67 Quotes by Vladimir Kramnik

Once he had selected the path he was going down he really had to stick with it in a 16 game match. He had to try and hit in the one direction but unfortunately for him - though fortunately for me! - he hit in the wrong direction.

I accepted that the endgame was better for White, but he has to win over the board, not with his legendary home preparation - that's crucial!

Don't get me wrong here - Kasparov is a great player, fantastic player. But most of the players tend to be afraid of him when they shouldn't.

The Berlin Defence suited my strategy for the match. I had a defensive strategy - Actually, I had in my pocket some other sharper stuff to fall back on - but first I wanted to try the defensive strategy with Black and it worked so well.

Part of my preparation for the World Champion match against Kasparov was to be ready for his off-board tactics. I did not to react to them at all. Once you start thinking about these things during the game, even analysing them, you're caught.

Look at the catastrophic record Vishy Anand has against Garry Kasparov. Kasparov managed to beat him almost everywhere they played, even though Vishy Anand has belonged to the absolute top players in the world for fifteen years. This difference cannot be explained purely in chess terms, there must have been some psychology.

Intellectual effort gives me enormous pleasure

Chess is a matter of daily training.

When I was a child I liked the games of Capablanca, and later I was captivated by Alekhine's play.