 "Chess (#1085)")
While the title of world champion has brand value reaching back to the 1880s, it's often been administered in arbitrary ways. Until WWII, it was the personal property of the champion and he picked the challenger.
In 1946, when Alexander Alekhine died as reigning champion, Fide set up a match tournament, which Mikhail Botvinnik won. In 1950 a gruelling qualifying process was put in place. In the 1950s, eight hopefuls qualified via Interzonals.
They faced off in a humongous tournament where they played minimatches of four games. This lasted 28 rounds and took about 8-10 weeks with breaks. The "lucky" winner then faced off against the world champion, who could relax meantime.
In the Soviet era, there were whispers that the Politburo used to "ask" top-ranked GMs to throw games sometime. In particular, it was said that Paul Keres, an Estonian who played in Nazi-organised events during the German Occupation, was under strict instructions to never mount a challenge to Botvinnik.
The champion retained the title on a tied match. The world champion had a rematch clause where he could supersede challengers and play an out-of-turn revenge match if he lost. Botvinnik used that clause twice, to regain the title.
In 1962 Bobby Fischer complained about Soviet collusion. Fischer did very badly in 1962. One reason may have been tiredness. Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres and Efim Geller agreed ultra-quick draws against each other and played full throttle against the American.
The system was changed, which rendered this fixing strategy irrelevant. This meant the challenger had to win three matches. The match system broke down in 1993 when Gary Kasparov and Nigel Short made the title private again.
In 1994-95, there were two world champions and two Candidates events. Later, both Fide and Kasparov's association ran out of money. Kasparov couldn't raise funds for a match versus qualifier Alexei Shirov. Fide switched to running Wimbledon-style knockouts. The title was unified by a complex process in the 2000s after Kasparov retired.
The pairing for the next Candidates are up. Starting March 13, this is a double round-robin of eight players. There's an off after three rounds Levon Aronian must be favourite. Meanwhile, Baadur Jobava won the David Bronstein Memorial in Minsk.
The diagram, WHITE TO PLAY (Jobava Vs Zaiatz, Bronstein Mem 2014 Minsk) White reeled out 16.Ng5 Rf8 17.Ne6 Rf7 18.Nc7+ Kf8 19.Bc4 Nd5 20.Nxd5 cxd5 21.Bxd5 Rd7 22.Be6 Nc5 23.Rxd7! (1-0). Every move has a threat and the finish would be 23. - Nxb3+ 24. ab3 and there's now defence to Bd6+, discoveries and Rhe1.
In 1946, when Alexander Alekhine died as reigning champion, Fide set up a match tournament, which Mikhail Botvinnik won. In 1950 a gruelling qualifying process was put in place. In the 1950s, eight hopefuls qualified via Interzonals.
They faced off in a humongous tournament where they played minimatches of four games. This lasted 28 rounds and took about 8-10 weeks with breaks. The "lucky" winner then faced off against the world champion, who could relax meantime.
In the Soviet era, there were whispers that the Politburo used to "ask" top-ranked GMs to throw games sometime. In particular, it was said that Paul Keres, an Estonian who played in Nazi-organised events during the German Occupation, was under strict instructions to never mount a challenge to Botvinnik.
The champion retained the title on a tied match. The world champion had a rematch clause where he could supersede challengers and play an out-of-turn revenge match if he lost. Botvinnik used that clause twice, to regain the title.
In 1962 Bobby Fischer complained about Soviet collusion. Fischer did very badly in 1962. One reason may have been tiredness. Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres and Efim Geller agreed ultra-quick draws against each other and played full throttle against the American.
The system was changed, which rendered this fixing strategy irrelevant. This meant the challenger had to win three matches. The match system broke down in 1993 when Gary Kasparov and Nigel Short made the title private again.
In 1994-95, there were two world champions and two Candidates events. Later, both Fide and Kasparov's association ran out of money. Kasparov couldn't raise funds for a match versus qualifier Alexei Shirov. Fide switched to running Wimbledon-style knockouts. The title was unified by a complex process in the 2000s after Kasparov retired.
The pairing for the next Candidates are up. Starting March 13, this is a double round-robin of eight players. There's an off after three rounds Levon Aronian must be favourite. Meanwhile, Baadur Jobava won the David Bronstein Memorial in Minsk.
The diagram, WHITE TO PLAY (Jobava Vs Zaiatz, Bronstein Mem 2014 Minsk) White reeled out 16.Ng5 Rf8 17.Ne6 Rf7 18.Nc7+ Kf8 19.Bc4 Nd5 20.Nxd5 cxd5 21.Bxd5 Rd7 22.Be6 Nc5 23.Rxd7! (1-0). Every move has a threat and the finish would be 23. - Nxb3+ 24. ab3 and there's now defence to Bd6+, discoveries and Rhe1.
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player