A Brief History of the World Chess Championship

By Kyle Camarda

Chess is one of the few sporting events in which the concept of a single world champion exists.
The idea dates back to Wilhelm Steinitz, who was in fact the strongest player in the world in the 1860's, and proved this with a clear victory in a match versus Adolf Anderssen in 1866. When Steinitz finished second in the Great Tournament of London in 1883, well behind the Polish master Hermann Zukertort, he challenged Zukertort to a match for the World Championship. The match was held in 1886, in 3 cities: New York, St. Louis and New Orleans. Although Zukertort lead after the first portion of the match 4-1, he eventually lost 10-5. Even though Steinitz was then 50 years old, he searched out the best players and challenged them to title matches: first, the Russian player Chigorin, whom he defeated in 1889 and 1892, and later, the British master Gunsberg, whom he defeated in 1890. Steinitz finally lost his title at the age of 58 to the young German master and mathematician Dr. Emmanuel Lasker, by the score of 10-5 in a match in New York in 1894. The new World Champion also strove to legitimize his title by challenging the best players to matches, first defending his title against Steinitz (10-2, in Moscow in 1896), and later against Marshall (1907), Tarrasch (1908), Janowski (1909), Schlecter (1910) and again versus Janowski (1911) and Tarrasch (1916). The rules of these matches varied, some including a fixed number of games, while some required a set number of wins to claim the title with draws not counting. Lasker's famous psychological style, in which he would play moves which he felt were most uncomfortable for the specific opponent, was very successful, and he was able to hold the title until 1921. The great Cuban master José Raul Capablanca has been a child prodigy, defeating strong masters by the age of 7. By 1921, it was clear that he was the strongest challenge to Lasker. The match was held in Havana, and Capablanca was victorious 4-0 with 10 draws. The fact that Capablanca did not lose a single game was typical - during his career, he managed a 10-year span without losing a single game! His endgame technique was far better than his rivals, and is still studied closely to this day. However, he was not overly inclined to defend his title, and did not allow a title match until 1927. During this time, a Russian emigrant to England, Alexander Alekhine, rose to the top of the tournament circuit. A great match was planned between Alekhine and Capablanca, at the time called the "Match of the Century." The feared attacker, Alekhine, was to try and defeat the unbeatable Capablanca. This critical match took place in Buenos Aires in 1927, and was played under the rules that the winner was the first to win 6 games, draws not counting. The match foreshadowed a number of events within the chess world: the domination of the world championship by players from the Soviet Union, the problem of scheduling a match with an unlimited number of games, and the question of the right of the champion to a return match. After 34 games, Alekhine successfully overcame Capablanca by the score of 6-3. While Alekhine was a fearsome attacking player, his personal problems lead him to refuse Capablanca a return match. He instead challenged the relatively weaker Russian opponent Yefim Bogolubov, whom he defeated in 1929 and 1934. In 1935, Alekhine lost a match to Max Euwe of the Netherlands, 8-9 with 13 draws, probably due to overuse of alcohol. Two years later, Alekhine reclaimed the title in a rematch in Holland, 10-4. During the Second World War, most chess activity was halted. The rules of Nazi Germany did hold some tournaments in the occupied countries of Eastern Europe, and participation in these tournaments was to be held against some players for the rest of their lives. In 1946, Alekhine committed suicide. During the post-war period, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was formed, with strong influence by the Soviet chess authorities. It took over control of the World Championship, and took away the right of the champion to choose their own challenger. Instead, a system of zonal tournaments, interzonal tournaments and matches was put in place, with a challenger for the World Champion to be found every three years. Since no World Champion was currently in place, FIDE held a tournament in 1948 among the strongest players in the world at the time: The Russians Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, the Estonian Paul Keres, former champion Max Euwe, and the Americans Samuel Reshevsky and Reuben Fine. The tournament was held in Moscow, and Fine declined to take part. Botvinnik won the tournament with 14 points out of 20 games, but it is now known that Keres was pressured to lose to Botvinnik due to Keres' activities in Nazi occupied Estonia during the war. The Russians wanted a true Russian as World Champion, and used their influence when necessary to keep Botvinnik in that role. After the 1948 match tournament, a long string of matches was held, all in Moscow. The Soviet Chess Federation was able to set the rules for these matches, and chose each match to be 24 games in length. In the case of a tie, the title would remain with the champion. Furthermore, if the challenger did win the match, the former champion was given a return match within one year, without having to qualify through the tournament and match system. This system clearly favored the champion, and Botvinnik used it to hold his title with two interruptions from 1948 - 1963. While Botvinnik was clearly one of the greatest players of all time, he was not significantly stronger than his competition during this period. His first title defense, against David Bronstein in 1951, finished with the score 12-12. Bronstein has later admitted that he was ordered by Soviet authorities to throw the match to Botvinnik. Again in 1954 Botvinnik was only able to hold his title by a 12-12 score, this time against Vassily Smyslov. In 1957, Botvinnik lost to Smyslov by the score of 12.5 - 9.5. Botvinnik then spent the entire year preparing to regain his title, which he did in 1958 by winning the return match 12.5 - 10.5 . The great Latvian attacking player Mikhail Tal defeated Botvinnik in 1960 by the score of 12.5 - 8.5, and only lost the return match in 1961 due to health problems (and perhaps the bane of many chess players, alcohol). After 1961, the right of a return match was removed. The Georgian grandmaster Tigran Petrosian was Botvinnik's next challenger, and he defeated Botvinnik in 1963 by the score of 12.5 - 9.5. Petrosian's strength lied in the accumulation of small advantages, patient positional play, and flawless endgame technique. He defended his title in 1966 against the young star Boris Spassky by the narrow margin of 12.5 -11.5, but lost a second match against Spassky in 1969 by the