Classical World Chess Championship 2000

Garry Kasparov Rating: 2849	Vladimir Kramnik Rating: 2772

The Classical World Chess Championship 2000, known at the time as the Braingames World Chess Championships,^[1] was held from October 8, 2000 – November 4, 2000 in London, United Kingdom. Garry Kasparov, the defending champion, played Vladimir Kramnik. The match was the best of 16 games, and in the event of an 8-8 tie, Kasparov would keep his title.

Although Kasparov was the strong favourite,^[2] Kramnik won the match with two wins, 13 draws and no losses.^[3] To the supporters of the world championship by succession (later dubbed the "classical" world championship by Kramnik), Kramnik became the 14th world chess champion.

Background

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. The rationale behind Kasparov's title was that he had not been defeated in a match, but in fact had defeated the rightful challenger Nigel Short in 1993, so FIDE had no power to strip the title from him.

The PCA then held an Interzonal and Candidates matches in 1993-1995, and Kasparov successfully defended his PCA title in 1995, this time against Viswanathan Anand.

The PCA folded in 1996. However Kasparov still saw himself as the true world champion (as did many in the chess world), so Kasparov looked for other ways to select his next challenger.

Qualification

Without the sponsorship of the PCA, Kasparov found he was unable to organise a series of qualifying matches to choose a challenger. Eventually in 1998, he announced that, based on their ratings and results, Anand and Vladimir Kramnik were clearly the next two best players in the world, and that they would play a match to decide who would challenge for Kasparov's title.

However Anand, as a participant in the FIDE world championship cycle, believed he was contractually obligated to not participate in a rival cycle. So instead a match was organised between Kramnik and the next person in the ratings list, Alexei Shirov, in May-June 1998.

Despite being the underdog, Shirov won the match with two wins, seven draws and no losses.^[4]

However during 1998 Kasparov, Shirov and sponsors were unable to come to an agreement. Shirov rejected one offer of a match in California,^[5] but believed rejecting this offer did not mean waiving his rights for a match;^[6] In December 1998, there was still talk of organising a Kasparov-Shirov match.^[7]

In February 1999, Kasparov abandoned plans for a match with Shirov and pursued a match with Anand instead, on the basis that Anand was second to Kasparov on the ratings list.^[8] Negotiations for a 1999 match failed,^[9][10] as did negotiations in 2000, with Anand expressing dissatisfaction with the contract.^[11] In March 2000 it was announced that negotiations with Anand had failed and so Kasparov would negotiate a match with the next player in the ratings list - ironically Kramnik.^[12] This time negotiations were successful, and the company Braingames was formed to finance a Kasparov-Kramnik match in October 2000.

Shirov was understandably aggrieved, and even in 2006 maintained that Kramnik was not a valid world champion.^[13] However most supporters of Kasparov's title believe that, despite the unsatisfactory way in which a challenger was chosen, nevertheless the winner of this match would be the true World Champion. Kramnik had a far better record against Kasparov than Shirov did (a point Kasparov emphasised when the match was announced in April 2000).^[14] In the years that followed, Kasparov maintained an overwhelming plus score in his individual games against Shirov.^[15]

The games

	White	Black	Date	Result	Moves	Winner	Standing	Opening	Notes / Reference
1	Kasparov	Kramnik	8 October	½–½	25		½–½	C67 Ruy Lopez	[1]
2	Kramnik	Kasparov	10 October	1–0	40	Kramnik	Kramnik leads 1½–½	D85 Grünfeld Defence	Kramnik uncorked a novelty in Grünfeld Defence, after which Kasparov did not use the Grünfeld [2]
3	Kasparov	Kramnik	12 October	½–½	53		Kramnik leads 2–1	C67 Ruy Lopez	[3]
4	Kramnik	Kasparov	14 October	½–½	74		Kramnik leads 2½–1½	D27 Queen's Gambit	[4]
5	Kasparov	Kramnik	15 October	½–½	24		Kramnik leads 3–2	A34 English Opening	[5]
6	Kramnik	Kasparov	17 October	½–½	66		Kramnik leads 3½–2½	D27 Queen's Gambit	[6]
7	Kasparov	Kramnik	19 October	½–½	11		Kramnik leads 4–3	A32 English Opening	[7]
8	Kramnik	Kasparov	21 October	½–½	38		Kramnik leads 4½–3½	E32 Nimzo-Indian Defence	[8]
9	Kasparov	Kramnik	22 October	½–½	33		Kramnik leads 5–4	C67 Ruy Lopez	[9]
10	Kramnik	Kasparov	24 October	1–0	25	Kramnik	Kramnik leads 6–4	E54 Nimzo-Indian Defence	[10]
11	Kasparov	Kramnik	26 October	½–½	41		Kramnik leads 6½–4½	C78 Ruy Lopez	[11]
12	Kramnik	Kasparov	28 October	½–½	33		Kramnik leads 7–5	E55 Nimzo-Indian Defence	[12]
13	Kasparov	Kramnik	29 October	½–½	14		Kramnik leads 7½–5½	C67 Ruy Lopez	[13]
14	Kramnik	Kasparov	31 October	½–½	57		Kramnik leads 8–6	A30 English Opening	[14]
15	Kasparov	Kramnik	2 November	½–½	38		Kramnik wins 8½–6½	E05 Catalan Opening	[15]

By Kasparov's admission, Kramnik's victory stemmed from his superior opening preparation.^[16] He relied on the Berlin Defence of the Ruy Lopez to defuse Kasparov's 1.e4, an opening Kasparov was not prepared for. Kramnik also won Game 2 with a new idea for White in Kasparov's favourite Grünfeld Defence, which Kasparov never played again in the match.

Aftermath

The world championship remained split until 2006, when Kramnik, still classical champion, defeated FIDE champion Veselin Topalov in a reunification match.

See also

• List of chess games between Kasparov and Kramnik

References

1. ^ Due to the sponsorship by Braingames, the match was known at the time as the Braingames World Chess Championships. Kramnik would later refer to the title as the "Classical" World Championship, hence this 2000 match was also a match for the "Classical" title.
2. ^ The Week in Chess 308 2nd October 2000
3. ^ World Chess Championship 2000 Kramnik - Kasparov, Mark Weeks' Chess Pages
4. ^ 1998-99 World Chess Council, Mark Weeks' Chess Pages
5. ^ The Week in Chess 200, 7th September 1998 (Also contains a statement at the time from Kasparov)
6. ^ The Week in Chess 222, 8th February 1999 (contains a statement at the time from Shirov)
7. ^ The Week in Chess 215, 21 December 1999, "Kasparov in England"
8. ^ The Week in Chess 223, 15th February 1999 - "The reality is that nobody wants to organize such a match. Potential sponsors are much more interested in a match between the number 1 and 2 chess players: Kasparov & Anand." - Kasparov
9. ^ The Week in Chess 254, 20 September 1999
10. ^ The Week in Chess 255, 27 September 1999
11. ^ The Week in Chess 281, 3 April 2000
12. ^ The Week in Chess 281, 27 March 2000
13. ^ Chessplayers deceived again by FIDE, Alexei Shirov, Chessbase, May 4, 2006
14. ^ The Week in Chess 283, 10th April 2000
15. ^ According to chessgames.com, Kasparov's lifetime score against Shirov is 17 wins, 15 draws and no losses.
16. ^ The Week in Chess 313, 6th November 2000