Classical World Chess Championship 2000
 
Defending champion
Challenger
 
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
  Russia Garry Kasparov Russia Vladimir Kramnik
 
Scores
  Born 13 April 1963
37 years old
Born 25 June 1975
25 years old
  Winner of the 1995 Classical World Chess Championship Runner-up of 1998 Candidates Match (replacement for Spain Alexei Shirov)
  Rating: 2849
(World No. 1)[1]
Rating: 2772
(World No. 3)[1]

The Classical World Chess Championship 2000, known at the time as the Braingames World Chess Championships,[2] was held from 8 October 2000 – 4 November 2000 in London, United Kingdom. Garry Kasparov, the defending champion, played Vladimir Kramnik. The match was played in a best-of-16-games format, with Kramnik defeating the heavily favoured Kasparov.[3] Kramnik won the match with two wins, 13 draws and no losses.[4] To the supporters of the lineal world championship, 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 Interzonal and Candidates matches from 19931995, and Kasparov successfully defended his PCA title in 1995 against Viswanathan Anand.

The PCA folded in 1996. The initial contract with Intel had expired. Kasparov was looking for a new sponsor, but hadn't been able to find one.[5] However, Kasparov still claimed he was the rightful world champion, 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.[6]

Anand, however, as a participant in the FIDE world championship cycle, believed he was contractually obligated to not participate in a rival cycle and declined the offer.[7] So instead a match was organised between Kramnik and Alexei Shirov, from 24 May to 5 June 1998 in Cazorla, Spain.[8] Shirov was chosen because he was next in the PCA rating list,[9][10] and because of his strong performance at the Linares 1998 supertournament.[7][11]

Despite being the underdog, Shirov won the match with two wins, seven draws and no losses.[12][13]

World Chess Championship Candidates Match (1998)
Rating123456789Total
 Vladimir Kramnik (Russia)2790 ½½½0½½½½0
 Alexei Shirov (Spain)2710 ½½½1½½½½1

However, during 1998 Kasparov, Shirov and sponsors were unable to come to an agreement.[14] Shirov rejected one offer of a match in California, but believed rejecting this offer did not mean waiving his rights for a match.[11] In December 1998, there was still talk of organising a KasparovShirov match.[15]

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.[16] Negotiations for a 1999 match failed,[17][18] as did negotiations in 2000, with Anand expressing dissatisfaction with the contract.[19] 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—Kramnik.[20] This time negotiations were successful, and the company Braingames was formed to finance a Kasparov-Kramnik match in October 2000.

Shirov was aggrieved, and even in 2006 maintained that Kramnik was not a valid world champion.[21] 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).[22] In the years that followed, Kasparov maintained an overwhelming plus score in his individual games against Shirov.[23]

Championship Match

Classical World Chess Championship Match 2000
Rating123456789101112131415Total
 Garry Kasparov (Russia)2849 ½0½½½½½½½0½½½½½
 Vladimir Kramnik (Russia)2772 ½1½½½½½½½1 ½½½½½

