Mark Crowther interviews Vladimir Kramnik

The Brains in Bahrain match between Vladimir Kramnik and Deep Fritz takes place 2nd-22nd October 2002. Delayed by a year due to the events of September 11th it marks the start of a busy and important year for Vladimir Kramnik. I interviewed Kramnik by phone on Sunday 15th September and wanted to know about the upcoming match, his poor form at the Russia vs. The World Match and how he sees his immediate future.

I kicked off asking about the Man-Machine match. "Are you going to win?"

"You only have to wait one month to find out. I will do my best. Its not my style to say I'm going to win. The match is going to be hard. I understand its going to be difficult but I can win."

Kramnik added that his team for the match will be Christopher Lutz, a German IM who will help him with technical matters and a physical trainer. I brought up the instability in the region and the outside possibility that the match might get caught up in US action as pressure is being stepped up against Iraq. He didn't think this would be a problem but added "I try not to worry about things that are beyond my control."

Kramnik been preparing for the Deep Fritz match. "I spent the second half of August preparing..." he said. He added that how you have to think differently when you're playing against and computer than you do against human opponents and that it isn't that easy to switch from one to another. Kramnik only had a few days to prepare for the Russia vs. The World Match. "I only had a few days to get used to playing humans again and it is not easy." He stressed too that after the match finishes he will not be ready to play until mid-November.

Were you and Kasparov distracted in Moscow with any off the board matters, maybe negotiations we perhaps don't know about?

"No, there were no negotiations. I can't speak for Kasparov but for me there were some reasons. I played with a temperature throughout the match." He added that because they trailed throughout "I had to play, had to try but I didn't even play to half my strength."

On to the future and his important year ahead. Kramnik will play Wijk aan Zee and then in April or May will defend his title against Peter Leko. So what about last year and his plans?

"The circumstances of the last year have not been great. I couldn't play much. After a few weeks off from Mid-November I will be looking for any strong tournament to play. I will play in Wijk and possibly Linares..." although he added that Linares might prove to be impossible as it may finish too close to the start of his match against Leko. "Its a bit difficult but I want to play as much as possible. I would love to play in December."

Is it possible there might be a tournament in Paris?

"Possible" but he added that nothing was settled there. "The match against Leko will be a difficult match. I may play some training matches. I don't know."

So how do you rate Peter Leko?

"It will involve complex preparation. It will be much more serious chess it will be really very tough I know this for sure."

With having so much time off have you been doing a lot of work on things we haven't seen?

"Of course I have worked on fresh and new ideas. Work is going on. It will be more intensive as the Leko match comes closer. Work on my chess is permanent."

I put it to Kramnik that with preparation Leko might be even stronger than he is now by the time of the match.

"Leko is already very strong. He was a very convincing winner in Dortmund. By the time of the first game he is going to be even better. He is young and motivated and will play an even better level than now."

Are you looking forward to next year?

"Yes. Last year was a strange year. Astana was cancelled which is a fine event although I'm sure it will come back. I couldn't play Dortmund my normal winning event. After last year's strange year I'm looking forward to a more normal year. I have a strange feeling I'm going to do well. I've worked hard on chess and other aspects of my life in the last year."

Next year could be very important for the way you are regarded in chess history. Do you think about that?

"No, I don't think about my place in chess history. Its not a good way to think. I want to play chess well, win and play good games. But this doesn't bother me. "

What about the new generation?

"Its a very interesting time, we're having a small revolution. There are so many young players, of course Ponomariov, but also Grischuk, Radjabov and Volokitin (very good). For me it is very pleasant to see. Its not because I dislike my old opponents." He added that he had already played a lot of games against some of his current rivals and that "The youngsters are eager to beat you and they provide an additional challenge. There will certainly be more names in the future. I'm also pretty sure I will stay at the top. There are many things I can still teach them!"