★★★ INTRO ★★★

The 1990 World Chess Championship was between 27 year old defending champion Garry Kasparov of the Soviet Union and 39 year old challenger Anatoly Karpov also of the Soviet Union.

★★★ QUALIFICATIONS ★★★

In order to find a challenger for Kasparov, three interzonal tournaments were held. The top 3 from each would advance.

The first one was held in Subotica, Serbia. Gyula Sax, Nigel Short, and Jonathan Speelman all advanced with scores of 10.5/15.

Later in Szirák, Hungary, the city hosted the 2nd qualifying tournament (see Game Collection: Szirak Interzonal 1987 for games and more info). Valery Salov and Johann Hjartarson both advanced with 12 1/2 each. Lajos Portisch defeated John Nunn 4-2 in a 6 game match after both scored 12/17 (see Game Collection: Budapest Interzonal Playoff 1987 for games and more info).

In the last one (held in Zagreb, Croatia), Viktor Korchnoi (11/16), Jaan Yukhanovich Ehlvest (10/16) and Yasser Seirawan (also 10/16) all made it to the next stage (see Game Collection: Zagreb interzonal 1987 for games and more info).

The candidates tournament was held in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Along with the above 9 players, the top 4 players from the last candidates tournament: Ivan Sokolov, Jan Timman, Rafael Vaganian and Artur Yusupov joined them. Kevin Spraggett was the wild card.

In the first round, the 14 players all played matches of 6 games, with the first to 3 1/2 points advancing. Portisch beat Vaganian 3 1/2-2 1/2 (see Portisch - Vaganian Candidates Eighthfinal (1988) for games and more info), Timman beat Salov 3 1/2-2 1/2 (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Salov - Timman 1988) for games), Speelman beat Seirawan 4-1 (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Seirawan-Speelman 1988) for games), Short beat Sax 3 1/2-1 1/2 (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Sax-Short 1988) for games), Yusupov beat Ehlvest 3 1/2-2 1/2 (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Ehlvest - Yusupov 1988) for games), Spraggett beat Sokolov 6 1/2-5 1/2 on tiebreaks (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Sokolov - Spraggett 1988)) and Hjartarson beat Korchnoi 4 1/2-3 1/2 (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Hjartarson - Korchnoi 1988) for games), also on tiebreaks.

Karpov faced Hjartarson in the quarter-finals (which were best of 6 or first to 3 1/2), beating him 3 1/2-1 1/2 (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Karpov-Hjartarson 1989) for games). Yusupov beat Spraggett 5-4 on tiebreaks (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Yusupov-Spraggett 1989) for games), Speelman beat Short 3 1/2-1 1/2 (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Speelman-Short 1988) for games) and Timman beat Portisch 3 1/2-1 1/2 (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Timman-Portisch 1989) for games).

In 8 game matches, Timman beat Speelman 4 1/2-3 1/2 (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Timman-Speelman 1989) for games) and Karpov beat Yusupov (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Karpov-Yusupov 1989)) by the same score. Those 2 would face off in a 12 game match for the right to face Kasparov for the WCC. Karpov beat Timman 6 1/2-2 1/2 (see Game Collection: Karpov vs Timman 1990 Final Candidate Match for games).

★★★ CONDITIONS ★★★

The first 12 games took place in New York, while the remaining 12 games would be in Lyon, France. The match conditions were the same as previous meetings, with the first to 12 1/2 points. If the match ended 12-12, Kasparov would retain his title, but the money would be split. Game 1 was played on October 8th, 1990.

★★★ FINAL ★★★

Game #24 was played on December 30, 1990. Kasparov had already clinched the title, but prize money could still be split. Karpov had to win with black however, and there were no wins with black all match long. The game was drawn after white's 36th move. Kasparov had successfully defended his title 12 1/2-11 1/2 while taking the majority of the prize money.

★★★ MINI TABLE ★★★

Kasparov 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 0 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 (4 wins, 17 draws, 3 losses) <52.1% score>

Karpov 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1 0 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 (3 wins, 17 draws, 4 losses) <47.9% score>

★★★ OTHER LINKS ★★★

See also: Kasparov - Karpov World Championship Match (1990)

Head to Head Match up Prior to 1990: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (20 wins, 104 draws and 18 losses in favour of Kasparov)

Previous World Championship: Game Collection: 1987 World Chess Championship

Next "Classical" World Championship: Game Collection: 1993 Classical World Chess Championship

Next "FIDE" World Championship: Game Collection: 1993 FIDE World Chess Championship