Below is a list of events in chess in 1995, as well as the top ten FIDE rated chess players of that year.

Top players

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

top 10 by

Elo rating The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor. The Elo system was invented as an improved ch ...

- January 1995 #

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...

2805 #

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Ches ...

2765 #

Valery Salov Valery Salov (born 26 May 1964) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was once ranked the third best player in the world. Competitive chess career Salov was awarded the International Master title in 1984 and the Grandmaster title in 1986. He was ...

2715 #

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating of ...

2715 #

Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Cha ...

2715 #

Alexei Shirov Alexei Shirov (, lv, Aleksejs Širovs; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994. He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classic ...

2710 #

Gata Kamsky Gata Kamsky ( tt-Cyrl, Гата Камский, italics=no; russian: Гата Камский; born June 2, 1974) is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and a five-time U.S. champion. Kamsky reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Cham ...

2710 #

Boris Gelfand Boris Gelfand ( he, בוריס אברמוביץ' גלפנד; be, Барыс Абрамавіч Гельфанд, Barys Abramavich Hel'fand; russian: Борис Абрамович Гельфанд, Boris Abramovich Gel'fand; born 24 June 1968) ...

2700 #

Vassily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk ( uk, Василь Михайлович Іванчук; born March 18, 1969), also transliterated as Vassily Ivanchuk, is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading ...

2700 #

Evgeny Bareev Evgeny Ilgizovich Bareev (russian: Евгений Ильгизович Бареев; born 21 November 1966) is a Russian-Canadian chess player and trainer. Awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1989, he was ranked fourth in the FIDE world r ...

2675

Chess news in brief

defeats

10½-7½ in New York to win the

PCA World Chess Championship 1995 The Classical World Chess Championship 1995, known at the time as the PCA World Chess Championship 1995, was held from September 10, 1995, to October 16, 1995, on the 107th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Garry ...

. The match swings first to Anand, when he takes a 5-4 lead and then to Kasparov, as he then wins four of the next five games and turns the tables in dramatic fashion. The match is preceded by Anand's 6½-4½ victory over

in the qualifier. *The FIDE World Championship 1996 progresses to the semi-final stage, where Kamsky convincingly defeats

5½-1½ and

overcomes

's challenge 6-3. The final is postponed due to the lack of any sponsorship or venue. *Kasparov wins the

Tal Memorial The Tal Memorial is an annual chess tournament played in Moscow from 2006 to 2018 with the exception of 2015, to honour the memory of the former World Champion Mikhail Tal (1936–1992). Many of the world's strongest players compete. In 2014 it w ...

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

with 7½/10, ahead of Anand (7). A strong field includes

and

Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the w ...

. *

Joël Lautier Joël Lautier () is a French chess grandmaster and one of the world's leading chess players in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 1986, He won U-14 World Youth Chess Championship in Puerto Rico, Argentina. In 1988, he won the World Junior Chess Champ ...

wins a double round tournament at Amsterdam, with 4/6, ahead of Kasparov (3½). *Kamsky, Karpov and Michael Adams share a three-way win at

Dos Hermanas Dos Hermanas () is a Spanish city south of Seville in Andalusia, with a population of 131,317 as of 2015. History The city's name, which means "two sisters", dates from its founding in 1248 by King Ferdinand III of Castile and honours Elvira ...

(all 5½/9). *Kramnik is sole winner at the Dortmund Sparkassen Tournament with 7/9. Karpov finishes second on 6½. *Kasparov wins at Novgorod (6½/9), ahead of Short, who shared second. *The

Horgen Horgen is a municipality in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is one of the larger towns along the south bank of the Lake of Zurich. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Hirzel merged into the municipali ...

tournament is shared between Kramnik and Ivanchuk with 7/10. Kasparov can only manage fifth and Anand does not play at all, after falling out with the organisers. *Ivanchuk is the winner at the

Linares International Chess Tournament The Linares International Chess Tournament (Spanish: ''Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Linares'') was an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, which takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén pr ...

with 10/13, ahead of Karpov (9). *Gelfand and Kramnik share victory at

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

with 8/11. *

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He ...

wins at

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

(6½/9), ahead of Salov (6). *In the Grand Prix series of tournaments, Ivanchuk is successful in Moscow, Adams in London and Kasparov at the New York and Paris events. *The body of

Gilles Andruet Gilles Andruet (born 30 March 1958, Versailles – 22 August 1995 near Saulx-les-Chartreux, Essonne) was a French chess player, an International Master and a former national champion. He was the son of rally driver Jean-Claude Andruet. Chess car ...