score of 12.5 -10.5. Spassky's first challenger was to be the first non-Soviet player to play in a World Championship match since 1948. During the 1960's, a young player from America was honing his skills and preparing to break down the Russian hegemony. Bobby Fischer, born in 1943, had been dominating nearly every tournament he played in, and reached the rank of grandmaster by the age of 11. His difficulties dealing with tournament officials and FIDE were many, however, and it was only through the kindness of another grandmaster that he was able to play in the interzonal tournament of 1970. Not only did he win that tournament, but he went on to beat two leading grandmasters, Taimanov of the USSR and Larsen of Denmark, by the incredible score of 6-0 with no draws in the preliminary matches. After overcoming former champion Petrosian in the finals, Fischer qualified to play a match for the title against Boris Spassky in 1972. This was truly the match of the century, with political overtones and issues relating to the conduct of both sides. The match was held at Reykjavik in Iceland, a chess-mad country which was truly a fitting setting for such an event. Fischer lost the first game, and refused to play the second due to differences with the organizers. Since Spassky would win the match in the case of a tie, this essentially put Fischer 3 games behind. Fischer was convinced to resume the match, and went on to overcome Spassky's lead and defeat him by the score of 12.5 - 8.5. This result had a major effect in the US, which saw a huge increase in the popularity of chess, and for Spassky, who never was able to return to favor within Soviet chess circles, and eventually emigrated to France. Fischer's unstable mental state made him ever more suspicious of FIDE, and he refused to defend his title in 1975. His challenger then became champion by default: Anatoly Karpov, born 1951 in Leningrad. Karpov successfully defended his title three times against the same challenger, Viktor Korchnoi, a defector from Russia living in Switzerland. These matches were filled with strange political happenings as well, including the use of hypnotists to try to distract the opponent, and the unfortunate threat by the Soviets to retaliate against Korchnoi's family if he were to win. A change in the rules also took place - the last two of these matches were played with the rule that the first player to win six games would be declared champion, with draws not counting. The qualification for the World Championship in 1984 saw a new player rise to the top - Garry Kasparov, an Armenian Jew from Baku. Garry had changed his name from Harry Weinstein as a youth to become more acceptable to Soviet officials. Kasparov breezed through the qualification tournaments and matches and reached the finals. Kasparov, just twenty years old, took on the veteran Karpov in Moscow. Karpov seemed to have an easy time at first, winning four of the first nine games with no losses. Kasparov decided to try to hold draws in the remaining games, hoping that his older opponent would eventually wear down. After an amazing string of seventeen straight draws, Karpov won game twenty-seven to come within one point of victory. However, after four more draws, Kasparov achieved his first win in game thirty-two. After this point, the momentum of the match shifted. Fourteen more draws were played, but by this point, Karpov was spent. The Soviet organizers, desperate for a win by the "model" citizen Karpov, tried to declare extra holidays to give rest days to Karpov. However, this did not help, and Kasparov won games 47 and 48. Then, an amazing event occured - FIDE, under pressure from the Soviets, annulled the match and declared a new one be played. Did Karpov support this idea, to save himself, or did this actually help Kasparov, who was still only one loss from defeat? The exact chain of events leading to this decision is still unclear, but in any case, a new match was played the following year, with a maximum of 24 games, and with Karpov holding his title in the case of a draw. This match was narrowly won by Kasparov, 13-11, with a win by Kasparov in the final game. Karpov retained the right to a return match, however, and this match was played in London in 1986. Kasparov won the third match between the two rivals by the score of 12.5 - 11.5. Karpov was thus forced to return to the preliminary matches to attempt to regain his title. He was successful in qualifying for another title match in 1987, and nearly regained his title that year. Leading Kasparov by the score of 12-11 in the 24 game match, Karpov needed only a draw to return to his previous post. But Kasparov ground down Karpov in a long ending, and drew the match, thereby retaining his title. Karpov again qualified for the title match in 1990, and only narrowly lost this match, 12.5 - 7.5. The qualification for the World Championship in 1993 saw a surprising twist: Karpov was upset by the English grandmaster Nigel Short. Short then defeated Jan Timman of the Netherlands to earn the right to challenge Kasparov. FIDE organized the title match, but failed to involve the players in the negotiations. This caused Short and Kasparov to form a new organization, the Professional Chessplayers Association or PCA, and to hold their match under its auspices. Kasparov easily won this match 12.5 - 7.5 . FIDE staged a parallel championship match, featuring Karpov and Timman, and Karpov's win then provided the chess world with two World Champions: an official FIDE-sanctioned one, and a player unbeaten in match play who was clearly the world's best. The PCA held one more World Championship match, between Kasparov and Vishy Anand of India, which was again won by Kasparov in 1996. The PCA folded after this event, and now Kasparov found himself in the same situation as the Champion 100 years previous: a great player looking for worthy opponents. While FIDE turned to yearly knock-out tournaments to provide a champion, Kasparov scheduled a match with Alexei Shirov, a Latvian who emigrated to Spain. The sponsorship of this match fell through, however, leaving Shirov with no chance to obtain the title. Kasparov was eventually able to organize a match with the Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Kramnik prepared amazingly thoroughly for this match, and was able to defeat Kasparov, being the first human to do so since the first K-K match in 1984. The future of the World Championship is currently in doubt. Will Kasparov be able to play a rematch with Kramnik, and could Kramnik perform the same feat again? Will FIDE eventually return to the previous system in which the Champion held the title until beaten in a match? Is a reunification possible? So long as the political climate in Russia and the former Soviet republics remains unstable, it seems likely that the World Championship of chess will remain as murky and unclear as ever.