An Artist and a Painter

World Chess: The Painter and the philistine
Monday, 27 October 2008
Australia’s first Grandmaster Ian Rogers writes from Bonn, Germany:

On Friday night in Bonn, Vladimir Kramnik, his wife Marie and an old friend and former assistant, Evgeny Bareev, enjoyed a Thai meal together.

Kramnik had just drawn the eighth World Chess Championship game against Viswanathan Anand in the former German capital and found himself three games down with four games to play.

At the dinner, Kramnik tried to keep the discussion away from chess — the Russian financial meltdown was one subject which made his own problems look minor.

Bareev’s opinion about the match was clear — he had been telling it to the media all day.

Kramnik’s situation was almost hopeless because his hyper-subtle style had run into a brick wall against Anand. Risk-taking and ultra-violence was needed and if Kramnik went down with guns blazing noone would think worse of him.

Yet Kramnik is not one to betray his instincts. Although derided when he compared himself to an artist — a painter — rather than a sportsman, the description has proven apt.

Kramnik plays the board, not the man or the tournament standings. The 33-year-old Russian would rather play a fault-free game than win through gambling or bluff. Each game for Kramnik is an opportunity to try to create a work of art, albeit one where his opponent tries to obstruct him at every move.

No doubt the players’ agreement to split the $3m prize fund equally regardless of the result was Kramnik’s idea; money should not influence an artist’s decisions.

In contrast, Anand is a pragmatist — even a philistine — who would play bad moves if he thought they would confuse his opponent and lead to a win. Thanks to his incredible feel for the game, Anand has played just as many masterpieces as Kramnik and, most galling for Kramnik, Anand had won the one game in this World Championship match, the third, which will be admired and replayed for decades to come.

Here is the full story.