Vladimir Kramnik vs the German national team

Press release

German National Team
Challenges World Chess Champion

Vladimir Kramnik at the Centro Dannemann take on
four grand masters simultaneously

The Second “Dannemann Chess Classico” will be a very special event for chess lovers the world over. The Centro Dannemann will be presenting both the reigning World Chess Champion, Vladimir Kramnik, and the German National Team. The challenge facing the 28-year-old Muscovite is extraordinary, for he is to take on four Grandmasters from the outstanding German team in a handicap simultaneous. The four German contenders are as follows:

• Grandmaster Christopher Lutz
• Grandmaster Rustem Dautov
• Grandmaster Dr. Robert Hübner
• Grandmaster Klaus Bischoff

The match will commence on 29 January 2004 at 4 pm at the Centro Dannemann, which enjoys an idyllic location in Brissago, on the shores of the Lago Maggiore.

To underscore the seriousness of the contest, the World Champion and German team have agreed to play classical chess, meaning that Vladimir Kramnik will have four hours in which to contemplate his moves on all four boards, while the German Grandmasters will have three hours each.

The German team – which after all won the silver medal at the Chess Olympics in Istanbul, Turkey – is to be coached by national coach, Uwe Bönsch. Vladimir Kramnik: “I view this match as a real challenge. The German team has some excellent players, so I don’t want to hazard a prediction as to the outcome.”

Germany’s public television network, Westdeutsche Fernsehen (WDR), intends to report extensively on this extremely interesting and extraordinary event as part of a 60-minute special to be aired on Sunday, 1 February 2004.

In January 2003, the Centro Dannemann hosted the match between women world vice-champion, Alexandra Kostenyuk, and rising star Sergei Karyakin, and intends to host still more high-caliber chess events in the future too.

Further information will be available at www.dannemann.com as of December. On the day of the contest, chess fans all over the world will be able to follow the simultaneous matches live and exclusive on this web site.

Editorial information:

From 1 January 2004 onwards, you can address any inquiries you may have to our hotline at Tel. No. (+41) 91 786 81 33. A press conference is to be held at the Centro Dannemann on 28 January 2004 at which both the World Chess Champion and the German National Team will be present. You will receive a separate invitation to this in due course.