FIDE World Chess Championship 1998

The FIDE World Chess Championship 1998 was contested in a match between the FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov and the challenger Viswanathan 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.

FIDE World Chess Championship 1998
 
Defending champion
Challenger
 
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand
  Russia Anatoly Karpov India Viswanathan Anand
 
3 (2)Scores3 (0)
  Born 23 May 1951
46 years old
Born 11 December 1969
28 years old
  Winner of the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 Winner of the Candidates Tournament 1997
  Rating: 2735
(World No. 6)
Rating: 2770
(World No. 3)
← 1996
1999 →

New World Championship format

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Background

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From 1948 to 1993, the world chess championship had been administered by FIDE, the international chess federation. In 1993, World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov 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 in the Candidates final.)

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 such as Tilburg 1992–94, 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.

Controversies

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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 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.
  • However, the scheduling of the match caused great controversy regarding the fairness of the contest: Anand was forced to play a fresh and prepared Karpov a mere three days[1] after his exhausting performance at Groningen.

Prominent non-participants

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  • Kasparov did not want to defend his title under these circumstances, and declined his invitation.
  • Vladimir Kramnik declined to play, in protest against having the final with Karpov shortly after the end of the tournament.

Participants

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All players are grandmasters unless indicated otherwise.

  1.   Vladimir Kramnik1 (RUS), 2770
  2.   Viswanathan Anand (IND), 2765
  3.   Anatoly Karpov (RUS), 2745
  4.   Veselin Topalov (BUL), 2745
  5.   Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR), 2725
  6.   Alexander Beliavsky (SLO), 2710
  7.   Alexei Shirov (ESP), 2700
  8.   Boris Gelfand (BLR), 2695
  9.   Michael Adams (ENG), 2680
  10.   Valery Salov (RUS), 2680
  11.   Yevgeny Bareev (RUS), 2670
  12.   Kiril Georgiev (BUL), 2670
  13.   Judit Polgár (HUN), 2670
  14.   Matthew Sadler (ENG), 2665
  15.   Vladimir Akopian (ARM), 2660
  16.   Aleksej Alexandrov (BLR), 2660
  17.   Joël Lautier (FRA), 2660
  18.   Nigel Short (ENG), 2660
  19.   Peter Svidler (RUS), 2660
  20.   Alexander Khalifman (RUS), 2655
  21.   Loek van Wely (NED), 2655
  22.   Zurab Azmaiparashvili (GEO), 2650
  23.   Sergei Rublevsky (RUS), 2650
  24.   Alex Yermolinsky (USA), 2650
  25.   Michal Krasenkov (POL), 2645
  26.   Lembit Oll (EST), 2645
  27.   Eduardas Rozentalis (LTU), 2645
  28.   Ulf Andersson (SWE), 2640
  29.   Alexander Chernin (HUN), 2640
  30.   Alexey Dreev (RUS), 2640
  31.   Rafael Vaganian (ARM), 2640
  32.   Arthur Yussupov (GER), 2640
  33.   Peter Leko (HUN), 2635
  34.   Vadim Milov (SUI), 2635
  35.   Ivan Sokolov (BIH), 2635
  36.   Vadim Zvjaginsev (RUS), 2635
  37.   Predrag Nikolić (BIH), 2630
  38.   Jeroen Piket (NED), 2630
  39.   Yasser Seirawan (USA), 2630
  40.   Giorgy Giorgadze (GEO), 2625
  41.   Julio Granda (PER), 2625
  42.   Jan Timman (NED), 2625
  43.   Zoltán Almási (HUN), 2615
  44.   Boris Alterman (ISR), 2615
  45.   Vladimir Malaniuk (UKR), 2615
  46.   Vladislav Tkachiev (KAZ), 2615
  47.   Utut Adianto (INA), 2610
  48.   Jaan Ehlvest (EST), 2610
  49.   Viktor Korchnoi (SUI), 2610
  50.   Lajos Portisch (HUN), 2610
  51.   Jóhann Hjartarson (ISL), 2605
  52.   Zbyněk Hráček (CZE), 2605
  53.   Friso Nijboer (NED), 2605
  54.   Curt Hansen (DEN), 2600
  55.   Grigory Kaidanov (USA), 2600
  56.   Ivan Morovic (CHI), 2600
  57.   Gilberto Milos (BRA), 2590
  58.   Alexander Morozevich (RUS), 2590
  59.   Emil Sutovsky (ISR), 2590
  60.   Sergei Tiviakov (RUS), 2590
  61.   Viktor Bologan (MDA), 2585
  62.   Miguel Illescas (ESP), 2585
  63.   Vasilios Kotronias (GRE), 2585
  64.   Alexander Nenashev (UZB), 2585
  65.   Andrei Sokolov (RUS), 2585
  66.   Joel Benjamin (USA), 2580
  67.   Boris Gulko (USA), 2580
  68.   Kevin Spraggett (CAN), 2575
  69.   Vladimir Epishin (RUS), 2570
  70.   Stefan Kindermann (GER), 2570
  71.   Konstantin Lerner (UKR), 2560
  72.   Margeir Petursson (ISL), 2555
  73.   Paul van der Sterren (NED), 2555
  74.   Larry Christiansen (USA), 2550
  75.   Andrei Istrățescu (ROM), 2550
  76.   Roman Slobodjan (GER), 2550
  77.   Ashot Anastasian (ARM), 2545
  78.   Étienne Bacrot (FRA), 2545
  79.   Bojan Kurajica (BIH), 2545
  80.   Alexander Fominyh (RUS), 2535
  81.   Hichem Hamdouchi (MAR), 2535
  82.   Peng Xiaomin (CHN), 2530
  83.   Peter Wells (ENG), 2530
  84.   Gilberto Hernandez (MEX), 2525
  85.   Thomas Luther (GER), 2525
  86.   John van der Wiel (NED), 2525
  87.   Wang Zili (CHN), 2520
  88.   Dibyendu Barua (IND), 2515
  89.   Šarūnas Šulskis (LTU), 2510
  90.   Igor Glek (RUS), 2505
  91.   Igor Miladinović (GRE), 2500
  92.   Tal Shaked (USA), 2500, IM
  93.   Niaz Murshed (BAN), 2490
  94.   Gildardo Garcia (COL), 2480
  95.   Vasily Smyslov (RUS), 2480
  96.   Helgi Grétarsson (ISL), 2475
  97.   Essam Mohammed2 (EGY), 2460, IM[2]
  98.   Hendrik Hoeksema (NED), 2400, IM
  99.   Watu Kobese (RSA), 2315, IM
  100.   Alexander Umgaev (RUS), unrated, no title

