Taking corrective measures

BY SHARING the first place in the 17th City of Linares Chess Tournament, former World No.1 ranked Vladimir Kramnik of Russia reached a milestone in his career.

In Germany he is called the `King of Dortmund' for the titles he won there. The year 1996 was dominated by him and 2000 looks bright that he is taking certain corrective measures to advance.

Kramnik who lives in Moscow, was a discovery of the Manila Olympiad 1992. He is tall, a chain smoker and once worked as trainer of Kasparov in the 1995 world championship match against Anand. Today, he is challenging these two players. His understanding of chess is no less than them and he is catching up in learning the theory part which separates the three.

In an exclusive chat the 1975-born Kramnik answered a number of questions.

Question: Congratulations on your first category 21 victory. Is part of your ambition over?

Answer: I never won in Linares and wanted to win it atleast once. I have won all traditional tournaments before this one. This was the one I could not win. It was very important for me. I feel much better now.

Q: How much of work went behind this success?

A: Lot of work as everyone did. It is clear everybody works a lot, especially the top players. I was working a lot too. It is hard to say in hours and days because I worked permanently all my life. Before Linares I was working on my physical shape, openings, theory and many other things. My preparation was not perfect, but enough to win this tournament.

Q: Do you think Kasparov's form and the general low-scoring nature of the tournament helped you.

A: In a way yes. But I predicted that plus three (three wins, rest draws or 6.5/10) would win the tournament, or even plus two as it happened. It is not a matter of Kasparov's form. It is very difficult to win a game in this tournament. Everybody is tough, defends very well, having good opening preparation. Kasparov was winning at Wijk aan Zee. That was a different story. There he beat players with 2650 rating. Actually he did not beat me, Anand or Leko. He was getting huge advantage out of the openings. Here he could not get that advantage. I was sure he would not win much here. This was quite predictable. In this tournament, the way he played, he should be happy with plus two (6/10). From the way his games were going it was a good result for him. I was satisfied with my play and the result but not the number of points. I think I should have got at least half a point or may be one point more. I was winning by force against Leko and had a huge advantage against Khalifman in the endgame. Even in the last round I was better against Leko and spoilt my chances. In general I am satisfied with this tournament.

Q: How do you see the large number of draws (23/30) in the tournament?

A: I know that it is a problem. If the six best players are there in one tournament it can happen. But chess is a mathematical game. It is a drawish game (laughs). It should normally end in a draw. There are good resources to make a draw. If a player is very strong, he uses the resources. You should not compare it with football or tennis. We were fighting. There was no game where there was no fight - may be one or two. Not my game, I was fighting every game. I understand it was a bit too much.

Players were winning, losing and they make a draw. It was not because they were afraid. You could see lots of fights. Leko was winning against Shirov with white and Shirov was winning Leko with white and there were two draws. It was more by accident I think. There are many football matches which end in brilliant draws. If it is boring then it is a problem. I think many draws were okay. For normal people who may not like it, what can I say, it happened this way.

Q: Were you surprised by Khalifman's performance?

A: His performance was quite good. He had a difficult tournament. He had suspicious positions against me, Kasparov, Leko. He did a good job. At least in this tournament he showed he could fight against the strongest players of the world. He needs one more test to show that he is one of the top players. I hope he would get invitations to more tournaments and after three-four tournaments one can come to some conclusion as to where he stands. It is too early to say that he is a real top player. I agree that he is a very strong player. But he needs more exposure.

Q: You and Kasparov played the best game of the tournament. Did you come pre-determined to beat him with white or it just happened at the board?

A: You see it is not like this for me. If I play white, I play for a win against any opponent and I don't care who. If I play black, I play my game, I am satisfied with a draw. It is very difficult to win with black. I never go predetermined like this. I just play every game. I stop thinking that with this I make a draw, with this I play for a win, etc. The game was very complicated. It was a big fight. At some point it could be a boring game. I may try to win it technically. I don't decide what to do prior to going there. I play logical moves which I see. If it is logical to change queens I would do it. It does not reflect on my thinking prior to the game.

