Vladimir Kramnik Play Quotations

Every top player has his own style, just as every painter has his own personal signature.

Even if you play perfectly, a fault of your opponent's can destroy the entire beauty of the game.

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.

I made a better decision in choosing my team. Sure, I had a bigger choice of players to choose from - but I couldn't have asked for a harder working group of players who did an incredible job.

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

An impatient person plays differently than a more patient person.

Chess is an infinitely complex game, which one can play in infinitely numerous and varied ways.

I believe every chess player senses beauty, when he succeeds in creating situations, which contradict the expectations and the rules, and he succeeds in mastering this situation.

The strength of the playing ability is much more important. Only if the strength of the opponent's playing ability is comparable, does the game develop.

In the current FIDE World Championship, on the knock-out system, weaker players have good chances. Those, who in a long match would practically have no chance, here may creep through.

Playing rapid chess, one can lose the habit of concentrating for several hours in serious chess. That is why, if a player has big aims, he should limit his rapidplay in favour of serious chess.

I am convinced, the way one plays chess always reflects the player's personality. If something defines his character, then it will also define his way of playing.

For us chess players the language of artist is something natural.

In chess one cannot control everything. Sometimes a game takes an unexpected turn, in which beauty begins to emerge. Both players are always instrumental in this.

I don't know whether computers are improving the style of play, I know they are changing it. Chess has become a different game, one could say that computers have changed the world of chess. That is pretty clear.

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.