'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 |