Events of 1999 in chess include the list of top chess players and news.

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 players 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 1999; #

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 ...

2812 #

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 ...

2781 #

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 ...

2751 #

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 ...

2726 #

Alexander Morozevich Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich (russian: Александр Серге́евич Морозе́вич, translit=Aleksandr Sergéevich Morozévich; born July 18, 1977) is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE ...

2723 # Michael Adams 2716 #

Vasily 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 leadin ...

2714 #

Peter Svidler Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler (russian: Пётр Вениами́нович Сви́длер; born 17 June 1976), commonly known as Peter Svidler, is a Russian chess grandmaster and an eight-time Russian Chess Champion who now frequently commenta ...

2713 #

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 ...

2710 #

Veselin Topalov Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (pronounced ; bg, Весели́н Александров Топа́лов; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess International Grandmaster, grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Championship, World Chess Champ ...

2700

Chess news in brief

*The

World Chess Championship 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 World Chess ...

is won by

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 ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Many leading players (including

) boycott the event and there is talk of legal action against FIDE by Karpov. *The proposed 'Ultimate Championship' between Kasparov and Anand is postponed when the sponsorship deal is withdrawn. *FIDE's

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE. Unlike with most sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee, wher ...

is won by

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 ...

, as she defeats

Alisa Galliamova Alisa Mikhailovna Galliamova (russian: Алиса Михайловна Галлямова, tt-Cyrl, Алисә Михаил кызы Галләмова; born 18 January 1972 in Kazan) is a Russian chess player who holds the FIDE titles of Inte ...

in the final. The proceedings are described as chaotic and unsatisfactory by the world press following Zsuzsa Polgar being stripped of her title and Galliamova defaulting in the Candidates Final. *The

Linares 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 ...

is dominated by a rampant Kasparov (10½/14), 2½ clear points ahead of Kramnik and Anand (both 8/14). *Kasparov wins at

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

with 7/9, ahead of

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 ...

and

(both 6/9). * Michael Adams (6/9) achieves a career-best tournament result, winning 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 ...

ahead of

(5½). Surprisingly, Anand is in joint last place (3½). *

Peter Leko Peter Leko ( hu, Lékó Péter; born September 8, 1979) is a Hungarian chess player and commentator. He became the world's youngest grandmaster in 1994. He narrowly missed winning the Classical World Chess Championship 2004: the match was draw ...

(5/7) wins the

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

super-tournament, ahead of Kramnik (4½/7). *At the annual Hoogovens tournament in

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee ( literally ''Neighborhood at Sea'') is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Coru ...

, Kasparov runs out the winner from Anand and Kramnik. *The

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Giants takes the form of a 4-player, 4-round, all-play-all rapid event and is won by Kasparov, 1½ points ahead of Anand, Kramnik and Karpov. *The

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

is held in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

, Georgia.

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

take gold, Hungary silver and Germany bronze. *An

Advanced Chess Advanced chess is a form of chess in which each human player uses a computer chess program to explore the possible results of candidate moves. Despite this computer assistance, it is the human player who controls and decides the game. Also called c ...

Match between Vishwanathan Anand and

results in a crushing 5-1 victory for the Indian Grandmaster. * Kasparov plays and wins an internet game against The World. The game is followed closely by the world media.

Irina Krush Irina Borisivna Krush ( uk, Ірина Борисівна Круш; born December 24, 1983) is an American chess Grandmaster. She is the first woman, and as of August 2022 the only woman, to earn the GM title while playing for the United States ...

wins much respect for her analysis and steering of the World side. Daniel King commentates on

MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

. *At the

Melody Amber The Amber chess tournament (officially the ''Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess Tournament'', previously ''Melody Amber'') was an annual invitation-only event for some of the world's best players, from 1992 to 2011. Since the second edition, the event ...

tournament in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, Kramnik is the overall winner, while Anand wins the 'rapid' section and Shirov the 'blindfold'. *

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

is won by

, ahead of

Michał Krasenkow Michał Krasenkow (born 14 November 1963) is a Polish chess grandmaster, chess trainer and writer. He is one of the strongest Polish chess players since World War II. His playing style is aggressive and he has won many "best game" awards. Lif ...

and

Loek van Wely Loek van Wely (born 7 October 1972) is a Dutch chess player and politician. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1993, and was rated among the world's top ten in 2001 with a rating of 2714. In March 2019, he was elected to the Dutch ...

