GM Vladimir Kramnik: Chess history and power-plays, path to the top, Queen’s Gambit

14th World Chess Champion and one of the most respected players in the game, GM Vladimir Kramnik talks about what goes on behind the scenes during major chess tournaments and World Championship events. We uncover what goes on beyond the chessboard and take a peek into the politics and power plays in the chess organization. Being the decorated player that he is, Vladimir has a lot of very interesting stories, and experiences to impart to our audience.

Vladimir also tells us how he got his start in the world of chess. He shares his views on some practical questions about match preparation, adjustments from mistakes, identifying your own weaknesses, how to get the most out of your team, and a whole lot more.

Of course, a popular topic that has recently injected life into some of the dormant chess players, and sparked interest from those who have yet to try the sport is the Netflix show, The Queen’s Gambit. Vladimir shares his thoughts on the series and the story behind it. 

 

Follow Vladimir on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KramnikVb

Here is Vladimir’s first appearance on the show: https://youtu.be/EF926Piiumo

Here is the documentary Vladimir talked about, Bobby Fischer Against the World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqA7WE-12Po

 

CONNECT: 

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PODCAST INFO: 

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2XlvTro

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2ECWIAF

YouTube playlist: https://bit.ly/podcast-yt

 

OUTLINE:

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:35 The politics behind chess

00:05:05 Bobby Fischer Against The World

00:06:12 Major Chess Tournaments

00:09:10 Soviet Union chess

00:13:05 Alexander Alekhine

00:16:32 Chess during the Cold War period

00:21:00 The path to World Chess Championship

00:29:04 Official and unofficial World Chess Champions

00:31:29 Kasparov vs Karpov

00:43:12 Kasparov leaving FIDE

00:48:21 FIDE and PCA

00:49:56 Financing the road to the top

00:59:17 The story behind The Queen's Gambit

01:00:40 Judit Polgár

01:05:44 Back to The Queen's Gambit

01:08:56 Vladimir Kramnik's first chess teacher

01:13:18 What hooked Vladimir to play chess

01:17:10 First competitive match

01:20:50 Dealing with losses

01:24:34 Help with the preparation

01:30:34 Eye-opening moments

01:36:30 Understanding the pattern of mistakes

01:40:27 Chess and poker parallels

01:44:15 Vladimir Kramnik Round 3