1999 in chess
Encyclopedia
Top players
FIDE top 10 players by Elo rating - January 1999;- Garry KasparovGarry KasparovGarry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
2812 - Viswanathan AnandViswanathan AnandV. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....
2781 - Vladimir KramnikVladimir KramnikVladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
2751 - Alexei ShirovAlexei ShirovAlexei Dmitrievich Shirov is a Soviet-born Latvian chess grandmaster. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998...
2726 - Alexander MorozevichAlexander MorozevichAlexander Morozevich is a Russian chess Grandmaster. In the November 2011 FIDE list, he had an Elo rating of 2762, making him the 9th-highest rated player in the world, although he has previously ranked as high as second, in the July 2008 list....
2723 - Michael Adams 2716
- Vasily Ivanchuk 2714
- Peter SvidlerPeter SvidlerPeter Veniaminovich Svidler is a Russian chess grandmaster.He is six-time Russian champion ....
2713 - Anatoly KarpovAnatoly KarpovAnatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
2710 - Veselin TopalovVeselin TopalovVeselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
2700
Chess news in brief
- The FIDE World Chess ChampionshipWorld Chess ChampionshipThe World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
is won by Alexander KhalifmanAlexander KhalifmanAlexander Valeryevich Khalifman is a Soviet and Russian chess Grandmaster of Jewish descent; he is also a former FIDE champion.When Khalifman was 6 years old, he was taught chess by his father....
in Las VegasLas Vegas StripThe Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
. Many leading players (including Garry KasparovGarry KasparovGarry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
, Viswanathan AnandViswanathan AnandV. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....
, Alexander MorozevichAlexander MorozevichAlexander Morozevich is a Russian chess Grandmaster. In the November 2011 FIDE list, he had an Elo rating of 2762, making him the 9th-highest rated player in the world, although he has previously ranked as high as second, in the July 2008 list....
, Anatoly KarpovAnatoly KarpovAnatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
) boycott the event and there is talk of legal action against FIDE by Karpov. - The proposed 'Ultimate Championship' between Kasparov and Anand is postponed when the sponsorship deal is withdrawn.
- FIDE's Women's World Chess ChampionshipWomen's World Chess ChampionshipThe Women's World Chess Championship is played to determine the women's world champion in chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE....
is won by Xie JunXie JunXie Jun is a chess grandmaster from China. She had two reigns as Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2001. Xie is only the second woman to have two reigns, the other being Elisabeth Bykova....
, as she defeats Alisa GalliamovaAlisa GalliamovaAlisa Galliamova is a Russian chess player, who was born to Russian father and Tatar mother. She holds the FIDE titles Woman Grandmaster and International Master. In 1988 she won the World Junior Girls Chess Championship...
in the final. The proceedings are described as chaotic and unsatisfactory by the world press following Zsuzsa Polgar being stripped of her title and Galliamova defaulting in the Candidates Final. - The Linares chess tournamentLinares chess tournamentThe Linares International Chess Tournament , is an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia, Spain, in which it is held...
is dominated by a rampant Kasparov (10½/14), 2½ clear points ahead of Kramnik and Anand (both 8/14). - Kasparov wins at SarajevoSarajevoSarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
with 7/9, ahead of Evgeny BareevEvgeny BareevEvgeny Bareev is a Russian chess Grandmaster and chess coach. In October 2003, he was in fourth place in the world rankings, with an Elo rating of 2739....
and Alexei ShirovAlexei ShirovAlexei Dmitrievich Shirov is a Soviet-born Latvian chess grandmaster. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998...
(both 6/9). - Michael Adams (6/9) achieves a career-best tournament result, winning at Dos HermanasDos HermanasDos Hermanas is a Spanish city south of Seville in Andalusia, with a population of 125,086 as of 2010.The city's name, which means "two sisters", dates from its founding in 1248 by King Ferdinand III of Castile and honours the sisters of Gonzalo Nazareno, one of the king's principal military...
ahead of Vladimir KramnikVladimir KramnikVladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
(5½). Surprisingly, Anand is in joint last place (3½). - Peter LekoPéter LékóOn the way to winning the prestigious Corus chess tournament in 2005, Lékó defeated Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand with the black pieces. The moves were:...
