Vladimir Kramnik turns 33

Vladimir Kramnik (pictured) was born on 25 June 1975 in Tuapse, on the shores of the Black Sea in Russia.  His father was Boris, a renowned sculptor and his mother was Irina, a music teacher.  He learnt to play chess at the age of 5 and by the time he was 12 he was studying at the prestigious Botvinnik school in Moscow.

At 16 he won the World under-18 Championship and emerged onto the world chess scene with a Gold Medal at the 1992 chess olympiad in Manila.

In 2000 Vladimir Kramnik achieved what few had thought possible; he defeated the great Garry Kasparov 8.5-6.5 to take the title of World Chess Champion without losing a single game.

He successfully defended his title against Peter Leko in 2004 by dramatically winning the final game to tie the 14-game match 7-7.  In 2006 he beat Veselin Topalov in a hugely controversial match which reunified the competing versions of the World Chess Championship title.

At the end of 2006 he married Marie-Laure Germon, a French journalist (pictured with Kramnik below).

He put his title on the line by agreeing to play in the World Championship Tournament in Mexico City in September 2007 against a world class field.  Vishy Anand won the event to end Kramnik's reign as World Champion.

Kramnik will have an opportunity to regain his title in October 2008 when he challenges Anand for the title in a match to be held in Bonn, Germany.

Here are his victories from his match against Kasparov.  Birthday greetings to big Vlady!

Photo by courtesy of ChessBase