Anand vs. Kramnik: Backround Information

Anand vs. Kramnik should provide the most entertaining chess we have seen in quite some time. Below is a comparison of the achievements of these two chess titans.

 

Vladimir Kramnik’s achievements
(source: www.vladimirkramnik.com

 
* 1990 Russian Championship, Kuibyshev (classical) I
* 1991 World Championship (U18), Guarapuav (classical) I
* 1992 Chalkidiki (classical) 7.5/11 I
* 1993 Belgrade (classical) 6/9 II
* 1993 Interzonal Tournament, Biel (classical) 8.5/13 II
* 1994 Overall result PCA Intel Grand Prix’94 I
* 1995 Dortmund (classical) 7/9 I
* 1995 Horgen (classical) 7/10 I-II
* 1995 Belgrade (classical) 8/11 I-II
* 1996 Monaco 16/22 I
* 1996 Dos Hermanas (classical) 6/9 I-II
* 1996 Dortmund (classical) 7/9 I-II
* 1997 Dos Hermanas (classical) 6/9 I-II
* 1997 Dortmund (classical) 6.5/9 I
* 1997 Tilburg (classical) 8/11 I-III
* 1998 Wijk aan Zee (classical) 8.5/13 I-II
* 1998 Dortmund (classical) 6/9 I-III
* 1998 Monaco (blindfold and rapidplay) 15/22 I
* 1999 Monaco (blindfold and rapidplay) 14.5/22 I
* 2000 Linares (classical) 6/10 I-II
* 2000 Dortmund (classical) 6/9 I-II
* 2000 Classical World Chess Championship: Match Kramnik vs. Kasparov 8.5:6.5
* 2001 Match Kramnik vs. Leko (rapidplay) 7.0:5.0
* 2001 Monaco (blindfold and rapidplay) 15/22 I-II
* 2001 Match Kramnik vs. Anand (rapidplay) 5.0:5.0
* 2001 Dortmund (classical 6th win!) 6.5/10 I-II
* 2002 Advanced Chess Match (computer usage allowed) Kramnik vs. Anand (Leon) 3.5:2.5
* 2002 Man vs. Machine (Bahrain) 4.0:4.0
* 2003 Linares (classical) 7.0/12 I-II
* 2003 Dortmund (classical) 5.5/10 II-III
* 2003 Cap d’Agde (France)
* 2003 Rapid World Chess Championships 8.5/13 II
* 2004 Handicap Simul (classical)
* 2004 Kramnik vs. National Team of Germany 2.5:1.5
* 2004 Linares (classical) 7.0/12 I
* 2004 Monaco (Overall result) 14.5/22 I-II
* 2006 Gold medal at Turin Olympiad with overall best performance (2847) 7/10
* 2006 Dortmund (classical) 4.5/7 I
* 2006 FIDE World Chess Championship: Match Kramnik vs. Topalov 6.0:6.0 (2.5:1.5 tiebreaks)

 

World championship matches and qualifiers

* PCA Quarterfinals, June 1994, New York, Kramnik-Gata Kamsky (1.5-4.5).
* FIDE Quarterfinals, January 1994 Wijk aan Zee, Kramnik-Leonid Yudasin (4.5-2.5).
* FIDE Semifinals, August 1994 Sanghi Nagar, Kramnik-Boris Gelfand (3.5-4.5).
* WCC Candidates, 1998, Carzola, Kramnik-Alexei Shirov (3.5-5.5).
* FIDE Knockout, July 1999, Las Vegas, Kramnik-Tiviakov (1.5-0.5); Kramnik-Victor Korchnoi (1.5-0.5); Kramnik-Veselin Topalov (3-1, including rapid playoff); Kramnik-Michael Adams (Quarterfinal) (2-4, including rapid playoff).
* Classical World Chess Championship 2000, London, Kramnik-Garry Kasparov (8.5-6.5)
* Classical World Chess Championship 2004, Brissago, Kramnik-Péter Lékó (7-7), Kramnik retains.
* FIDE World Chess Championship 2006, Elista, Kramnik-Topalov (6-6, 2.5-1.5 rapid playoff), Kramnik unifies the title

