"But with the Berlin, I was able to allow him to get near, but not quite near enough, and I knew where to draw the line with the fortresses I had set up"
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Kramnik isn’t talking about a city so much as a relationship dynamic: closeness carefully rationed, intimacy measured in squares. “With the Berlin” points straight to the Berlin Defense in the Ruy Lopez, a system famous for trading off flash for control. It’s a professional’s opening for when you don’t want to win by fireworks; you want to win by removing your opponent’s oxygen and watching them overextend trying to make something happen.
The sentence is built like the strategy it describes. “Allow him to get near, but not quite near enough” is the psychological sweet spot of elite chess: give your opponent the illusion of initiative, the feeling they’re pressuring you, while you’ve already mapped the limits of their attack. The repetition of “near” reads almost teasing, a verbal echo of zugzwang and prophylaxis - inviting, then denying. It’s not bravado; it’s boundary-setting.
“Where to draw the line” and “fortresses I had set up” widen the metaphor into something more personal and slightly chilly. A fortress is defensive, yes, but it’s also a statement: I’m not meeting you in open terrain. In the era Kramnik helped define, especially against hyper-aggressive rivals, the Berlin became a cultural artifact: the anti-romantic opening that told the chess world brilliance could look like refusal. The subtext is control as artistry, and restraint as a kind of dominance.
The sentence is built like the strategy it describes. “Allow him to get near, but not quite near enough” is the psychological sweet spot of elite chess: give your opponent the illusion of initiative, the feeling they’re pressuring you, while you’ve already mapped the limits of their attack. The repetition of “near” reads almost teasing, a verbal echo of zugzwang and prophylaxis - inviting, then denying. It’s not bravado; it’s boundary-setting.
“Where to draw the line” and “fortresses I had set up” widen the metaphor into something more personal and slightly chilly. A fortress is defensive, yes, but it’s also a statement: I’m not meeting you in open terrain. In the era Kramnik helped define, especially against hyper-aggressive rivals, the Berlin became a cultural artifact: the anti-romantic opening that told the chess world brilliance could look like refusal. The subtext is control as artistry, and restraint as a kind of dominance.
Quote Details
| Topic | Vision & Strategy |
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