Q: How did you choose Miguel Illescas as your second? How long is your association with him? Normally people choose Russian trainers. Is it not strange for a Russian to choose a Spaniard?

A: First, I know him for a long time since 1993 and have very good relationship. I have had him in previous years too and was satisfied with the work he did and decided to have him again. If he can work well then why not a Spanish player?

Q: How would you react if someone came up with an idea for a match: Kramnik versus Kasparov?

A: There is no room for for such talk at the moment. It is clear I played one good tournament and will probably be No. 2 in the world by rating. I don't like the idea if someone wins a tournament and starts talking about a match with Kasparov. In fact I believe there should be some fair qualification system. That is the only way to bring some credibility and interest. I would like to fight for his title but unfortunately see no reason at the moment to talk about that.

Q: What do you think of Kasparov's gesture to give the trophy to you?

A: Prestige of winning means much more than taking the trophy. It was clear to him and me that both should be announced the winner. We had equal results. Imagine one of us losing the title on the spin of coin. Our decision was normal. On his giving up the trophy, I can understand he has many at home and this is my first one (laughs).

Q: What is your immediate programme and how do you see the next FIDE World Championship coming up?

A: I have no idea what is going on with the FIDE World Championship. As far as I am concerned it is not announced. If it is held I will play.

Q: Were you satisfied with the payments which got delayed (from Las Vegas)?

A: What can I do? If there is a very good choice I can decide. You cannot blame FIDE. They tried to do something for chess. They made many mistakes also. It was not serious but it doesn't add any prestige to them. I am also against the knock out system. It is not for chess. Under the circumstances I will look for a choice. If there is no choice - I am a professional player, I want to become a world champion - I will play in the FIDE Championship.

I will play at Sarajevo in May, Frankfurt in June, Dortmund in July. Most probably I will not play in the Olympiad. Because we - all the top players - have big problems with the Russian Chess Federation.

Q: Do you train in Russia?

A: I would not say so. I work with different chess players like sparring partners. Like Bareev, sometimes Sakaev and some others. There are many players. I prefer this system of working.

Q: Is it because it is mutually beneficial?

A: Yes, yes. The people who work with me benefit more than me (laughs). It is not like a professional doing his job. But it is much better if he needs to find an idea himself, the work is much more productive I believe. There is a risk that somebody (one of the sparring partners) else may use the idea first. You must sacrifice something on the way. This way I worked with Bareev before the Linares Tournament and I think it was very productive. I think I would do it again.

Q: You spoke about lack of energy at Wijk aan Zee. How did you overcome it or how are you managing to overcome it?

A: Of course I have this problem but everybody else has it too. It was better in Linares because it was only ten rounds. There is also additional stimulation because I was fighting for first place seriously. This gave me some support.

Generally it is happening in many tournaments I was losing first place because I was making mistakes at the end of the tournament. Mainly not winning from good positions and stuff like that. I think there is room for improvement in this area. I notice that if I am more energetic at the end I will win more first places.

Q: Why should top chess players say `no' to drug testing? Are some already using it?

A: No. I don't know. I don't care if they do it or not. Chess is a different kind of sport. Also chess is not completely sport. It is a mental sport. Chess has a longer duration, it is not like taking a drug and running faster. If you try it you may die at 30. You have long tournaments, long games, it is not decided in a few seconds. I can tell you, nobody is using it.

To stop drinking coffee, tea, taking medicine for flu will affect us. If they take such decision, let them go ahead. Then I don't care and don't see any point behind it.

Q: Are you saying chess players can take drugs and still play? GM Elizbar Ubilava wrote in his Gambitomagazine that before the final game in Karpov- Kasparov, World Championship match at Seville 1987, he and other members of his team (of Karpov) were given pills to get rid of tiredness. He was told that Soviet Cosmonauts used to take such things. He wrote that within seconds of taking it he was feeling `like flying'.

A: If somebody is using let them do so. I think nobody would do it. People understand it is bad for health. If chess is important, health is more important. I will not see myself handicapped if my opponent does it. Okay, if they do it it should be anti these strong stuff which makes you fly, not the coffee and tea. The problem is they want to copy from other sports and this should not be done.

ARVIND AARON

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