Viswanathan Anand’s achievements

(source: http://www.niit.com/vishy/career.htm)
1991

Won Reggio Emilia Chess Tournament (Category 18) ahead of Kasparov and Karpov in the strongest tournament ever held until this time.
1992
Won the Alekhine Memorial (Category 18) in Moscow. Won the tournament ahead of Karpov. Attained a 2700 rating, only the 8th person ever to do so in the World 

Joint champion in Goodricke Open International Tournament
1993

Won the PCA Interzonal, Groningen Champion. The strongest Swiss tournament ever
Qualified for the FIDE Candidates Cycle Interzonal, Biel
1994

Qualified for PCA World Championship Candidates Final, after beating Michael Adams
 
Won PCA Grand Prix, Moscow Champion Won ahead of Kasparov

Won Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco Champion Won ahead of stalwarts like Karpov, Kramnik, Ivanchuk
1995

Lost the final of the PCA World Championship, New York to Kasparov
 
Beat Gata Kamsky in PCA World Candidates Final in Las Palmas and qualified for final against Kasparov

 

1996

 
Won the Credit Swiss Rapid Chess Grand Prix, Geneva beating Kasparov in the final.

Joint winner at Dortmunder Schachtage, Dortmund with Kramnik.

 

1997

Won the Knock-Out Championships in Groningen which was the qualifier for the world championship finals. He beat 3 out of the top 10 in the world, Shirov, Gelfand & Adams in the final tiebreak.
 
Won the InvesbankaChess tournament”, Belgrade
 
Won the Credit Suisse Classic Tournament in Biel (also won prize for most beautiful game)
Runner-up in Dortmunder Schachtage, Dortmund
 
Won the Chess Classic Rapid Tournament, Frankfurt beating Karpov in the Final.

Won 4-2 in an Exhibition against 6 computers at the Aegon Man Vs Computers chess event. One of the few players to play 6 computers simultaneously and win.

Won the 6th Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco. Finished overall first and individually first in blindfold and rapid to become the first player in the history of the tournament to do so.

Won the Torneo de Ajedrez, Dos Hermanes. This was a Category 19 Tournament.

 

 

1998

Won the Fontys-Tilburg International in Tilburg
 
Won the Siemens Nixdorf Duell which had Computers in the field in Frankfurt
 
Won the Siemens Nixdorf Duell Rapid event in Frankfurt
Won the strong “Torneo Magistral Communidad de Madrid
 
Won the Category 21 Linares Super torneo
 
Tied for first place at the Hoogoven’s Schaak Tornoi in Wijk Aan Zee
1999
Won the Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez in Leon by defeating Anatoly Karpov 5-1

Won the Chess Oscar for the second straight year!

Won the 1999 Wydra Memorial Rapid Chess in Haifa
2000
Won FIDE World Championships final in Teheran beating Shirov 3.5-0.5

Won FIDE World Qualifier in New Delhi, won five rounds without losing a game

Won the FIDE World Cup in Shenyang, China beating Bareev 1.5 – 0.5 in final

Joint first with Kramnik in Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund

Won the Fujitsu Siemens Giants Rapid in Frankfurt

Won “Torneo Magistral” an Advanced Chess Tournament, where players can use Computers in Leon beat Shirov in final

Won the Wydra Int’l Rapid in Haifa

Won the Plus GSM World Blitz Cup in Warsaw 
 
2001

Wins the Corsica Masters title in Bastia, in November

Won the Rapidplay event in Villarrobledo in Spain

Drew the WDRTV Match with Peter Leko in Cologne in August. But as per rules, having played black and drawn, Anand will qualify to play the match next year.
Won the Duel of World Champions in a 10-game rapid clash with Vladimir Kramnik in Mainz, Germany in June

Won the Merida International tournament in Mexico

Won “Torneo Magistral” an Advanced Chess Tournament, where players can use Computers in Leon
2002

