GM Vladimir Kramnik on AlphaZero and achieving excellence

GM Vladimir Kramnik talks about AlphaZero, the evolution of chess theory, how to achieve excellence, and his journey in chess. A lot of ideas we discuss apply not only to chess but also to poker and life in general. Vladimir is one of the most talented World Chess champions of the modern era and some of his insights are invaluable.    We talk about chess engines such as StockFish, the new chess AI - AlphaZero, and how those changed the way we approach studying, and understanding chess as well as what might the future hold and we also talk about the draw-backs of blindly following the engines or poker solvers for that matter. The poker industry is experiencing the same types of changes with the rise of the poker solvers and there are many lessons we can take-away from the chess world.    Vladimir also talks about his journey in chess, the famous match against Gary Kasparov, what it takes to compete at the highest level, how does his preparation look like, his approach to the competition, how Vladimir handles the pressure, aesthetics of chess and his work on creating new exciting variants of chess.    Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to stay informed about new videos https://www.youtube.com/RunchuksPoker?sub_confirmation=1   And if you'd like to receive my key takeaways from each latest podcast episode, subscribe to my newsletter https://www.runchukspodcast.com   Twitter: https://twitter.com/RunchuksP   00:00:00 Intro00:01:42 Chess before and after chess engines00:08:09 Custom chess engines00:10:46 Using chess engines for preparation00:12:04 Evolution of chess engines00:22:15 Kasparov vs Deep Blue - The End of the Human Race00:24:23 Vladimir Kramnik vs Deep Fritz00:26:52 AlphaZero deep learning AI00:33:49 AlphaZero vs Stockfish differences00:37:25 Experiment with AlphaZero00:38:57 AI doesn't explain why it plays a certain way00:41:04 AlphaZero thinking pattern00:44:29 Drawbacks of engines for top-level games00:46:46 Keeping chess entertaining00:50:59 No Castling Chess (a new variant of chess)00:57:47 How long would it take to engines to solve No Castling Chess01:02:56 Understanding aesthetics, patterns instead of memorizing01:06:27 New arms race01:09:42 Using a better machine as a decisive advantage01:12:00 Vladimir's style01:16:45 What all great players have in common01:20:06 The human aspect of chess01:26:59 How Vladimir Kramnik studied Gary Kasparov to become World Champion01:29:58 Playing even better under high pressure01:31:50 Knowing yourself and knowing your opponent01:38:39 Slight advantage line vs chance of playing it well01:43:51 Creating your unique style01:46:16 Defeating Gary Kasparov without losing a single game01:58:22 Emotions taking over02:02:29 The impact of ego02:08:52 Decisive career moments02:16:17 Always be ready to learn02:17:57 Lack of information is not the problem02:19:25 New chess variations02:21:26 How humans are going to use AlphaZero as a studying tool02:23:43 Wrapping up02:25:28 One final word of wisdom