasparov by a score of 6.5 (five wins and three draws) to 3.5 (two wins and three draws). Kasparov attended the awards ceremony but stayed only long enough for Kramnik to be declared champion and left immediately afterwards.
After defeating Kasparov in 2005 the quest began again the following year for a new challenger to face Kramnik. In the meantime Kramnik embarked on a quest of his own greatness by entering and winning all the Majors in 2006. That particular feat had not been accomplished since Kasparov had done so in 1992. By the time of the Candidate Knockout Tournament in 2007 Kramnik was sitting at number one atop the FIDE rankings. The Candidate Knockout Tournament featured the strongest field ever seen in the history of the tournament. Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Teimour Radjabov, Gata Kamsky, Boris Gelfand, Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, and Levon Aronian. This field was a mix of old and new powerhouses in the game of chess. The absolutely odds on favorite tournament was, rather surprisingly, Viswanathan Anand. Anand was considered by many to be the best player to have never been called World Champion. Anand’s path to the final saw him defeat Gata Kamsky in round one, and Magnus Carlsen in the semi-finals. His opponent in the final was Garry Kasparov who defeated Boris Gelfand in the opening round, and Teimour Radjabov in the semi-finals. Kasparov vs. Anand was a dream match that many thought would never take place. This match featured the East vs. The Far East as both men represented the top tier of talent in their prospective regions. When the dust settled from this titanic matchup Anand emerged as the victor beating Kasparov by a full point. Shortly after the conclusion of the tournament Kasparov issues a press release stating that he was retiring from competitive chess and focusing on improving the quality of life for the citizens of mother Russia.
2008 World Chess Championship---Cairo, Egypt
Game 1
Vladimir Kramnik (white pieces) vs. Viswanathan Anand (black pieces) 0.5-0.5
Game 2
Viswanathan Anand (white pieces) vs. Vladimir Kramnik (black pieces) 1-0
Game 3
Vladimir Kramnik (white pieces) vs. Viswanathan Anand (black pieces) 0.5-0.5
Game 4
Viswanathan Anand (white pieces) vs. Vladimir Kramnik (black pieces) 0.5-0.5
Game 5
Vladimir Kramnik (white pieces) vs. Viswanathan Anand (black pieces) 1-0
Game 6
Viswanathan Anand (white pieces) vs. Vladimir Kramnik (black pieces) 0.5-0.5
Game 7
Vladimir Kramnik (white pieces) vs. Viswanathan Anand (black pieces) 0-1
Game 8
Viswanathan Anand (white pieces) vs. Vladimir Kramnik (black pieces) 1-0
Vladimir Kramnik-----3
Viswanthan Anand-5
This world championship match was the longest chess match on record. 527 moves were made and the total running time for the match was thirty-three hours and twenty one minutes long. This new record was a result of both players playing style of high analysis and continual probing of potential chess lines in order to find the smallest advantage to exploit. In the end Anand really won the championship in game 7 which forced Kramnik to play for the win in game 8 using the black pieces. His strategy had already been set for him and Anand was well prepared to meet any potential attack.