(5/7) wins the DortmundDortmundDortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
super-tournament, ahead of Kramnik (4½/7). - At the annual Hoogovens tournament in Wijk aan ZeeWijk aan ZeeWijk aan Zee is a small town on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk in the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel chess tournament formerly Corus chess tournament and before that called Hoogovens tournament takes place there every year.Due...
, Kasparov runs out the winner from Anand and Kramnik. - The FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
Giants takes the form of a 4-player, 4-round, all-play-all rapid event and is won by Kasparov, 1½ points ahead of Anand, Kramnik and Karpov. - The European Team Chess Championship is held in BatumiBatumiBatumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in...
, Georgia. ArmeniaArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
take gold, Hungary silver and Germany bronze. - An Advanced ChessAdvanced ChessAdvanced Chess is a relatively new form of chess, wherein each human player uses a computer chess program to help him explore the possible results of candidate moves...
Match between Vishwanathan Anand and Anatoly KarpovAnatoly KarpovAnatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
results in a crushing 5-1 victory for the Indian GrandmasterInternational GrandmasterThe title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
. - Kasparov plays and wins an internet game against The WorldKasparov versus The WorldKasparov versus the World was a game of chess played in 1999 over the Internet. Conducting the white pieces, Garry Kasparov faced the rest of the world in consultation, with the World Team moves to be decided by plurality vote. Over 50,000 individuals from more than 75 countries participated in the...
. The game is followed closely by the world media. Irina KrushIrina KrushIrina Krush is an American chess player who won the U.S. Women's Chess Championship in 1998, 2007, and 2010. Born in Odessa, USSR , she is widely known for her series of chess training videos, the "Krushing Attacks" series.Krush learned to play chess at age five, emigrating with her parents to...
wins much respect for her analysis and steering of the World side. Daniel KingDaniel J. KingDaniel John King is an English chess grandmaster, writer, coach, journalist and broadcaster.-Chess career:...
commentates on MSNMSNMSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.The range of services offered by MSN has changed since its...
. - At the Melody AmberMelody AmberThe Amber chess tournament was an annual invitation-only event for some of the world's best players, from 1992 to 2011. Since the second edition, the event uniquely combined blindfold chess and speed chess, and has been held in Monte Carlo...
tournament in Monte CarloMonte CarloMonte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
, Kramnik is the overall winner, while Anand wins the 'rapid' section and Shirov the 'blindfold'. - PamplonaPamplonaPamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
is won by Alexander MorozevichAlexander MorozevichAlexander Morozevich is a Russian chess Grandmaster. In the November 2011 FIDE list, he had an Elo rating of 2762, making him the 9th-highest rated player in the world, although he has previously ranked as high as second, in the July 2008 list....
, ahead of Michał Krasenkow and Loek Van WelyLoek van WelyLoek van Wely is a chess Grandmaster from the Netherlands. He won the Dutch Chess Championship six times straight from 2000 through 2005. He was rated among the world's top ten in 2001. In 2002, in Maastricht, Netherlands, van Wely took on the computer program Rebel in a four-game match. The...
. - Konstantin SakaevKonstantin SakaevKonstantin Sakaev is a Russian chess Grandmaster , from St Petersburg and Russian Champion in 1999. He is also a chess writer. Sakaev is on the staff of the Grandmaster Chess School in St...
wins the Russian Chess ChampionshipRussian Chess Championship-Imperial Russia:In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first Russian champion until his student, Mikhail Chigorin, defeated him in a match held in St. Petersburg in 1879...
held in Moscow. - Julian HodgsonJulian HodgsonJulian Michael Hodgson is an English International Grandmaster and former British Champion of chess.He first came to the notice of the chess world for his phenomenal prowess as a junior; he was London under-18 champion at 12 years of age and won the British Boys under-21 title aged just...
wins his third British Chess ChampionshipBritish Chess ChampionshipThe British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been...
