World Chess Championship 2006
The World Chess Championship 2006 was a match between Classical World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik and FIDE World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov. The title of World Chess Champion had been split for 13 years. This match, played between September 23 and October 13, 2006, in Elista, Kalmykia, Russia, was to reunite the two World Chess Champion titles and produce an undisputed World Champion.
Kramnik won the first two games, establishing a commanding lead. However, after Topalov's camp alleged that Kramnik was [|using computer assistance], Kramnik [|refused to play] Game 5 and forfeited. He eventually agreed to play again under protest. Topalov won games 8 and 9, taking the lead for the first time, but Kramnik struck back with a win in game 10. The remaining games were drawn, sending the match to a tiebreak. After a draw in the first game and a win apiece in the second and third games, Kramnik won the fourth game after Topalov blundered, to win the tiebreak and the match, becoming the 14th undisputed World Chess Champion.
Background
After Garry Kasparov split from FIDE in 1993, there were two world chess champions. There was the 'Classical' world champion, the title that only passes on to a player when they defeat the previous world champion. This was held by Kasparov, until he was defeated by Kramnik in the Classical World Chess Championship 2000. There was also the 'Official' FIDE world champion, determined by various tournament formats, held since the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 by Topalov.From 1993 to 2006, no match was ever held between the various classical and official champions. This match brought the two titleholders together to unify the World Chess Championship for the first time since the 1993 split.
Negotiations
Kramnik was invited to the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 in San Luis, Argentina. As "Classical" World Champion, he refused to play, but indicated his willingness to play the winner in a match to unify the title. Negotiations for a match began soon after Topalov won in San Luis, but broke down after the two camps were unable to overcome substantial differences of opinion.However, in April 2006, FIDE announced that Kramnik would play current FIDE Champion Veselin Topalov in a world championship match to unify the "Classical" champion line with the FIDE championship. The prize fund of $1 million would be evenly divided between the players – regardless of the outcome of the match.
Head to head
In past encounters, Kramnik had defeated Topalov 10 times, lost 5 games, with 24 draws. In classical time control games since the beginning of 2004, the score was 2 wins each, with 3 draws.Match conditions
The match was a best of 12 games. Players scored 1 point for a win and half a point for a draw. If, after 12 games, the score was tied at 6 points each, then a tie-break would be held. As it turned out, the first round of tie-breaks was indeed required, and was held on October 13, 2006.Time control
From the match conditions:
The primary time control for each game shall be: 40 moves in the first 120 minutes, and if that is met, then a secondary time control of 20 moves in 60 minutes, and if that is also met, then the rest of the game shall be played out in 15 minutes, with an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 61.
Tie-break method
- The tie break is only used if the match is tied at 6 points apiece after the 12 classical games.
- In the event of the tie-break, the players play four "rapid" games.
- If the score is still tied, this is followed by two "blitz" games.
- If the score is still tied, this is followed by a sudden death game: white has 6 minutes and needs to win, black has five minutes and needs to draw or win.
Schedule and results
Classical games
Rapid tie-break games
Classical games
This is the only world chess championship match where the same first move was played in every game. Only two openings, the Slav Defense and the Catalan, were played.Game 1, Kramnik–Topalov, 1–0
Kramnik won the first round of this match in a 75-move game that lasted six and a half hours. Out of a Catalan opening, Kramnik failed to get any advantage. In the middlegame Topalov played 26...Bf3!?, a move which allowed him to establish a pawn on f3, a powerful positional trump that was however hard to defend. The pawn wedged White's f2-pawn and kept White on the defensive, sufficiently so that Topalov refused a repetition on move 42. Topalov was within sight of winning the game when Kramnik played the excellent 56. d5!, going for counterplay at an opportune time. Topalov failed to react correctly and with 57...f5? missed a last chance at a perpetual, after which Kramnik reached a winning endgame with two extra pawns.Game 2, Topalov–Kramnik, 0–1
Kramnik won the second game of the match after 63 moves, taking a 2–0 lead. Topalov missed winning continuations at move 32 and 36. Some inaccuracies later in the game cost him the draw.Game 3, Kramnik–Topalov, ½–½
The third game ended in a draw after 38 moves keeping Kramnik in a 2½–½ lead. Kramnik had the advantage for much of the game. According to commentators he at least twice avoided moves with more winning chances but which also carried more risk: 17. Ne4 and 32. exd5.Game 4, Topalov–Kramnik, ½–½
The fourth game ended in a draw after White's 54th move, leaving Kramnik with a 3–1 lead. Topalov pressed hard, sacrificing a pawn. He achieved an advantageous endgame but despite five hours of play he failed to convert it.Game 5, Kramnik–Topalov, 0–1 (forfeit)
Kramnik was due to play the white pieces. The game ended with Topalov winning by forfeit, after Kramnik refused to play and his clock had been allowed to run for one hour. Kramnik's lead was reduced to 3–2. This is the first world chess championship match since Spassky–Fischer 1972 in which a game was forfeited.Game 6, Topalov–Kramnik, ½–½
Game 6 was due to be played on September 30, but was postponed until October 2 by the decision of the FIDE president. On September 30 and October 1 negotiations over match continuation between players, their teams, and FIDE took place instead. Kramnik agreed to play Game 6 under protest, with the status of Game 5 to be resolved later. The game was uneventful, ending in a draw after 31 moves. Kramnik played a rare sideline and gradually equalized. Kramnik now led 3½–2½.Game 7, Topalov–Kramnik, ½–½
The 5-hour game, a Semi-Slav Defence, was characterized as "a hard-fought 60-move draw". Topalov successfully defended a RBvRN ending a pawn down. Kramnik now led 4–3.Game 8, Kramnik–Topalov, 0–1
Game 8 lasted 4½ hours, and resulted in Topalov's first win over the board in the match, tying the score at 4–4. It featured the strategically unbalanced Meran Variation Semi-Slav Defense. Topalov's 15...Qa5 was a theoretical novelty. After 21 moves, the players reached a sharp, complicated, queenless middlegame with Topalov having two knights for Kramnik's rook and pawn. Topalov spun a mating web with his knights and rook, aided by Kramnik's mistakes on moves 32 and 41.Game 9, Topalov–Kramnik, 1–0
Game 9 was a 3-hour tussle featuring a Slav Defense. Topalov's 6.Nh4 and 7.Nxg6 is a standard idea gaining White the advantage of the bishop pair. Topalov followed up in unusual fashion, however, with a3, g3, and f4 on the next three moves, leading Susan Polgar to observe that, "Topalov made way too many Pawn moves in the opening." However, Kramnik was unable to find an effective response and eventually ended up in a middlegame position where his two knights were outmatched by Topalov's powerful bishops. Topalov steadily improved his position, seizing space and launching an attack on the king-side. A strong tactical blow by Topalov on move 38 won the game for him. Kramnik, who had struggled with a steadily deteriorating position in time trouble, resigned following Topalov's 39th move. Topalov took the lead for the first time in the match, with the score now 5–4.Game 10, Kramnik–Topalov, 1–0
Kramnik played the solid Catalan System. At move 17, Topalov, playing Black, offered Kramnik the opportunity to win a pawn if he was willing to give up his fianchettoed king's bishop for a knight. Kramnik accepted the offer. Susan Polgar wrote that Topalov's "compensation is his Bishop pair, good Knight on e4 and the White Knight is pinned on b5."However, Topalov blundered on move 24, allowing Kramnik to win a second pawn. Topalov then gave up his rook for a knight and two pawns. That left Kramnik ahead a rook for a knight and, after forcing the trade of queens, he won the endgame easily. The match was now level 5–5.