Photo Courtesy of Carsten Hensel
My guest this week is Carsten Hensel. He is a chess organizer and author who has also spent time as the manager for two elite players- GMs Vladimir Kramnik and GM Peter Leko. Much to the benefit of chess fans, he has written a book about his experiences managing GM Kramnik, called Vladimir Kramnik - The Inside Story of a Chess Genius. The English version of this book will be published by Quality Chess later in November. The published excerpts and this interview suggest that this book will be a must read for those interested in GM Kramnik and/or modern chess history. Here are a few of the highlights of what Carsten Hensel and I discussed:
How did he first encounter GM Kramnik, and how did they come to develop a working relationship? Carsten reflects on some of Kramnik's most famous matches- a disappointing Candidates loss to GM Alexei Shirov in 1998, followed by a thrilling World Championship victory over Garry Kasparov in 2000.
What was it like to be the manager of both World Championship participants in the 2004 Leko-Kramnik World Championship match?
As a high-level chess organizer and promoter, what are his thoughts on how to pitch corporations on sponsoring chess players and events?
This was a fascinating conversation, as Carsten has had a ring side seat to much of modern chess history. Thanks to Carsten for chatting- you can email him here.
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