. *

Konstantin Sakaev Konstantin Rufovich Sakaev (russian: Константи́н Ру́фович Сака́ев; born 13 April 1974 in Leningrad) is a Russian chess Grandmaster (1993), chess author and Russian champion in 1999. Sakaev is on the staff of the Grandmas ...

wins the

Russian Chess Championship The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms. Winners by year (men) Imperial Russia In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first ...

held in Moscow. *

Julian Hodgson Julian Michael "Jules" Hodgson (born 25 July 1963 in London) is a British chess player, grandmaster, and former British chess champion. Biography He first came to the notice of the chess world for his achievements as a junior, whilst at Ha ...

wins his third

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 ...

title in

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...

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 ...

makes it her fourth victory in the Ladies event. *

Boris Gulko Boris Franzevich Gulko ( rus, Борис Францевич Гулько, p=bɐˈrʲis ɡʊlʲˈko; born February 9, 1947) is a Soviet-American Grandmaster in chess. Gulko is noted to be the only person to win both the Soviet Chess Championship a ...

wins the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

U. S. Chess Championship after a playoff.

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. ...

takes the Women's title. *

Joel Benjamin Joel Lawrence Benjamin (born March 11, 1964) is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). In 1998, he was voted "Grandmaster of the Year" by the U.S. Chess Federation. , his Elo rating was 2506, making him the No. ...

wins the

Manhattan Chess Club The Manhattan Chess Club in Manhattan was the second-oldest chess club in the United States (next to the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club in San Francisco) before it closed. The club was founded in 1877 and started with three dozen men, eventually ...

Championship for the sixth time. *The

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Ritso ...

(Under 20) is won by Aleksandr Galkin in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

, Armenia. *The annual

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

tournament contains a strong field of grandmasters.

Sergei Tiviakov Sergei Tiviakov (russian: Серге́й Тивяков; born 14 February 1973) is a Russian–Dutch chess grandmaster. He is a three-time Dutch Champion and was European Champion in 2008. Chess career Tiviakov won the World Under-18 Champion ...

wins, ahead of

Vadim Milov Vadim Milov (born 1 August 1972) is a Swiss chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in 1993. Early life Born in Ufa, following the collapse of the USSR, he moved to Israel in 1992, before finally settling in Switzerland in ...

and

Zoltán Almási Zoltán Almási (born August 29, 1976) is a Hungarian chess player. Awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1993, he is a nine-time Hungarian champion, winning in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2019. Almási has competed ...

. The women's event is headed by

Natalia Zhukova Natalia Oleksandrivna Zhukova ( uk, Наталія Олександрівна Жукова; born 5 June 1979) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster and two-time European women's champion. She won several age-group titles as a teenager, at both the E ...

, closely followed by

Antoaneta Stefanova Antoaneta Stefanova ( bg, Антоанета Стефанова; born 19 April 1979) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and Women's World Champion from 2004 to 2006. She has represented Bulgaria in the Chess Olympiad in 2000 and the Women's Chess ...

and

Peng Zhaoqin Peng Zhaoqin (; born 8 May 1968 in Guangzhou, Guangdong) is a Chinese-born Dutch chess player. In October 2004, she was the eleventh woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title of Grandmaster. She won three times the Chinese women's chess champi ...

. Armenia's

Sergei Movsesian Sergei Movsesian ( hy, Սերգեյ Մովսիսյան; born 3 November 1978) is an Armenian chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1997. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team at the 2011 World Team Chess ...

takes first place in the Open. *

Tony Miles Anthony John Miles (23 April 1955 – 12 November 2001) was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the Grandmaster title. Early and personal life Miles was an only child, born 23 April 1955 in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birming ...

