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7 unusual facts about World Chess Championship


Alexander Khalifman

His most notable achievement was winning the FIDE World Chess Championship in 1999, a title he held until the following year.

He was FIDE World Chess Champion in 1999.

Carl Haffner's Love of the Draw

It presents a fictionalised account of a famous 1910 World Chess Championship match between Austrian grandmaster Carl Schlechter and the reigning German champion Emanuel Lasker.

Mikhail Botvinnik

On the basis of his strong results during and just after World War II, Botvinnik was one of five players to contest the 1948 World Chess Championship, which was held at The Hague and Moscow.

Botvinnik also played a major role in the organization of chess, making a significant contribution to the design of the World Chess Championship system after World War II and becoming a leading member of the coaching system that enabled the Soviet Union to dominate top-class chess during that time.

But after the FIDE world championship cycle was established in 1948, reigning champions had to play the strongest contender every three years, and successful title defenses became less common than in the pre-World War II years, when the titleholder could select his challenger.

Rudolf Charousek

He was one of a few players who had a plus record against Emanuel Lasker, having defeated the world champion at Nuremberg 1896.


Alexei Shirov

On the basis of his rating, he was invited to play a ten game match against Vladimir Kramnik to select a challenger for World Champion Garry Kasparov.

Association of Chess Professionals

The organisation has been compared by some to the Professional Chess Association, the body established by Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short as an organisation under which to play their 1993 World Championship having broken away from FIDE, the official governing body of chess.

Carol Jarecki

She was the Chief Arbiter at the PCA World Chess Championship match in 1995 in New York held at the top of the World Trade Center, between World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov and challenger Viswanathan Anand.

Chess handicap

In an interview with Ralph Ginzburg published in the January 1962 issue of Harper's Magazine, future World Champion Bobby Fischer was quoted as saying that women were weak chessplayers and that he could successfully give knight odds to any woman in the world.

Classical World Chess Championship 2000

Following the split in the world chess championship in 1993, there were two rival world titles: the official FIDE world title, and the PCA world title held by Garry Kasparov.

Edgard Colle

He scored excellent results in major international tournaments, including first at Amsterdam 1926, ahead of Savielly Tartakower and future world champion Max Euwe; first at Meran 1926, ahead of Esteban Canal; and first at Scarborough 1930, ahead of Maróczy and Rubinstein.

Harry Nelson Pillsbury

At age 22, he won one of the strongest tournaments of the time (the Hastings 1895 chess tournament) but his illness and early death prevented him from challenging for the World Chess Championship.

ICCF Belarus

For the next "Soviet" period (1961–1991) Belorusian players took part in individual and team competitions of the USSR, sometimes in international tournaments including World Cups, semi-finals of World Chess Championship and Master class tournaments.

Lawrence Day

Day's progress was rapid, and he qualified through the 1966 Open Canadian Chess Championship at Kingston, to represent Canada at the 1967 Junior World Chess Championship at Jerusalem, where he qualified for the 'A' final group.

Leroy Dubeck

He was instrumental in getting Bobby Fischer to play his match for the 1972 World Chess Championship against Boris Spassky, although the match took place after his term of office was over.

Miyoko Watai

In 1973 she met then world chess champion Bobby Fischer, and visited him several times for the next three decades.

Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant

He is best known for losing a match against Howard Staunton in 1843 that is often considered to have been an unofficial match for the World Chess Championship.

Tretyakov Gallery

In May 2012, the Tretyakov Art Gallery played host to the prestigious FIDE World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand as the organizers felt the event would promote both chess and art at the same time.

Two Knights Defense

The Two Knights has been adopted as Black by many aggressive players including Mikhail Chigorin and Paul Keres, and World Champions Mikhail Tal and Boris Spassky.

World Chess Championship 2008

The World Chess Championship 2008 was a best-of-twelve-games match between the World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, and the previous World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik.

World Chess Championship 2014

The World Chess Championship 2014 will be a match between the current world champion, Magnus Carlsen, and a challenger, to determine the 2014 World Chess Champion.


see also

FIDE World Chess Championship 2005

The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16, 2005.

Hillar Rootare

Hillar Rootare is the nephew of Estonian chess player Vidrik Rootare, several of whose games against the world-renowned International Grand Master Paul Keres are published among Keres's most interesting games, and of Salme Rootare, a Women's International Master in chess, and 15-time Estonian women's chess champion, who once finished third in the world chess championship competition (1959).

Luciana Morales Mendoza

In September 2003 she was the champion of the Zonal Tournament 2.4 in São Paulo with 9 points in 10 games, qualifying to the Women World Chess Championship that was held in 2004 in Elista.