Kasparov wasn't just the best chessplayer of his time, he may have been the best of any time. Botvinnik used to say that he was primus inter pares, first among equals, but Kasparov wasn't like that at all. His rating was a long way ahead of his rivals. And he didn't like to win a tournament by doing just enough to win -- he wanted to win a long way ahead of second place. And he didn't just like to win a game -- he wanted to smash his opponents -- and he often did! He worked harder, he knew more opening theory, he put more energy into his games...

Kramnik has an unusual skill -- playing apparently simple and effective plans against the most complex modern openings, and against the most dangerous opponents. Here he his showing the value of a central pawn majority against the Grunfeld's staunchest defender: