FIDE World Chess Championship 1998
Encyclopedia
The FIDE World Chess Championship 1998 was contested in a match between the FIDE World Champion
Anatoly Karpov
and the challenger Vishwanathan Anand. The match took place between 2 January and 9 January 1998 in Lausanne
, Switzerland. The challenger was determined in a tournament held in Groningen, Netherlands, between 9 December and 30 December 1997. After the championship match ended in a draw, Karpov won the rapid playoff, becoming the 1998 FIDE World Chess Champion.
split from FIDE and formed a rival organisation, the Professional Chess Association
. FIDE stripped Kasparov of his title, meaning there were now two rival championships: the FIDE title, held by Anatoly Karpov
, and the PCA title, held by Kasparov. Karpov and Kasparov had successfully defended their titles at the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996
and PCA World Chess Championship 1995 respectively.
From 1948 until 1996, World Chess Championships had followed a similar pattern: a series of qualifying tournaments and matches were held over more than a year, culminating in the Candidates Tournament
. The winner of the Candidates tournament was the official challenger for the world title and would play the incumbent champion in a match for world championship. (The 1996 cycle was an exception. The incumbent world champion participated in the Candidates tournament as a seeded semi-finalist.)
In 1997, FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
proposed a completely new structure: a knockout tournament, consisting of two-game matches (slightly longer in the final rounds), with match tie-breakers using rapid chess and blitz chess
if necessary. This format had been done before in tournaments, but never at the world championship level.
In addition to the new format, it was proposed by Ilyumzhinov as a way to unify the two rival world titles. To do this, FIDE champion Anatoly Karpov
and PCA champion Garry Kasparov
were each to be seeded into the semi-finals.
Kasparov did not want to defend his title under these circumstances and declined his invitation. The format was then modified to have FIDE champion Karpov seeded directly into the final.
Opponents pointed out disadvantages of the format:
World Chess Championship
The 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....
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly 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...
and the challenger Vishwanathan Anand. The match took place between 2 January and 9 January 1998 in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Switzerland. The challenger was determined in a tournament held in Groningen, Netherlands, between 9 December and 30 December 1997. After the championship match ended in a draw, Karpov won the rapid playoff, becoming the 1998 FIDE World Chess Champion.
Background
From 1948 to 1993, the world chess championship had been administered by FIDE, the international chess federation. In 1993, World Chess Champion Garry KasparovGarry Kasparov
Garry 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....
split from FIDE and formed a rival organisation, the Professional Chess Association
Professional Chess Association
The Professional Chess Association , which existed between 1993 and 1996, was a rival organisation to FIDE, the international chess organization...
. FIDE stripped Kasparov of his title, meaning there were now two rival championships: the FIDE title, held by Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly 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...
, and the PCA title, held by Kasparov. Karpov and Kasparov had successfully defended their titles at the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996
FIDE World Chess Championship 1996
The FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 was a chess tournament held by FIDE to determine the World Chess Champion.-Background:At the time the World Chess Champion title was split....
and PCA World Chess Championship 1995 respectively.
From 1948 until 1996, World Chess Championships had followed a similar pattern: a series of qualifying tournaments and matches were held over more than a year, culminating in the Candidates Tournament
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
. The winner of the Candidates tournament was the official challenger for the world title and would play the incumbent champion in a match for world championship. (The 1996 cycle was an exception. The incumbent world champion participated in the Candidates tournament as a seeded semi-finalist.)
In 1997, FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov is a Kalmyk multi-millionaire businessman and politician. He was the President of the Republic of Kalmykia in the Russian Federation from 1993 to 2010, and he has been the President of FIDE , the world's pre-eminent international chess organization, since 1995...
proposed a completely new structure: a knockout tournament, consisting of two-game matches (slightly longer in the final rounds), with match tie-breakers using rapid chess and blitz chess
Blitz chess
Fast chess, also known as blitz chess, lightning chess, sudden death, speed chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60 to 180 minutes per player.-Overview:The different...
if necessary. This format had been done before in tournaments, but never at the world championship level.
In addition to the new format, it was proposed by Ilyumzhinov as a way to unify the two rival world titles. To do this, FIDE champion Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly 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...
and PCA champion Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry 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....
were each to be seeded into the semi-finals.