, former French Champion, is found near Paris. He was the son of famous French Rally Car Driver,

Jean-Claude Andruet Jean-Claude Andruet (born 13 August 1940 in Montreuil) is a retired French professional rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship. Andruet took three WRC event wins during his career; 1973 Monte Carlo Rally, Tour de Corse and ...

. Three men later stand trial for his murder. *In the world of

Computer chess Computer chess includes both hardware (dedicated computers) and software capable of playing chess. Computer chess provides opportunities for players to practice even in the absence of human opponents, and also provides opportunities for analysi ...

, Kasparov is engaged for two more 'man-machine' contests. He gains revenge for his earlier defeat to ''Chess Genius'', beating the Pentium-run program in a 2-game rapid match, held in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. The later contest against ''Fritz'' is branded a farce, when the machine's operator slips up and plays the wrong move. Referee

Stewart Reuben Stewart Reuben (born 1939) is a British chess player, organiser, arbiter and author. He has also been a professional poker player, been called "one of Britain's foremost poker players" and "one of the best two or three players in England", and ...

will not allow the move to be retracted. *

Mikhail Umansky Mikhail Markovich Umansky (Russian: ; January 21, 1952 – December 17, 2010) was a Russian chess grandmaster of correspondence chess, who was the 13th ICCF World Champion in correspondence chess between 1989 and 1998. He was also USSR Corre ...

wins the 13th

Correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less common ...

World Championship for the period 1989-1995. *

Florencio Campomanes Florencio Campomanes (22 February 1927 – 3 May 2010) was a Filipino political scientist, chess player, and chess organizer. Education Campomanes was born in Manila and earned his B.A. in political science from the University of the Philippin ...

steps down as

President.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov (russian: link=no, Кирса́н Никола́евич Илюмжи́нов, ; Kalmyk: Үлмҗин Кирсән, ''Ülmcin Kirsən'', ; born 5 April 1962) is a Russian business oligarch, administrator and po ...

is appointed the new President. *Spectators at the

British Chess Championship The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it has ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

witness two upcoming stars take their first full titles;

Matthew Sadler Matthew David Sadler (born 15 May 1974) is an English chess grandmaster, chess writer and two-time British Chess Champion. He is the No. 2 ranked English player Personal life Sadler has a French mother, speaks French perfectly and is also q ...

wins the Men's/Open event and

Harriet Hunt Harriet Vaughan Hunt (born 4 February 1978 in Oxford) is an English chess player and five-time British Women's Chess Champion (which she most recently won in October 2021, 22 years after her fourth win). Having trained as a plant scientist a ...

the Ladies' Championship. *In

Modesto, California Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

Patrick Wolff Patrick Gideon Wolff (born February 15, 1968) is an American chess Grandmaster. He is the son of philosopher Robert Paul Wolff and brother of law professor Tobias Barrington Wolff. Wolff won the United States Chess Championship in 1992 and 1995 ...

wins the

U.S. Chess Championship The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the United States chess champion. Begun as a challenge match in 1845, the U.S. Championship has been decided by tournament play for most of its long history. Since 1936, i ...

commemorative ring after a play-off with

Nick DeFirmian Nicholas Ernest de Firmian (born July 26, 1957) is an American chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in 1985. He is a three-time U.S. chess champion, winning in 1987 (with Joel Benjamin), 1995, and 1998. He also tied for ...

and Alexander Ivanov. The title is however shared three ways. The Ladies' title is shared between

Anjelina Belakovskaia Anjelina Belakovskaia (russian: Анжелина Белаковская, translit=Anzhelina Belakovskaya; born May 17, 1969) is an American chess player holding the FIDE title of Woman grandmaster, Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is a three-time U.S. ...

and

Sharon Ellen Burtman Sharon Ellen Burtman (born 1968) is an American chess player. Her titles include National Master (1994); Woman International Master (1989); New England Women's Champion (1988); and United States Women's Champion (1995, shared with Anjelina Belako ...

