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Glossary : World Championship
The World Championship is based on a hierarchical qualifying cycle. From 1948 to 1996, the cycle consisted of zonal tournaments, an Interzonal, a Candidates' event, and a title match. In recent years, the cycle was compressed into a knockout tournament.

Birth of the FIDE World Chess Championship
After the death of World Champion Alexander Alekhine in 1946, the World Chess Federation took on the job of building a structure for determining fairly a new World Champion and subsequent title challengers. At the same time FIDE rebuilt itself decentrally to match the first organizational steps of the qualifying cycle. The early FIDE delegates did their job well.

FIDE World Chess Championship 1948-1990
The FIDE World Championship from 1948 through 1990 was a struggle among the best Soviet players. They dominated the Candidate events and plyed each other in title matches, often held at Moscow. The Soviet record was interrupted only by the American Fischer in 1970-72 and by the Soviet refugee Korchnoi in 1976-83.

The Schism: Two World Champions 1993-1996
February 1993: World Champion Garry Kasparov and challenger Nigel Short announced that they would play their title match outside the jurisdiction of FIDE. Their decision and subsequent events created a schism in the World Championship which continued long afterwards.

The Saga of Chess Unification 1994-2006
The events which created the schism in the World Championship were initially followed by a string of unqualified successes for the PCA. Was chess entering its golden age? No, potential sponsors were confused when faced with two World Champions and the bickering between rival chess organizations both claiming to be the owner of the *real* championship. Talk of reunification began in 1994.

The World Chess Championship
Complete history of the World Chess Championship covers unofficial championships, pre-FIDE championships, FIDE championships, and recent non-FIDE championships, including interzonals, candidates, and title events. Has subsections covering women's championships, correspondence championships, and computer championships. All games are available for download. By your About Chess Guide.

World Chess Championship for Women
Ask any player to list the World Champions and you're likely to get an answer like 'Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, ...' It's a rare player who will ask, 'Which champions : men or women?' Menchik, Gaprindashvili, Chiburdanidze, ... : remember those name

Introduction to FIDE Zones
The World Chess Championship qualifying cycle starts with zonal tournaments organized by FIDE zone. Using this qualification structure, any player in the world has the opportunity to climb the ladder to become the next World Chess Champion.

2006 Kramnik - Topalov, Official site
Elista, Kalmykia, September 2006. The long awaited unification match.

2005 World Chess Cup, Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia), Official Site
In November 2005, FIDE started to use its controversial knockout format as a World Championship qualifier rather than as the World Championship event. Khanty-Mansiysk was the first such qualifying event. • From the Internet Archive (www.archive.org).

2005 FIDE World Chess Championship
One of the many qualities that determine a good chess game is a surprising sacrifice. The 2005 FIDE World Championship at San Luis, Argentina, was full of excellent sacrifices. Here are seven from the first half of the tournament.

2005 FIDE World Championship Photos
Photos from the 2005 FIDE World Championship, San Luis, Argentina. • Michael Adams, Viswanathan Anand, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Peter Leko, Alexander Morozevich, Judit Polgar, Peter Svidler, Veselin Topalov. • Courtesy 'Prensa Mundial / World Chess Championship Press', used with permission.

2005 FIDE World Championship, San Luis (Argentina), Official Site
San Luis, Argentina, September 2005. FIDE's solution to the stalemate in World Championship unification.

2004 Kramnik - Leko
Vladimir Kramnik played a tied match with Peter Leko to retain his title of World Chess Champion, October 2004, in Brissago, Switzerland. Here are highlights from the decisive games plus a link to play the games in our game viewer.

2004 Kramnik - Leko, Official site
Brissago, Switzerland, October 2004. Sponsored by the Dannemann cigar company.

2004 FIDE Knockout : Background
The 5th FIDE World Championship knockout tournament is underway in Tripoli, Libya. The event is one of the most controversial chess competitions ever held. We present the controversies, previous knockout events, participants, and important rules.

2004 FIDE Knockout : Results
Despite the organizational difficulties, 124 players (out of 128 invited) participated in the FIDE World Championship in Tripoli, Libya. We list important start data for the 2004 participants plus their results from all five FIDE knockout tournaments.

2002 Reunification of the World Chess Title
If all goes according to the Prague Plan, the World Chess Championship title should soon be reunified. Why is one title better than two? Find out how the schism happened and how it should end.

2001 FIDE Knockout, Official site
Moscow, preliminary rounds November - December 2001, final January 2002. Won by Ponomariov; Ivanchuk runnerup. • From the Internet Archive (www.archive.org).

2000 FIDE Knockout, Official site
New Delhi/Tehran, November - December 2000. Won by Anand; Shirov runnerup. • From the Internet Archive (www.archive.org).

2000 Kramnik - Kasparov
The ChessCenter.com site for the Brain Games match.

2000 Kramnik - Kasparov, Braingames site
London, October - November 2000. • From the Internet Archive (www.archive.org).

World Chess Championship for Women
Quick jump into the previous site ('The World Chess Championship' by your About Chess Guide) for the World Women's Championship

2006 FIDE World Women's Championship, Official site
Ekaterinburg, Russia, March 2006. Won by Xu Yuhua of China.

World Correspondence (ICCF) Championships
By your About.com Guide.