World Chess Championship 1993
A split championship created two rival world chess champions.
The World Chess Championship 1993 was a highly controversial event in which reigning champion Garry Kasparov and challenger Nigel Short broke away from FIDE to hold their match under the Professional Chess Association. FIDE responded by stripping Kasparov of his title and organizing a separate championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman. Both matches were won by the respective champions, creating two rival world chess champions for the first time, a split that lasted until 2006.
Quick Facts
- Incumbent champion
- Garry Kasparov
- Challenger (pca)
- Nigel Short
- Challenger (fide)
- Jan Timman
- Fide champion
- Anatoly Karpov
- Pca match location
- London
- Fide match locations
- Zwolle, Arnhem, Amsterdam, Jakarta
- Pca match format
- Best of 24 games
Facts from the source article.
1991–93 Candidates Tournament
The final four from the 1988–90 Candidates—Karpov, Timman, Yusupov, and Speelman—were seeded directly into the Candidates, joined by the top 11 from the Interzonal. Fifteen players competed in a series of matches, with tied matches decided by extra rapid chess games. Preliminary matches were held in Sarajevo, Wijk aan Zee, Riga, London, and Madras in early 1991. Quarterfinals took place in Brussels in August 1991, semifinals in Linares in April 1992, and the final in San Lorenzo del Escorial in January 1993.
1993 PCA match
Before the match, Kasparov and Short complained of corruption and lack of professionalism within FIDE and split to form the Professional Chess Association, orchestrated largely by Raymond Keene. The event was moved to London, generating significant English interest: Channel 4 broadcast 81 programmes, the BBC covered it, and Short appeared in beer commercials. The best-of-24 match was played in London in September and October 1993. After the match, the players filled the last four days with seven exhibition games (openings chosen by the arbiter), which Kasparov won 5–2. A game also saw Kasparov and Short team up against the commentary team, which lost. Interest in UK chess soon declined after Kasparov's decisive victory.
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