Winner of the The Corsica Masters three times in a row

Winner of World Cup Chess Championship in Hyderabad.
2003

 
Wins Corsica Open Rapid Chess for the 4 th year in running

Wins official World Rapid Chess Championships in Cape d’Agde re-affirming his position as the world’s best rapid chess player winning the official World Rapid chess title

Chess Classic Winner at Mainz, Germany, fourth success in as many years
 
Highest scorer in the German league
SIS-MHMasters, Denmark winner with an incredible score of 5.5/6

Melody Amber Blind and Rapid Chess champion for the third time
 
Winner at the 65 th Corus Super GM Chess 2003
2004

Anand retains Corus Super Grandmasters title in Holland
Retained the 2004 Corus Grandmasters Chess tournament title in Wijk Aan Zee, Holland. Anand retained the Corus Grandmasters chess title in Wijk Aan Zee with8.5 points from 13 rounds with five wins, seven draws and one loss.

Anand wins Blitz Match against Vesselin Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria
Anand won the Blitz Match for Bulgarian TV beating Veselin Topalov 1.5-0.5 in his first appearance in Bulagria.

Anand wins Rapid Title in Melody Amber at Monaco
In Monaco, where he has been a champion many times in the past at the Melody Amber tournament, Anand won the rapid title, once again re-iterating that he was the best player in the world in rapid. He also finished third overall. The joint winners were Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Morozevich.
Anand leads World Squad to Win over All-Star Armenian Team (Team Petrosyan) in Russia
In a unique match in Russia captained a Rest of the World team, which beat an all-star Armenian team that also had Garry Kasparov in it. This was the second time he has led a world team to such a win. In the past, he led a Rest of the World team to a win over a Russian team.
Anand wins the Dortmund Super Grandmasters Chess Title
In a masterly display at Dortmund Super GM tournament, Anand won the title in a convincing manner making it two out of two in Super GM classical events for 2004. Winning two major classical events like Corus and Dortmund is indeed a matter of great prestige.

Anand Wins the Chess Classic of Mainz for Fourth Time in a Row
Anand outplayed Alexey Shirov in his favourite international venue, Mainz, as he won the Chess Classic of Mainz, an annual event, where he has been winning for last four years. In he past he has beaten Vladimir Kramnik, Ruslan Ponomariov and Judit Polgar in the one-on-one battles on the banks of River Rhine.
Anandwins Corsica title for record fifth time
Anand, steamrollered over Russian Sergei Rublevskyfor his fifth successive Corsica Masters Chess title in Bastia, France. The Indian ace won 2-0, the third time in this tournament he had achieved this wipeout result.

Anand won the Sao Paolo Rapid Chess Challenge
Anand won the SaoPaolo Rapid Chess Challenge with a three-point margin over the runner-up. He beat each of his other rivals at least once in the round robin event. His victims included Anatoly Karpov.

Anand wins the Paul Keres Challenge in Tallinn, Estonia
Anand demolished the field in a tournament held to mark the memory of Paul Keres in Estonia. Anand outplayed each of his five rivals to win the title by an unprecedented margin.

 

 

2005
Anand makes a clean sweep of three titles at Melody Amber
Playing in Monaco at the famous Melody Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament, started with a string of 2-0 victories, which helped him build a huge lead. He won the Rapid, Blindfold and Overall sections, marking only the second time any player has performed a clean sweep. And the first to do so, was none other than Anand himself!
Anand win the Leon Rapid Chess Challenge
Anandplaying in Leon after a gap of two years, emerged winner for the fifth time in six years. Anand won the title beating Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the final. Anand’s earlier victories in Leon have included a match against Miguel Illescas in 1997; match against Anatoly Karpov in 1998, Advanced Chess title in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He was second in 2002.

2006

Anand became the only player in the tournament’s 70-year history to win the Corus Chess event five times (1989, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006).

 
2007

1’st place at the Linares tournament.

Became highest rated player

Became World Champion at the 2007 FIDE World Championship tournament in Mexico