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Library / Games / Kramnik, Vladimir vs Kasparov, Garry
Chess Classics Giants · Frankfurt · 17 June 1998

Vladimir Kramnik vs Garry Kasparov, Chess Classics Giants

Kramnik, Vladimir 1–0 Kasparov, Garry
Kramnik, Vladimir vs Kasparov, Garry
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Chess Classics Giants, 17 June 1998

Round 1 of the 1998 Chess Classics Giants exhibition was won by Kramnik as White against Kasparov. The opening encounter of the 1998 exhibition tournament set the tone for the close contest that followed; Kramnik’s strong start in the small triangular event helped establish his eventual tournament win.

The opening was a Slav Defense, with Kramnik as White entering what would become the structural framework for his 2000 World Championship match preparation. Kasparov’s Black response was solid but produced no winning chances; Kramnik’s positional technique converted the small structural edge into a winning endgame.

The 1998 Chess Classics Giants was Kramnik’s first major tournament victory in a Kasparov-included field. The result elevated his public profile from “strong elite player” to “credible challenger.” Within two years he would be world champion.

The Slav Defense’s role at the top of elite chess theory has been constant since the 1990s. Kramnik’s contributions to its theory through his many encounters with Kasparov and others established several lines as standard. The 1998 Game 1 was an early data point in that ongoing theoretical evolution.

Game record

This game between Kramnik, Vladimir and Kasparov, Garry was played at the Chess Classics Giants in Frankfurt in 1998. Played in round 1. At the time of the game, the players were rated 2790 (White) and 2825 (Black). The game lasted 52 moves, ending with White winning. It is part of the late-Soviet and Cold-War chess era.

Opening context

The opening sequence runs 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7, after which the players entered the middlegame proper.

See also

For more on this game’s protagonists and theory, see Kramnik, Vladimir and Kasparov, Garry.

Match notes

This Chess Classics Giants game sits in Kasparov dominance and the PCA split. Master-level chess of the period was published in tournament bulletins, magazine annotations, and — for the most-studied games — in published opening monographs by the participants and their successors. This game is preserved in the open historical record and can be replayed in full above.