The
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 ...
World Chess Championship 2000 was held in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
, India, and
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, Iran. The first six rounds were played in New Delhi between 27 November and 15 December 2000, and the final match in Tehran started on 20 December and ended on 24 December 2000. The top seeded Indian
Grandmaster 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 ...
won the championship.
Background
At the time of this championship, the World title was split. The
newly crowned Classical World Champion,
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 ...
, did not participate, as well as the previous Classical Champion and world's highest-rated player,
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 ...
.
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 ...
, the 1998 FIDE World Champion and No.11-rated player, also did not take part in the tournament as he was in the midst of filing a lawsuit against the organization. However, most other strongest players of the world took part, including the defending FIDE World Champion
Alexander Khalifman
Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (russian: Алекса́ндр Вале́рьевич Халифма́н; born 18 January 1966) is a Russian chess player and writer. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1990, he was FIDE World Chess Ch ...
and the
2000 World Cup winner
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 ...
. The only other absentee from the top 25 was
Ye Jiangchuan
Ye Jiangchuan (born November 20, 1960) is a Chinese chess player. He is the second Chinese player, after Ye Rongguang, to achieve the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in 1993. On 1 January 2000, he became the first ever Chinese pl ...
.
Participants
All players are
Grandmasters unless indicated otherwise.
# , 2762
# , 2756
# , 2755
# , 2746
# , 2743
# , 2719
# , 2707
# , 2702
# , 2702
# , 2690
# , 2689
# , 2681
# , 2677
# , 2677
# , 2676
# , 2673
# , 2670
# , 2668
# , 2668
# , 2667
# , 2667
# , 2666
# , 2661
# , 2660
# , 2659
# , 2657
# , 2657
# , 2649
# , 2648
# , 2646
# , 2643
# , 2643
# , 2641
# , 2633
# , 2630
# , 2627
# , 2627
# , 2627
# , 2627
# , 2623
# , 2623
# , 2620
# , 2613
# , 2611
# , 2609
# , 2606
# , 2605
# , 2599
# , 2598
# , 2598
# , 2596
# , 2595
# , 2595
# , 2594
# , 2592
# , 2591
# , 2587
# , 2584
# , 2583
# , 2582
# , 2577
# , 2574
# , 2573
# , 2572
# , 2572
# , 2567
# , 2567
# , 2566
# , 2557
# , 2557
# , 2556
# , 2555
# , 2554
# , 2554
# , 2552
# , 2545
# , 2541
# , 2536
# , 2534
# , 2529
# , 2527
# , 2526
# , 2525
# , 2522
# , 2513,
IM
# , 2510, IM
# , 2502
# , 2499
# , 2495
# , 2488, no title
# , 2485
# , 2485, IM
# , 2461, IM
# , 2454, IM
# , 2429, IM
# , 2426, IM
# , 2418, IM
# , 2409, IM
# , 2322, IM
# , 2257, no title
Qualification
Players qualified for the championship according to the following criteria:
#four semi-finalists of the
previous championship (
Alexander Khalifman
Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (russian: Алекса́ндр Вале́рьевич Халифма́н; born 18 January 1966) is a Russian chess player and writer. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1990, he was FIDE World Chess Ch ...
,
Vladimir Akopian
Vladimir Akopian (russian: Владимир Акопян, hy, Վլադիմիր Հակոբյան; born December 7, 1971) is an Armenian-Americans, American chess Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster.
Career
Akopian was born in Baku, Azerbaijan Sov ...
,
Michael Adams,
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Romanian (until 2014) and German (since 2014) chess grandmaster. His peak FIDE rating was 2707 in October 2005, when he was ranked fifteenth in the world, and the highest rated Romanian player eve ...
);
#juniors rated 2600 or higher in the rating lists of January 2000 to July 2000;
#the
World Junior Champions 1999 (
Aleksandr Galkin) and 2000 (
Lázaro Bruzón
Lázaro Bruzón Batista (born 2 May 1982 in Holguín) is a Cuban-American chess grandmaster. He is a former World Junior Champion, two-times American Continental champion, two-time Iberoamerican champion and five-time Cuban champion.