Match games

WhiteBlackDateResultMovesWinnerStandingOpeningNotes / Reference
1KasparovKramnik8 October½–½25½–½C67 Ruy Lopez
2KramnikKasparov10 October1–040KramnikKramnik leads 1½–½D85 Grünfeld DefenceKramnik uncorked a novelty in Grünfeld Defence, after which Kasparov did not use the Grünfeld
3KasparovKramnik12 October½–½53Kramnik leads 2–1C67 Ruy Lopez
4KramnikKasparov14 October½–½74Kramnik leads 2½–1½D27 Queen's Gambit
5KasparovKramnik15 October½–½24Kramnik leads 3–2A34 English Opening
6KramnikKasparov17 October½–½66Kramnik leads 3½–2½D27 Queen's Gambit
7KasparovKramnik19 October½–½11Kramnik leads 4–3A32 English Opening
8KramnikKasparov21 October½–½38Kramnik leads 4½–3½E32 Nimzo-Indian Defence
9KasparovKramnik22 October½–½33Kramnik leads 5–4C67 Ruy Lopez
10KramnikKasparov24 October1–025KramnikKramnik leads 6–4E54 Nimzo-Indian Defence
11KasparovKramnik26 October½–½41Kramnik leads 6½–4½C78 Ruy Lopez
12KramnikKasparov28 October½–½33Kramnik leads 7–5E55 Nimzo-Indian Defence
13KasparovKramnik29 October½–½14Kramnik leads 7½–5½C67 Ruy Lopez
14KramnikKasparov31 October½–½57Kramnik leads 8–6A30 English Opening
15KasparovKramnik2 November½–½38Kramnik wins 8½–6½E05 Catalan Opening
Berlin Defence after 8... Kxd8
abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
c8 black bishop
d8 black king
f8 black bishop
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
c6 black pawn
e5 white pawn
f5 black knight
f3 white knight
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white bishop
f1 white rook
g1 white king
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
This position occurred four times—in games 1, 3, 9 and 13—and each time Kramnik (black) was able to draw.

According to Kasparov, Kramnik's victory stemmed from his superior opening preparation.[24] 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 Kramnik discovered during training with Boris Gelfand a year before the match.[25] He also won Game 10 due to deep knowledge of 4.e3 variation by Joël Lautier and Evgeny Bareev, his seconds; that variation was chosen because of Kasparov's unimpressive score with it.[26]

Aftermath

The Berlin defense surged in popularity after this match, becoming a reliable drawing weapon.[27] Kramnik defended his title in the Classical World Chess Championship 2004 against Peter Leko. The world championship remained split until 2006, when Kramnik defeated FIDE champion Veselin Topalov in a reunification match, becoming the undisputed world chess champion.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Top 100 Players – October 2000". Ratings.fide.com.
  2. 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.
  3. The Week in Chess 308 2 October 2000
  4. The Week in Chess 313 6 November 2000
  5. Garry Kasparov. Deep Thinking.
  6. The Week in Chess 172, The Week in Chess, 23 February 1998
  7. 1 2 The Week in Chess 174, The Week in Chess, 9 March 1998
  8. "1998 Shirov - Kramnik Challenger Match (2000 cycle)". Archived from the original on 14 May 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  9. The Week in Chess 181, The Week in Chess, 27 April 1998
  10. WCC World Rankings, The Week in Chess 177, 30 March 1998
  11. 1 2 Shirov Press Statement, The Week in Chess, 8 February 1999
  12. 1998-99 World Chess Council, Mark Weeks' Chess Pages
  13. Shirov-Kramnik WCC Candidates Match (1998)
  14. The Week in Chess 200, 7 September 1998 (Also contains a statement at the time from Kasparov)
  15. The Week in Chess 215, 21 December 1999, "Kasparov in England"
  16. The Week in Chess 223, 15 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
  17. The Week in Chess 254, 20 September 1999
  18. The Week in Chess 255, 27 September 1999
  19. The Week in Chess 281, 27 March 2000
  20. The Week in Chess 282, 3 April 2000
  21. Chessplayers deceived again by FIDE, Alexei Shirov, Chessbase, 4 May 2006
  22. The Week in Chess 283, 10 April 2000
  23. According to chessgames.com, Kasparov's lifetime score against Shirov is 15 wins, 14 draws and no losses.
  24. The Week in Chess 313, 6 November 2000
  25. Владимир Крамник рассказывает о легендарном матче с Гарри Каспаровым! Интервью второе., archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 23 August 2021
  26. Владимир Крамник рассказывает о легендарном матче с Гарри Каспаровым! Интервью четвёртое., archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 23 August 2021
  27. Emmett, Ryan (9 August 2008). "The Berlin Wall Grows Higher In Sochi". Chess.com. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
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