1 Kramnik (ranked 2nd in the world) declined participation on the grounds that Karpov's direct entry into the final was unacceptable.[3]

2 Mohammed did not appear.

Garry Kasparov (ranked 1st in the world), Gata Kamsky (ranked 7th), and Zsuzsa Polgar (Women's world champion) declined participation in advance.

Karpov as defending FIDE champion was seeded directly into the championship match. Of the 97 remaining participants, 68 entered the tournament in the first round, 28 in the second round and 1 (Gelfand, loser from Round 3 of the previous Candidates match) in the third round.

Results, rounds 1-4

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Section 1

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First round Second round Third round Fourth round
            
9   Michael Adams 2
40   Giorgy Giorgadze 0
40   Giorgy Giorgadze 4
78   Étienne Bacrot 3
9   Michael Adams
60   Sergei Tiviakov ½
27   Eduardas Rozentalis
71   Konstantin Lerner ½
27   Eduardas Rozentalis ½
60   Sergei Tiviakov
9   Michael Adams 4
19   Peter Svidler 2
19   Peter Svidler
47   Utut Adianto ½
47   Utut Adianto 2
87   Wang Zili 0
19   Peter Svidler
69   Vladimir Epishin ½
35   Ivan Sokolov
69   Vladimir Epishin

Section 2

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First round Second round Third round Fourth round
            
4   Veselin Topalov ½
38   Jeroen Piket
38   Jeroen Piket
21   Loek van Wely
21   Loek van Wely
91   Igor Miladinović ½
54   Curt Hansen
91   Igor Miladinović
21   Loek van Wely
12   Kiril Georgiev ½
12   Kiril Georgiev
44   Boris Alterman
44   Boris Alterman
83   Peter Wells ½
12   Kiril Georgiev
34   Vadim Milov ½
74   Larry Christiansen 4
28   Ulf Andersson 5
28   Ulf Andersson 3
34   Vadim Milov 4
63   Vasilios Kotronias
34   Vadim Milov

Section 3

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First round Second round Third round Fourth round
            
6   Alexander Beliavsky
42   Jan Timman ½
6   Alexander Beliavsky
23   Sergei Rublevsky
23   Sergei Rublevsky 2
68   Kevin Spraggett 0
23   Sergei Rublevsky
92   Tal Shaked ½
92   Tal Shaked 3
56   Ivan Morovic 2
6   Alexander Beliavsky 1
18   Nigel Short 3
18   Nigel Short
49   Viktor Korchnoi
49   Viktor Korchnoi
84   Gilberto Hernandez ½
18   Nigel Short 2
65   Andrei Sokolov 0
29   Alexander Chernin 2
75   Andrei Istrățescu 3
75   Andrei Istrățescu 0
65   Andrei Sokolov 2
65   Andrei Sokolov
99   Watu Kobese ½

Section 4

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First round Second round Third round Fourth round
            