title in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Harriet HuntHarriet HuntHarriet Vaughan Hunt is an English chess player and four times British Ladies' champion.-Biography:A high profile player from an early age, she won five British Junior Girls titles between 1989 and 1991...
makes it her fourth victory in the Ladies event. - Boris Gulko wins the Salt Lake City U. S. Chess Championship after a playoff. Anjelina BelakovskaiaAnjelina BelakovskaiaAnjelina Belakovskaia is a United States chess player who has achieved the FIDE Woman Grandmaster and International Master titles.She is a three-time U.S...
takes the Women's title. - Joel BenjaminJoel BenjaminJoel Benjamin is an American chess Grandmaster. In 1998, he was voted "Grandmaster of the Year" by the U.S. Chess Federation. , his Elo rating was 2576, making him the No. 12 player in the U.S. and the 214th-highest rated player in the world.-Life and career:Benjamin is a native of Brooklyn, New...
wins the Manhattan Chess ClubManhattan Chess ClubThe Manhattan Chess Club in Manhattan was the second-oldest chess club in the United States . The club was founded in 1877 and started with three dozen players; membership later reached into the hundreds before the club ended its existence in 2002...
Championship for the sixth time. - The World Junior Chess ChampionshipWorld Junior Chess ChampionshipThe World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation ....
(Under 20) is won by Alexander GalkinAlexander GalkinAlexander Galkin is a Russian chess grandmaster. Galkin won the 1999 World Junior Chess Championship.In the September 2009 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2608.-External links:...
in YerevanYerevanYerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
, Armenia. - The annual Groningen tournament contains a strong field of grandmasters. Sergei TiviakovSergei TiviakovSergei Tiviakov is a naturalised Dutch chess Grandmaster.Tiviakov won the Dutch Chess Championship in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, in Plovdiv, he won the European Individual Chess Championship with 8.5/11....
wins, ahead of Vadim MilovVadim MilovVadim Milov is a Russian–born Israeli–Swiss Grandmaster of chess.Following the collapse of the USSR he moved to Israel, before finally settling in Switzerland in 1996....
and Zoltán AlmásiZoltan AlmasiZoltán Almási is a Grandmaster of chess from Hungary. He is a seven-time Hungarian Chess Champion, winning in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2008...
. The women's event is headed by Natalia ZhukovaNatalia ZhukovaNatalia Zhukova is a Ukrainian Grandmaster of chess. She won several age-group titles as a teenager, both at the European and World levels. She has also triumphed in several international women's tournaments...
, closely followed by Antoaneta StefanovaAntoaneta StefanovaAntoaneta Stefanova is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster, and a former Women's World Chess Champion. She became the twelfth holder of that title in 2004 in a 64-player knockout tournament held in Elista, Kalmykia under the auspices of FIDE....
and Peng ZhaoqinPeng ZhaoqinPeng Zhaoqin is a female Chinese chess player, who has resided in the Netherlands since 1996...
. Armenia's Sergei MovsesianSergei MovsesianSergei Movsesian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster who used to play for Slovakia, but as of late 2010, Movsesian announced that he plays for his home country of Armenia...
takes first place in the Open. - Tony MilesTony MilesAnthony John Miles was an English chess Grandmaster.- Early achievements in chess :Miles was born in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham...
(8½/13) wins the Capablanca Memorial in HavanaHavanaHavana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, ahead of Suat AtalıkSuat AtalikSuat Atalık is a Grandmaster of chess. As of the July 2009 FIDE rating list, he is ranked number 165 in the world and number two in Turkey, behind Mikhail Gurevich....
and Lazaro BruzonLázaro BruzónLázaro Bruzón Batista is a chess grandmaster from Cuba. On the January 2011 FIDE list his Elo rating is 2686. Bruzón was the 2000 World Junior Chess Champion. In 2004 he finished first at the XII Torneo "Guillermo Garcia" in Memoriam in Villa Clara...
(both 8/13). - Prominent Chess publisher Batsford (formerly B. T. Batsford) ceases business activities.
