As the reader might recall, in 1993, after Kasparov and Short decided to break away from FIDE, the chief organization responded by an organization of a separate World Championship cycle (Karpov – Timman FIDE World Championship 1993). During the 90s and early 2000s, there were two simultaneous World Champions: „The Classical“ and the „FIDE“ World Champion.
The first half of the 2000s was spent in efforts that tried to unify the World Champion title. This led to the so-called „Prague agreement“ in 2002, signed by Garry Kasparov, Classical World Champion Vladimir Kramnik (who defeated Kasparov in their 2000 match), FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
The propositions of the Prague agreement were as follows:
- The annual Dortmund super tournament 2002 was supposed to serve as a Candidates tournament. The winner of the tournament was set to play Vladimir Kramnik in a match for the Classical title.
- The FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov was supposed to play a match against the Garry Kasparov (who was rated number one in the World at that moment) for a title of the FIDE World Champion.
- The winners of the two matches were supposed to play against each other for the title of the unified World Chess Champion.
The „FIDE Champion“ part of the agreement faced numerous problems. First, there were numerous difficulties in the organization of the Kasparov – Ponomariov match, and in the end, it never took place. Then, after FIDE determined the new champion, Ruslan Kasimdzhanov (in the 2004 knock out tournament), the negotiations for the potential Kasparov – Kasimdzhanov match started, but were immediately delayed. In the end, the match was canceled, Kasparov soon retired, and Prague agreement was effectively dead.
In his books, Kasparov’s account of the events is interesting, although, in my opinion, a tad too subjective:
„On 6th May 2002 the FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, together with the 13th and 14th champions, Kok and Seirawan, signed the famous Prague Agreement – ‘Resolution on the Unification of the Chess World’. From then on FIDE became the sole custodian of the World Chess Championship title and the only organization staging official world championship. Already then it became clear that all FIDE’s plans were ‘up in the air’.
(…)
Initially, FIDE planned to hold my match with Ruslan Ponomariov in the summer of 2003 in Buenos Aires, then from 18th September in Yalta, where a Commonwealth of Independent States summit was planned.
(…)
However, Ponomariov was in no hurry to sign the match contract: together with his manager Silvio Danailov he put forward some twenty corrections, demanding that ‘the lawful rights of the world champion should not be encroached upon’. After accepting two of them, FIDE announced a final date for the signing of the contract – midday on 28 August. Ponomariov suggested continuing the discussions in Kiev, but on 29 August the FIDE president Ilyumzhinov suddenly held a press conference at the Interfax News Agency and canceled the match.
(…)
Apparently this was destined to happen: too many ‘interested persons’ – in both chess and in politics – did not want me to regain the title of world champion (try then getting it back!), Ilyumzhinov keenly sensed this mood, and in addition he has always been a faithful soldier of the Kremlin. The unification of the world championship took place, but only after I left the stage…
(…)
In the summer of 2004, the fifth FIDE world knock-out championship nevertheless took place in Tripoli. The 24-year-old Uzbek Grandmaster Rustam Kasimdzhanov became the new champion. However, it remained absolutely unclear when my match with Kasimdzhano would take place.
(…)
On 13 October 2004, just before the World Chess Olympiad and the FIDE Congress in the Spanish town of Calvia, Ilyumzhinov held a press conference in Moscow, at which he announced that the Kasimdzhanov-Kasparov match would take place from 7 to 30 January 2005 in Dubai.
(…)
Even before the Russian Championship 2004, it was clear that in January 2005 my match with Kasimdzhanov is not going to happen. And indeed, soon an assistant of the FIDE president announced that the match was being postponed until spring, since Dubai had not made financial guarantees
(…)
However, I was no longer much bothered about the obvious sabotage of the Prague Agreement. The impasse in the battle for the world championship had brought me to the idea of ending my chess career.
(…)
When we signed the Prague Agreement in 2002, Bessel Kok and I were hoping to improve the working of FIDE from within, but with Ilyumzhinov nothing came of this. On the contrary, for a long time, this agreement delayed changes for the better in world chess. Thanks to it Ilyumzhinov retained the post of FIDE President in the 2002 elections, Kramnik acquired the desired legitimacy without any particular obligations and striking competitive successes, while Kok and I suffered a major failure).
(Source: Garry Kasparov On Garry Kasparov, Part Three: 1993 – 2005, pages 393, 409, 432, 441)
In any case, the „Classical Champion“ part went exactly as planned. The annual Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting in 2002 had additional significance, as the winner would get the chance to challenge Kramnik for the world title.
A number of strong players refused to participate in this Candidates tournament. Garry Kasparov, as expected, claimed that he should be granted the right to play a return match with Kramnik, based on his results in 2001. Also, Viswanathan Anand once again chose not to participate due to the belief that it might endanger his contractual obligations regarding the FIDE Championship Cycle. In the end, 24-year -old Hungarian, Peter Leko emerged as a winner and gained the right to challenge Kramnik.
The match was held in the Swiss city of Brissago, from September 25th to October 18th, 2004. Things started excellently for the defending champion. In the very first game, Kramnik took the lead after a brilliant queen sacrifice with the Black pieces.
However, Leko recovered in the 5th game, after outplaying Kramnik from an equal position (albeit the one where Leko was one pawn ahead). Then, he managed to refute Kramnik’s computer preparation in the Marshall Attack over the board, and he took the lead in the 8th game.
After a further five draws, Kramnik found himself in a precarious position, as he was forced to win the last game of the match in order to retain his title (the match regulations stated that the Champion retains the title in the event of a drawn match). This feat was accomplished only twice in history: in Lasker – Schlechter 1910 and Kasparov – Karpov 1987 matches.
The events of the 14th game were described by the English Grandmaster Raymond Keene:
„Kramnik, the defending world champion, scored a brilliant victory in the 14th and final game; Peter Leko resigned after 41 moves when faced with checkmate. This is only the third time in the entire history of the World Championship that the defending champion has saved his title by winning in the final game.
The game itself was a jewel of controlled aggression. Despite consistent exchanges throughout the game, Kramnik maintained an iron grip on the position and ultimately blasted his way into the black camp via the dark squares. Taking no account of material sacrifices it was Kramnik’s king that dealt the fatal blow when it marched right into the heart of the opposing position.”
Thus, Kramnik managed to do the unthinkable and he became the third champion to break the infamous “last games of the match are never won” rule.
Sources:
Chessbase: A peace in our time
Garry Kasparov On Garry Kasparov, Part Three: 1993 – 2005
Chessgames: Kramnik – Leko, 2004