Happy 40th Birthday, Vladimir Kramnik!
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i want to be like him ;)
Awesome interview with him today!
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/vladimir-kramnik-it-turns-out-i-m-52-not-40
An event that could have changed chess history
Every person recalls moments when they were really afraid.
My most critical one had nothing to do with crime or some kind of scandal, but a normal trip from Linares to the airport, when the chess world could simultaneously have lost both me and Kasparov.
Please tell us more about that!
I no longer remember exactly what year it was, I think 96. Or 98. The latest Linares tournament was over and we had flights quite early the next day, while it was about three hours’ drive to the airport. Therefore Kasparov and I travelled from about six in the morning, in the same car. And the driver, it later turned out, simply fell asleep at the wheel while going at quite a decent speed.
We were sitting there, talking about something and noticing nothing, since the driver was wearing dark glasses. The road was empty, so 120 km on the speedometer seemed perfectly normal. Then a car appeared ahead of us and we started to rush towards it. There were only a few meters and we were flying right into it!
Kasparov was in the front seat (which could have ended even worse), and I was in the back, but we both sensed the danger absolutely simultaneously, jumping up as one. Our sudden movements woke the driver, and literally at the last second he managed to turn the wheel.
Kasparov, a passionate man, told the driver just what he thought about it all. That guy, meanwhile, stopped the car, poured himself some coffee from a thermos flask with shaking hands, and a few minutes later he simply calmed down. Then we got to our destination without incident, but I still remember what I felt in the critical second to this day.
Awesome interview! Thanks for posting it MSC. Happy birthday VK!
He raised Berlin and defeated Kasparov 8.5:6.5 in 2000 to become 14th World Chess Champion. Happy birthday champ!