- Bobby FischerBobby FischerRobert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
gives a series of radio interviews in Baguio CityBaguio CityThe City of Baguio is a highly urbanized city in northern Luzon in the Philippines. Baguio City was established by Americans in 1900 at the site of an Ibaloi village known as Kafagway...
, Philippines. Much of the material is branded distasteful and offensive. Chess journalist Bobby Ang asks that listeners make some allowance for Fischer's state of mind following his recent losses; both his mother and sister had recently died and the U.S. authorities had auctioned all of his personal belongings and memorabilia. - Tõnu ÕimTõnu ÕimTõnu Õim is an Estonian grandmaster of correspondence chess, most famous for being the first man to have won the ICCF World Championship in correspondence chess twice, in 1983 and 1999.-Notable chess games:* *...
wins the 14th Correspondence ChessCorrespondence chessCorrespondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...
World Championship (1994–99). - In Hungary, Judit PolgárJudit PolgárJudit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...
loses a (30 minute) rapid match to Fritz 5.32 by a 2½-5½ score. - ShredderShredder (chess)Shredder is a commercial chess program developed in Germany by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen in 1993. Shredder won the World Microcomputer Chess Championship in 1996 and 2000, the World Computer Chess Championship in 1999 and 2003, the World Computer Speed Chess Championship in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and...
wins the 9th World Chess Computer ChampionshipWorld Computer Chess ChampionshipWorld Computer Chess Championship is an annual event where computer chess engines compete against each other. The event is organized by the International Computer Games Association...
in PaderbornPaderbornPaderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...
, Germany. - Eight-year-old David HowellDavid Howell (chess player)David Wei Liang Howell is an English chess player. He is the youngest chess Grandmaster in the United Kingdom, a title he earned when he came second during the 35th Rilton Cup in Stockholm on 5 January 2007 when he was 16...
defeats John NunnJohn NunnJohn Denis Martin Nunn is one of England's strongest chess players and once belonged to the world's top ten. He is also a three times world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician....
in a blitz game at the 3rd Mind Sports Olympiad. - FIDE, the governing body of international chess, celebrates its 75th Anniversary. A number of FIDE's member federations, including Argentina, are excluded over the non-payment of fees.
- Alexander BaburinAlexander BaburinAlexander Baburin is a Russian-Irish International Grandmaster of chess...
launches Coffee-break Chess, an online newspaper for chess fans and a forerunner to his Chess Today and Grandmaster Square ventures.
Deaths
- Lodewijk PrinsLodewijk PrinsLodewijk Prins was a Dutch chess player and referee of chess competitions.Prins was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and was made an International Arbiter in 1960. In 1982 FIDE made him an honorary Grandmaster.Prins represented the Netherlands twelve times in all Chess Olympiads...
, Dutch chess master and arbiter - November 11 - Lembit OllLembit OllLembit Oll was an Estonian chess grandmaster. He was already successful as a junior, becoming champion of Estonia in 1982 and junior champion of the Soviet Union in 1984. He also won multiple European and World junior championships. FIDE awarded him the IM-title in 1983 and the GM-title in 1992...
, Estonian Grandmaster and world top 50 player - May 17 - Ortvin SarapuOrtvin SarapuOrtvin Sarapu MBE , sometimes known as "Mr Chess", was a New Zealand chess International Master who won or co-won the New Zealand Chess Championship 20 times between 1952 and 1990.-Early life:Born Ortvin Sarapuu in Estonia, he won the Estonian Junior Championship in 1940, then defected to Finland...
, "Mr New Zealand Chess", 20-time NZ chess champion – April 13 - Gary KoshnitskyGary KoshnitskyGregory Koshnitsky was an Australian chess master.Born in Kishinev, Bessarabia , he emigrated in his youth to Australia....
, Australian Master - September 17 - Catharina RoodzantCatharina RoodzantCatharina Roodzant was a Dutch female chess master.She won thrice the female Dutch Chess Championship...
, three-time winner of the women's Dutch championship – February 24 - Ramchandra Sapre, former national champion of India and chess columnist - May 18
- Francisco José Pérez Pérez, Spanish/Cuban master – September 11