Kasparov did not want to defend his title under these circumstances and declined his invitation. The format was then modified to have FIDE champion Karpov seeded directly into the final.
Controversies
The advantages of the new format were:- It avoided a long cycle, and was all over in a month or so. This is could all be done in the one venue, it would not have the scheduling problems which had beset some previous world championship cycles. Each round could be played in 3 days (one day for each normal time control game, and one for the tie breaks).
- More players (up to 128) could be included.
- There were no special privileges for the incumbent champion or seeded players (although some were preserved in the earlier championships, these were completely eliminated later on).
Opponents pointed out disadvantages of the format:
- Short matches (only two games in the earlier rounds) left too much to chance - the stronger player could blunder a game, and it would be difficult to recover from a bad start. (Many world championship and Candidates matches had been won by the player who recovered from an early loss).
- The rapid playoffs were also seen to be left too much to chance: strength in rapid chess is not the same as strength in chess with normal time controls.
- These first two considerations, taken together, meant there was a very high chance that the best player would not win, or even that a complete outsider might win, opponents argued.
- Some people felt that the tradition of the champion being seeded into the final should be preserved, so that a new champion can only be champion by defeating the old champion.
Prominent non-participants
- Kasparov did not want to defend his title under these circumstances, and declined his invitation.
- 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...
declined to play, in protest against Karpov being seeded into the final.
Championship match
| Game | Date | White | Result | Black | Match score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 January 1998 | Karpov | 1–0 | Anand | Karpov leads 1–0 |
| 2 | 3 January 1998 | Anand | 1–0 | Karpov | Match tied 1–1 |
| 3 | 4 January 1998 | Karpov | ½–½ | Anand | Match tied 1½–1½ |
| 4 | 6 January 1998 | Anand | 0–1 | Karpov | Karpov leads 2½–1½ |
| 5 | 7 January 1998 | Karpov | ½–½ | Anand | Karpov leads 3–2 |
| 6 | 8 January 1998 | Anand | 1–0 | Karpov | Match tied 3–3 |
| Rapid 1 | 9 January 1998 | Karpov | 1–0 | Anand | Karpov leads 4–3 |
| Rapid 2 | 9 January 1998 | Anand | 0–1 | Karpov | Karpov wins 5–3 |
Participants
All players are grandmasters unless indicated otherwise.- , 2770
- , 2765
- , 2745
- , 2745
- , 2725
- , 2710
- , 2700
- , 2695
- , 2680
- , 2680
- , 2670
- , 2670
- , 2670
- , 2665
- , 2660
- , 2660
- , 2660
- , 2660
- , 2660
- , 2655
- , 2655
- , 2650
- , 2650
- , 2650
- , 2645
- , 2645
- , 2645
- , 2640
- , 2640
- , 2640
- , 2640
- , 2640
- , 2635
- , 2635
- , 2635
- , 2635
- , 2630
- , 2630
- , 2630
- , 2625
- , 2625
- , 2625
- , 2615
- , 2615
- , 2615
- , 2615
- , 2610
- , 2610
- , 2610
- , 2610
- , 2605
- , 2605
- , 2605
- , 2600
- , 2600
- , 2600
- , 2590
- , 2590
- , 2590
- , 2590
- , 2585
- , 2585
- , 2585
- , 2585
- , 2585
- , 2580
- , 2580
- , 2575
- , 2570
- , 2570
- , 2560
- , 2555
- , 2555
- , 2550
- , 2550
- , 2550
- , 2545
- , 2545
- , 2545
- , 2535
- , 2535
- , 2530
- , 2530
- , 2525
- , 2525
- , 2525
- , 2520
- , 2515
- , 2510
- , 2505
- , 2500
- , 2500, IM
- , 2490
- , 2480
- , 2480
- , 2475
- , 2460, IM
- , 2400, IM
- , 2315, IM
- , unrated, no title
- Mark Weeks: Groningen Lausanne
- Brasilbase
1 Kramnik declined participation on the grounds that Karpov's direct entry into the final was unacceptable.
2 Mohammed did not appear.
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry 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....
, Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and the current World Rapid Chess Champion. He is also the current United States Chess Champion. As of September 2011, he is rated No. 1 in the United States and No...
, and Zsuzsa Polgar declined participation in advance.