22   Zurab Azmaiparashvili
76   Roman Slobodjan
76   Roman Slobodjan
33   Peter Leko ½
22   Zurab Azmaiparashvili
16   Aleksej Alexandrov ½
16   Aleksej Alexandrov 3
67   Boris Gulko 2
16   Aleksej Alexandrov
51   Jóhann Hjartarson
51   Jóhann Hjartarson
89  Šarūnas Šulskis
22   Zurab Azmaiparashvili 3
25   Michal Krasenkov 4
11   Yevgeny Bareev 2
45   Vladimir Malaniuk 0
45   Vladimir Malaniuk 2
81  Hichem Hamdouchi 0
11   Yevgeny Bareev ½
25   Michal Krasenkov
25   Michal Krasenkov
73   Paul van der Sterren ½
25   Michal Krasenkov
94   Gildardo Garcia ½
59   Emil Sutovsky ½
94   Gildardo Garcia

Section 5

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First round Second round Third round Fourth round
            
95   Vasily Smyslov 0
58   Alexander Morozevich 2
58   Alexander Morozevich ½
26   Lembit Oll
72   Margeir Petursson ½
26   Lembit Oll
26   Lembit Oll
46   Vladislav Tkachiev
80   Alexander Fominyh ½
46   Vladislav Tkachiev
46   Vladislav Tkachiev 3
10   Valery Salov 1
46   Vladislav Tkachiev
8   Boris Gelfand
88   Dibyendu Barua 2
52   Zbyněk Hráček 3
52   Zbyněk Hráček ½
17   Joël Lautier
17   Joël Lautier 2
8  Boris Gelfand 4
 
 

Section 6

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First round Second round Third round Fourth round
            
98   Hendrik Hoeksema ½
64   Alexander Nenashev
64   Alexander Nenashev ½
30   Alexey Dreev
30   Alexey Dreev
14   Matthew Sadler ½
86   John van der Wiel ½
48   Jaan Ehlvest
48   Jaan Ehlvest 2
14   Matthew Sadler 4
30   Alexey Dreev 3
36   Vadim Zvjaginsev 1
55   Grigory Kaidanov 2
36   Vadim Zvjaginsev 4
66   Joel Benjamin 2
36   Vadim Zvjaginsev 3
36   Vadim Zvjaginsev
39   Yasser Seirawan
39   Yasser Seirawan 3
77   Ashot Anastasian 1
39   Yasser Seirawan
5   Vassily Ivanchuk ½

Section 7

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First round Second round Third round Fourth round
            
96   Helgi Grétarsson
62   Miguel Illescas ½
96   Helgi Grétarsson ½
32   Artur Yusupov
32   Artur Yusupov ½
43   Zoltán Almási
82   Peng Xiaomin ½
43   Zoltán Almási
43   Zoltán Almási
13   Judit Polgár ½
43   Zoltán Almási 0
2   Viswanathan Anand 2
90   Igor Glek
53   Friso Nijboer
53   Friso Nijboer 0
20   Alexander Khalifman 2
20   Alexander Khalifman
2   Viswanathan Anand
37   Predrag Nikolić 0
2   Viswanathan Anand 2

Section 8

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First round Second round Third round Fourth round
            
100   Alexander Umgaev 0
61   Viktor Bologan 2
61   Viktor Bologan 0
31   Rafael Vaganian 2
31   Rafael Vaganian 3
15   Vladimir Akopian 4
85   Thomas Luther
50   Lajos Portisch
85   Thomas Luther ½
15   Vladimir Akopian
15   Vladimir Akopian ½
7   Alexei Shirov
57   Gilberto Milos 2
93   Niaz Murshed 0
57   Gilberto Milos 2
70   Stefan Kindermann 0
70   Stefan Kindermann 3
24   Alex Yermolinsky 2
57   Gilberto Milos
7   Alexei Shirov
79   Bojan Kurajica
41   Julio Granda
41   Julio Granda ½
7   Alexei Shirov

Results, rounds 5–7

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Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
         
9   Michael Adams
21   Loek van Wely
9   Michael Adams 4
18   Nigel Short 3
18   Nigel Short 2
25   Michal Krasenkov 0
9   Michael Adams 4
2   Viswanathan Anand 5
8   Boris Gelfand
30   Alexey Dreev
8   Boris Gelfand ½
2   Viswanathan Anand
2   Viswanathan Anand
7   Alexei Shirov ½

Championship match

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The match was played over 6 games in Lausanne, Switzerland (on January 2-3-4 and 6-7-8) and ended in a 3–3 tie. Two rapid games were then played on January 9. Karpov won both, retaining his FIDE title.

World Chess Championship Match 1998
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 R1 R2 Points
  Anatoly Karpov (Russia) 2735 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 5
  Viswanathan Anand (India) 2770 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 3

References

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  1. ^ "Karpov - Anand FIDE World Championship Match (1998)".
  2. ^ "The Week in Chess 212".
  3. ^ "World Chess Championship, 1997 FIDE Knockout Matches".
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