(8½/13) wins the Capablanca Memorial in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, ahead of

Suat Atalık Suat Atalık (born October 10, 1964) is a Turkish-Bosnian chess grandmaster. He is a three-time Turkish Chess Champion. Chess career He was born in Turkey in 1964, represented Turkey in the World Junior Chess Championship in 1983, and was the ...

and Lazaro Bruzon (both 8/13). *Prominent Chess publisher Batsford (formerly B. T. Batsford) ceases business activities. *

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...

gives a series of radio interviews in

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

, Philippines. Much of the material is branded distasteful and offensive. Chess journalist Bobby Ang asks that listeners make some allowance for Fischer's state of mind following his recent losses; both his mother and sister had recently died and the U.S. authorities had auctioned all of his personal belongings and memorabilia. *

Tõnu Õim Tõnu Õim (born 16 June 1941) is an Estonian grandmaster of correspondence chess, most famous for being the first to have won the ICCF World Championship twice, in 1983 and 1999. In 1991 he won the Axelson Memorial.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 (1994–99). *In Hungary,

Judit Polgár Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the you ...

loses a (30 minute) rapid match to Fritz 5.32 by a 2½-5½ score. * Shredder wins the 9th World Chess Computer Championship in

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

, Germany. *Eight-year-old David Howell defeats

John Nunn John Denis Martin Nunn (born 25 April 1955) is an English chess grandmaster, a three-time world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician. He is one of England's strongest chess players and was former ...

in a blitz game at the 3rd

Mind Sports Olympiad The Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) is an annual international multi-disciplined competition and festival for games of mental skill and mind sports. The inaugural event was held in 1997 in London with £100,000 prize fund''Mind Sports Olympiad Supp ...

. *

, the governing body of international chess, celebrates its 75th Anniversary. A number of FIDE's member federations, including Argentina, are excluded over the non-payment of fees. *

Alexander Baburin Alexander Evgenyevich Baburin (, ''Aleksandr Yevgen'yevich Baburin''; born 19 February 1967) is a Russian-Irish grandmaster of chess. He was born in Gorky, and has been living in Dublin, Ireland since 1993. He is editor-in-chief of the e-mail d ...

launches ''Coffee-break Chess'', an online newspaper for chess fans and a forerunner to his ''

Chess Today Chess Today was the first, and longest running, Internet-only daily chess newspaper, having continued virtually uninterrupted from 7 November 2000 through to December 2020. It was distributed to subscribers by e-mail. Each e-mail had the PDF of t ...

'' and ''Grandmaster Square'' ventures.

Deaths

Lodewijk Prins Lodewijk Prins (27 January 1913, Amsterdam – 11 November 1999) was a Dutch chess player and referee of chess competitions. Prins was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and was made an International Arbiter in 1960. In 1982 FIDE m ...

, Dutch chess master and arbiter - November 11 *

Lembit Oll Lembit Oll (23 April 1966 – 16 May 1999) was an Estonian chess grandmaster. Chess career Born in Kohtla-Järve on 23 April 1966, Oll became Estonian Chess Champion in 1982 and U20 Soviet Chess Champion in 1984. FIDE awarded him the interna ...

, Estonian Grandmaster and world top 50 player - May 17 *

Ortvin Sarapu Ortvin Sarapu (born Ortvin Sarapuu; 22 January 1924 – 13 April 1999), known in New Zealand as "Mr Chess", was an Estonian-born chess player who emigrated to New Zealand and won or shared the New Zealand Chess Championship 20 times from 1 ...

, "Mr New Zealand Chess", 20-time NZ chess champion – April 13 * Gary Koshnitsky, Australian Master - September 17 *

Catharina Roodzant Catharina (Toos) Roodzant (née Glimmerveen) (21 October 1896, Rotterdam – 24 February 1999) was a Dutch female chess master. She won thrice the female Dutch Chess Championship (1935, 1936 and 1938). Roodzant lost a match for the title to Fenny ...

, three-time winner of the women's Dutch championship – February 24 *

Ramchandra Sapre Ramchandra Sapre ( mr, रामचंद्र सप्रे) (1915–1999) was an Indian chess player and first winner of the Indian Chess Championship The National Premier Chess Championship is the annual national chess championship of India ...

, former national champion of India and chess columnist - May 18 * Francisco José Pérez Pérez, Spanish/Cuban master – September 11

Notes

References

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