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FIDE World Championship Anatoly Karpov-Jan Timman Rounds of 13-21, Jakarta 1993

27 Mar 2011Published

FIDE World Championship Karpov-Timman Rounds of 13-21, Jakarta 1993

					3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	VP
1	Karpov, Anatoly EvgenievichKarpov, Anatoly Evgenievich FIDE ID: 4100026.	4100026	g	2760	½	1	1	1	½	½	½	0	½	5.5
2	Timman, Jan HendrikTimman, Jan Hendrik FIDE ID: 1000012. POB: Amsterdam . DOB: 1951.12.14. Peak Elo: 2680 (1990).	1000012	g	2620	½	0	0	0	½	½	½	1	½	3.5
VP	: Victory points.

		PGN 2011.04.13. 9 games. Complete.
Download	Replay

1993.10.17-11.01. Match 9 rounds of total 21. 2 players. Rating average 2690.

GM Anatoly Karpov. Photo © ANP Historisch Archief Community.

The Englishman Nigel Short qualified to challenge the World Champion Garry Kasparov in 1993. Instead of playing under the auspices of FIDE, both players chose to form a new organization, Professional Chess Association (PCA). FIDE then awarded the void slots to Jan Timman and Anatoly Karpov. Timman was a losing finalist while Karpov was a semifinalist in the Candidates matches. They both were beaten by Short. Any word from FIDE regarding the other semifinalist, Artur Yusupov? Nada.

The first half, rounds of 1-12, of Karpov-Timman match was held in Netherlands (Zwolle, Arnhem, and Amsterdam). The match generated almost no interest in the mainstream press. But that was not the main problem. The Dutch organizer had only 500,000 CHF (Swiss franc) for the match, which was more intended for expenses rather than the prize fund. To make things worse the second half of the match that was originally planned in Oman was cancelled. The country withdrew the offer. Until the last game in Netherlands on September 25th, no one was sure should the match be finished. Timman commented, “This is the first time I have ever played a 12-game match for free.”

Playing for free in Netherlands. Timman and Karpov at Zwolle 1993. Photo © ANP Historisch Archief Community.

FIDE was lucky to have Indonesia and Indonesia was lucky to have Bob Hasan. Bob Hasan, the then Chairman of Percasi (All Indonesia Chess Federation), came up as a savior. He took over the financial responsibility to organize the second half of the match. The total prize was one million CHF. That amount would be no problem for Bob Hasan, a well known tycoon in Indonesia.

The match itself was not as exciting as the off-board story. Karpov, a veteran in highest level matches, kept everything under control. He only took risks whenever needed. The match ended in convincing victory for Karpov, 12.5-8.5. Karpov once again became a FIDE World Champion after his first reign in 1975-85.

Selected Games (viewer © ChessTempo)