Classical World Championship 2000: Kramnik – Kasparov

8 October – 4 November 2000 · London, England

Kramnik won 8½–6½

▦ 15 GAMES

Vladimir Kramnik ended the longest reign in modern chess without losing a single game. Armed with the Berlin Defence to blunt Kasparov's beloved 1.e4, the challenger won two games, drew thirteen, and dethroned the man who had held the title for fifteen years.

Dates

8 October – 4 November 2000

Venue

Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London

Format

Best of 16 games (Braingames / Classical title)

Result

Kramnik won 8½–6½

◈The challenger nobody expected

After the PCA folded, Kasparov struggled for years to organise a defence. Negotiations with Shirov and then Anand collapsed; finally the company Braingames financed a match with the next-rated player, Kramnik, Kasparov's own former second.

Kasparov was the overwhelming favourite — world number one, rated 2849 — and few gave the calm, deeply prepared Kramnik a real chance.

◈A wall Kasparov could not breach

Kramnik's preparation was surgical. Against 1.e4 he unfurled the Berlin Defence — the “Berlin Wall” — trading into a resilient endgame that neutralised Kasparov's dynamism and denied him the sharp positions he craved. Kramnik won games two and ten and conceded nothing in return.

Kasparov failed to win a single game and lost his crown 8½–6½. To followers of the lineal title, Kramnik was now the 14th World Champion — the first to beat Kasparov in a match, and the man who took the classical line into a new century.

8½–6½

Final score

2–0

Wins (Kramnik) to none

Games Kasparov won

Years of Kasparov's reign ended

◈Cross Table

Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Pts
Kramnik	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	8½
Kasparov	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	6½

1 win · ½ draw · 0 loss — click a game number to replay it.

EXPLORE ALL 15 GAMES →