Thirty years ago, in September 1993, two separate World Championship matches were played in the Netherlands and England for the first and only time in chess history. It was a controversial occasion for chess, as it is memorable.
The chess warriors were Anatoly Karpov of Russia and Jan Timman of the Netherlands, and Garry Kasparov of Russia and Nigel Short of England. Kasparov and Short had decided to part ways with FIDE and organise their own World Championship match in London under the auspices of the new Professional Chess Association. At the same time, FIDE had organised a World Championship match featuring Karpov and Timman in the Netherlands.
Kasparov was the FIDE world champion and Short was his official challenger in 1993. But owing to their breakaway, FIDE announced that the Karpov vs Timman match would be the official contest.
Karpov won his match handsomely with a 12.5 to a 8.5 scoreline. However, a strange incident occurred during the opening ceremony. The organisers of the event wanted to add a special attraction to the ceremony so they resorted to pyrotechnics to unveil a banner bearing the names of Karpov and Timman. Everything was going smoothly until the glow from the heat intensified, according to a journalist who was on the spot, and the banner caught afire. Was something amiss here? Maybe someone was objecting to Karpov and Timman playing for the World Championship since they were already out of the running for it.
Karpov was essentially the stronger of the two players. Timman was always prominent in Dutch chess and constantly ranked among the world’s elite. Karpov and Timman were chosen to play because they had gone the farthest in the Candidates’ cycle. There was little interest in the match, because it took place in the shadows of the Kasparov-Short match in London. Kasparov was still the FIDE champion and Short was his worthwhile challenger. However, after 21 games and with a lead of 12.5 to 8.5, Karpov was crowned the new FIDE World Chess Champion in 1993.