Births

Sahaj Grover Sahaj Grover (born 7 September 1995) is a chess player from Delhi, India, who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in September 2012. He won the Under-10 World Youth Chess Championship in 2005 and came third in the Under-20 World Junio ...

, Indian player who won the 2005

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015, the event has been split into "World Cade ...

(Under 10 category) - *

Daniel Naroditsky Daniel Naroditsky (born ), also known as Danya, is an American chess grandmaster, author, and commentator. He published his first chess book at age 14. Chess career Born in San Mateo, California, Naroditsky learned chess at age six from ...

Levy Rozman Levy Rozman (born December 5, 1995), known online as GothamChess, is an American chess International Master and commentator. He produces content on the online platforms Twitch and YouTube. Early life Rozman was born in Brooklyn, New York, on D ...

Deaths

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. Botvinnik ...

, leading Soviet Grandmaster and former

world chess champion The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013. The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 match ...

- May 5 *

Lev Polugaevsky Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky ( rus, Лев Абрамович Полугаевский, p=pəlʊɡɐˈjefskʲɪj; 20 November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE i ...

, leading Soviet Grandmaster and world championship candidate - August 30 *

Harry Golombek Harry Golombek OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. He was born in Lambeth t ...

, English Grandmaster, three-time British Champion, chess journalist, writer and World War II codebreaker - January 7 *

Mario Monticelli Mario Monticelli (16 March 1902, Venice – 30 June 1995, Milan) was an Italian chess player. He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950 and the Grandmaster title honoris causa (GME) in 1985. In 1922, he won in Rome (ITA-ch Uni ...

, Italian chess Grandmaster and three-time national champion - June 30 *Sir

Stuart Milner-Barry Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry (20 September 1906 – 25 March 1995) was a British chess player, chess writer, World War II codebreaker and civil servant. He represented England in chess both before and after World War II. He worked at Bletch ...

, English player, theoretician, writer, former President of the

British Chess Federation The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England. It is affiliated to FIDE. The ECF was formed in 2004 as one of the more localised successors to the British Chess Federation (BCF), an organisation founded in 1904. ...

and World War II codebreaker - March 25 *

Genrikh Kasparyan Genrikh Kasparyan ( hy, Հենրիկ Գասպարյան; 27 February 1910 in Tbilisi – 27 December 1995 in Yerevan) was a Soviet chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest composers of chess endgame studies. Outside Armen ...

, Armenian chess player and leading

chess problem A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by the composer using chess pieces on a chess board, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is to ...

composer - December 27 *

, International Master, former French Champion - August 22 *

Nicolaas Cortlever Nicolaas (Nico) Cortlever (14 June 1915, in Amsterdam – 5 April 1995) was a Dutch chess master. He tied for 7-8th at Rotterdam 1936 (10th Dutch Chess Championship, NED-ch, Salo Landau won); took 2nd at Amsterdam 1938 (11th NED-ch, Max Euwe won) ...

, Dutch International Master - April 5 *Dr. Roza Herman, Polish chess master, twice the national Ladies' champion - March 7 *

Mario Napolitano Mario Napolitano (10 February 1910, in Acquaviva delle Fonti – 31 October 1995, in Florence) was an Italian chess master. At the beginning of his career, Napolitano took 5th place in Venice in 1928. Then, he won at Milan 1934. He had played ...

, Italian master and leading

correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less common ...

player - October 31 *Dr.

Miroslav Katetov Miroslav may refer to: * Miroslav (given name), a Slavic masculine given name * ''Young America'' (clipper) or ''Miroslav'', an Austrian clipper ship in the Transatlantic case oil trade * Miroslav (Znojmo District), a town in the Czech Republic S ...

, Czech mathematician and former

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

chess champion - December 15 * Pablo Moran, noted Spanish chess journalist and writer - November ?

References

*
Chess History & Chronology - Bill WallArchived
2009-10-20)
Olimpbase - Olympiads and other Team event information
{{chess 20th century in chess Chess by year