'Did Kramnik shout at you?'

'Justifiably.'

'This stinks. And it stinks badly.'

'After the opening we were absolutely horrified again.'

Three quotes about crucial moments in three World Chess Championship matches. They were spoken by Vladimir Kramnik"es second Evgeny Bareev. Just a few dramatic fragments from an extraordinary account of the main battles in the life of Vladimir Kramnik, a World Champion and a Samurai, in Bareev"es words.

From London to Elista gives a fascinating look behind the scenes of top-level chess. It provides superb analysis of all the games by Bareev, and it does much more. In Socrates-style dialogues, Bareev and co-author Ilya Levitov reveal everything about the preparation, the progress and the aftermath, about the secret strategy and the brutal stress of the three battles.

This rich book is indispensable for anyone who wants to know what makes top grandmasters tick. It is written from the horse"es mouth, and it is full of honesty, irony, history, wit, anger, wisdom, and even poetry.

With many photographs.

Evgeny Bareev is one of the world"es strongest grandmasters today. He was Kramnik"es second during the matches against Kasparov in 2000 and against Leko in 2004, and was in close contact with the Kramnik team during the scandal-plagued reunification match with Topalov in Elista.

Public relations expert Ilya Levitov has been an ardent chess amateur all his life. He is a close friend of Vladimir Kramnik and Evgeny Bareev.

FOREWORD

012 What you Sow...

013 Strategy and Tactics

016 Team Politics

020 Physical Preparation

025 Acknowledgements

PART ONE Overthrow of a Colossus

029 A Gift from the Gods

034 Forward, to Berlin!

039 'The Blunder of the Century'

048 On World Championship Matches

060 Horsing Around

068 The Ghost of the Mad Rook

084 Chess and Kabbalah

085 A Toilet Story

091 The Berlin Philosophy

093 Incidents Come in Pairs

102 Knockdown

105 Akela Has Missed!

112 The Results of the First Half of the Match

118 The King Went to the Left...

123 On the 'Iron Enemy'

126 Torn to Shreds

134 A New Twist on an Old Story

139 Multicoloured Swings and Painted Roundabouts

145 On the Greats

147 A Holiday Resort

150 Blade Runner

159 Eyes Wide Shut

165 The Results of the Match

173 PART TWO Photo Finish in Brissago

175 Between London and Brissago

179 The Last Step

181 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

186 A Pyrrhic Victory

192 'A Brilliant Game'

196 Russian Wall

198 Chess and Literature

202 Leko-ish Way

205 White to Win

214 A Hungarian with no Hunger

219 Chess and Action

224 A Dog in the Manger

228 Chess and Psychology

240 Mission Accomplished

250 A Tablet under the Tongue

254 Time in Chess

255 A Miracle We Need

259 Live and Let Die

262 A Prisoner of Faint-Heartedness

266 When the Gods Play Jokes

275 When the Gods Laugh

283 The Results of the Match

298 Two Matches

301 PART THREE Big Brother in Elista

303 Introduction

307 You're Responsible for the One Who Made You

309 Kramnik Versus Kramnik

312 A Sudden Blow

317 Double Whammy

324 Flea Market

328 Cash in While You Can

341 Eagerly Waiting for the Champions League

345 Sweet and Lowdown

354 The Horse Is Stolen

357 Topa - Cheater?!

363 The Story of H6

368 Groundhog Day

374 Rock Bottom

377 The Usual Procedures

381 Condemned to a Tie-Break

384 To Be Continued...

388 The Moment of Truth

398 Index of Openings