Bruzó ...
);
#the
Women's World Champion 1999 (
Xie Jun
Xie Jun (born October 30, 1970) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and is not just the first Chinese female but the first Asian female to become a chess grandmaster. She had two separate reigns as Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 ...
);
#three nominees of the FIDE President;
#one nominee of the organizers;
#62 qualifiers from the zonal tournaments;
#one nominee from each of the Continental Presidents (for a total of four players);
#a sufficient number of best rated players, to bring the total number of participants to 100 (the average of January and July 2000 rating lists was used);
Playing conditions
The championship was a knockout tournament similar to other FIDE World Chess Championships between 1998 and 2004: the players were paired for short matches, with losers eliminated. 28 players (27 best rated and
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Romanian (until 2014) and German (since 2014) chess grandmaster. His peak FIDE rating was 2707 in October 2005, when he was ranked fifteenth in the world, and the highest rated Romanian player eve ...
, one of the quarterfinalists of the previous championship) were given byes to the second round. The field of 100 participants was reduced to one winner over seven rounds.
Rounds 1–5 consisted of a two-game match, followed by tie breaks at faster time controls if required. The time control for regular games was 100 minutes, with 50 minutes added after move 40, 10 minutes added after move 60, and 30 seconds added after each move starting with move 1. Tie breaks consisted of two rapid chess games (25 minutes each + 10 seconds per move); followed by two games with shorter time controls if required (15 minutes + 10 seconds per move); followed by a series of blitz games (4 minutes + 10 seconds per move for White, 5 minutes + 10 seconds per move for Black, first player to win is the winner of the match). The semifinals (round 6) were best of four games, and the final was best of six games, with the same conditions for the tie-breaks.
Schedule
There was one rest day during round 4 and two rest days during round 6. The tie-breaks of rounds 1–5 were played in the evening following the second game. The final took place one month after rounds 1–6.
*Round 1: 27 November 2000, 28 November 2000 (tiebreaks on 29 November 2000)
*Round 2: 30 November 2000, 1 December 2000 (tiebreaks on 2 December 2000)
*Round 3: 3 December 2000, 4 December 2000 (tiebreaks on 5 December 2000)
*Round 4: 6 December 2000, 7 December 2000 (tiebreaks on 8 December 2000)
*Round 5: 9 December 2000, 10 December 2000 (tiebreaks on 11 December 2000)
*Round 6: 12 December 2000 – 15 December 2000 (tiebreaks on 16 December 2000)
*Round 7: 20 December 2000 – 26 December 2000, with a rest day on 23 December 2000 (tiebreaks on 27 December 2000)
Results, rounds 1–4
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
Results, rounds 5–7
Championship final
The final match of the FIDE World Championship featured
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 ...
, the pre-tournament favorite and No. 1 seed, and
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 ...
, who had previously been denied a chance to challenge
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 ...
for the Classical World Championship despite winning a candidates' match two years earlier. After an uneventful 34-move draw in Game 1, the two players exchanged pieces quickly in Game 2, leading to a relatively even rook-and-pawn endgame after 30 moves. But Shirov gave Anand an opening with 47... Ke5?, allowing the latter to preserve two passed pawns and turn them into a winning advantage. Anand would strike again in the third game – with Shirov on the attack, Anand held a strong defensive position until 27... Qg5! followed by 28. Qf3?! from Shirov gave him a solid advantage.
In the decisive Game 4, Shirov played a sharp attacking game, knowing a victory was required to stay in contention for the championship. But he faltered with 19... Qf6?, missing a sound queen sacrifice that would have led to an equal endgame with winning opportunities (19... Qxe2 20. Bxe2 Bf2 21. Rh1 e5) and followed with 20... Qxc3?, leaving his h-file bishop hanging. Anand was able to translate the resulting advantage into a winning position.
:
References
External links
World Chess Championship, 2000 FIDE Knockout Matches
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fide World Chess Championship 2000
2000 FIDE
2000 in chess
Chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
Chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
2000 in Indian sport
2000 in Iranian sport
2000s in Delhi
20th century in Tehran
Chess in India
Chess in Iran