★★★ INTRO ★★★

The 2005 FIDE World Chess Championship was an 8 player double round robin. It was between 30 year old Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, 35 year old Viswanathan Anand of India, 29 year old Peter Svidler of Russia, 28 year old Alexander Morozevich also of Russia, 26 year old Peter Leko of Hungary, 25 year old Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan, 34 year old Michael Adams of England and 29 year old Judit Polgar of Hungary.

★★★ BACKGROUND ★★★

In 1993, Kasparov split from FIDE to form the PCA, meaning there would be 2 chess champions. In the last few years FIDE decided to reunite the 2 titles, however, negotiations kept ongoing. In previous years, FIDE held knockout tournaments, but then decided to have a tournament where the top players in the world would compete and play for the title. FIDE invited the "classical" champion Vladimir Kramnik and his most recent challenger, Leko, along FIDE champion Kasimdzhanov along with his most recent challenger, Adams and the top 4 players in the world: Garry Kasparov, Anand, Topalov and Morozevich. However, Kramnik and Kasparov both decline participating (due to being with the PCA and retirement, respectively), and FIDE invited the next best 2 players in the world, Svidler and Polgar.

★★★ CONDITIONS ★★★

The tournament would be an 8 player double round robin, with each player playing every other player twice (once with each colour). The player with the most points after 14 rounds would be declared FIDE champion. If there was a tie between 2 or more players, head to head record followed by most wins would be the tiebreaks. The first round was played on September 28th, 2005.

★★★ NOTABLE GAMES ★★★

Round 2: Topalov vs Anand, 2005

Round 3: Polgar vs Kasimdzhanov, 2005

Round 5: Svidler vs Topalov, 2005

★★★ FINAL ★★★

The final round was played on October 15th, 2005. Entering Round 14, Topalov had already clinched the title with a round to spare.

★★★ MINI TABLE ★★★

Topalov 1 1/2 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 (6 wins, 0 losses, 8 draws) <1st, 71.4% score>

Anand 1 1/2 1 0 1/2 1/2 0 1 1/2 1/2 1 1 1/2 1/2 (5 wins, 2 losses, 7 draws) <2nd, 60.7% score>

Svidler 1/2 1/2 1 1 0 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 (4 wins, 1 loss, 9 draws) <3rd, 60.7% score>

Morozevich 1/2 1/2 0 0 1/2 1/2 1 1 1 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 (3 wins, 3 losses, 8 draws) <4th, 50% score>

Leko 0 1/2 0 1 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1 (3 wins, 4 losses, 7 draws) <5th, 46.4% score>

Kasimdzhanov 1/2 1/2 0 1 1/2 1/2 0 0 1/2 1 0 1/2 1/2 0 (2 wins, 5 losses, 7 draws) <6th, 39.3% score>

Adams 1/2 1/2 0 0 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 (0 wins, 3 losses, 11 draws) <7th, 39.3% score>

Polgar 0 1/2 1 0 1/2 0 0 0 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 (1 win, 6 losses, 7 draws) <8th, 32.1%>

★★★ OTHER LINKS ★★★

See also: FIDE World Championship Tournament (2005)

Head to Head Records Prior to 2005:

Topalov - Anand: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (15 wins, 10 losses and 26 draws in favour of Anand)

Topalov - Svidler: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (5 wins, 4 losses and 7 draws in favour of Svidler)

Topalov - Morozevich: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (7 wins, 6 losses and 3 draws in favour of Topalov)

Topalov - Leko: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (12 wins, 7 losses and 21 draws in favour of Leko)

Topalov - Kasimdzhanov: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (3 wins, 0 losses and 5 draws in favour of Kasimdzhanov)

Topalov - Adams: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (9 wins, 5 losses and 14 draws in favour of Adams)

Topalov - Polgar: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (9 wins, 5 losses and 5 draws in favour of Topalov)

Anand - Svidler: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (5 wins, 2 losses and 15 draws in favour of Anand)

Anand - Morozevich: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (6 wins, 5 losses and 4 draws in favour of Anand)

Anand - Leko: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (12 wins, 3 losses and 32 draws in favour of Anand)

Anand - Kasimdzhanov: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (4 wins, 0 losses and 1 draw in favour of Anand)

Anand - Adams: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (19 wins, 5 losses and 33 draws in favour of Anand)

Anand - Polgar: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (22 wins, 8 losses and 10 draws in favour of Anand)

Svidler - Morozevich: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (3 wins, 2 losses and 3 draws in favour of Morozevich)

Svidler - Leko: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (5 wins, 1 loss and 14 draws in favour of Svidler)

Svidler - Kasimdzhanov: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (1 win, 1 loss and 1 draw for both players)

Svidler - Adams: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (7 wins, 6 losses and 18 draws in favour of Adams)

Svidler - Polgar: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (3 wins, 1 loss and 3 draws in favour of Polgar)

Morozevich - Leko: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (4 wins, 3 losses and 11 draws in favour of Leko)

Morozevich - Kasimdzhanov: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (1 win, 1 loss and 0 draws for both players)

Morozevich - Adams: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (4 wins, 2 losses and 8 draws in favour of Morozevich)

Morozevich - Polgar: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (3 wins, 0 losses and 0 draws in favour of Morozevich)

Leko - Kasimdzhanov: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (2 wins, 0 losses and 2 draws in favour of Leko)

Leko - Adams: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (7 wins, 5 losses and 21 draws in favour of Adams)

Leko - Polgar: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (3 wins, 1 loss and 7 draws in favour of Leko)

Kasimdzhanov - Adams: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (3 wins, 2 losses and 6 draws in favour of Kasimdzhanov)

Kasimdzhanov - Polgar: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (3 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws in favour of Kasimdzhanov)

Adams - Polgar: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (4 wins, 4 losses and 8 draws for both players)

Previous FIDE Championship: Game Collection: 2004 FIDE World Chess Championship

Next World Championship: Game Collection: 2006 World Chess Championship

Previous "Classical" Championship: Game Collection: 2004 Classical World Chess Championship