Below is a list of events in chess in 1993, as well as the top ten FIDE rated chess players of that year.

Top players

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

top 10 by

Elo rating The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor. The Elo system was invented as an improved c ...

- January 1993 #

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak Elo rating system, rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the hi ...

2805 #

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Che ...

2725 #

Vassily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk ( uk, Василь Михайлович Іванчук; born March 18, 1969), also transliterated as Vassily Ivanchuk, is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading ...

2710 #

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating ...

2710 #

Boris Gelfand Boris Gelfand ( he, בוריס אברמוביץ' גלפנד; be, Барыс Абрамавіч Гельфанд, Barys Abramavich Hel'fand; russian: Борис Абрамович Гельфанд, Boris Abramovich Gel'fand; born 24 June 1968) ...

2690 #

Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Ch ...

2685 #

Alexei Shirov Alexei Shirov (, lv, Aleksejs Širovs; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994. He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classi ...

2670 #

Evgeny Bareev Evgeny Ilgizovich Bareev (russian: Евгений Ильгизович Бареев; born 21 November 1966) is a Russian-Canadian chess player and trainer. Awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1989, he was ranked fourth in the FIDE world ...

2670 #

Kiril Georgiev Kiril Dimitrov Georgiev ( bg, Кирил Димитров Георгиев; born 28 November 1965 in Petrich) is a Bulgarian and Macedonian chess grandmaster, and seven-time Bulgarian Chess Champion. Chess career Georgiev first caught the ...

2660 #

Valery Salov Valery Salov (born 26 May 1964) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was once ranked the third best player in the world. Competitive chess career Salov was awarded the International Master title in 1984 and the Grandmaster title in 1986. He was ...

2660

Tournaments

List of strong chess tournaments in 1993.

Chess news in brief

Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the ...

defeats

Jan Timman Jan Timman (born 14 December 1951) is a Dutch chess grandmaster who was one of the world's leading chess players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career, he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known a ...

7½-5½ at the

San Lorenzo de El Escorial San Lorenzo de El Escorial, also known as El Escorial de Arriba, is a town and municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located to the northwest of the region in the southeastern side of the Sierra de Guadarrama, at the foot of Moun ...

Candidates Final and emerges as

's challenger for the

World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013. The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 matc ...

. Kasparov and Short controversially distance themselves from

, setting up the Professional Chess Association (PCA) and announcing that their world championship match will be held in London under the auspices of the new organising body. FIDE denounces their actions and forfeits both players from its own world championship cycle, in the process stripping Kasparov of his FIDE world title. Kasparov wins the PCA world championship match against Short by a comfortable 12½-7½ margin. *FIDE remove Kasparov and Short from its rating list and arrange a rival world championship match between

and

, both of whom had been defeated by Short in the run up to the PCA final. Karpov wins the contest 12½-8½. *

Xie Jun Xie Jun (born October 30, 1970) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and is not just the first Chinese female but the first Asian female to become a chess grandmaster. She had two separate reigns as Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 ...

successfully defends her Women's World Champion title against

Nana Ioseliani Nana Ioseliani ( ka, ნანა იოსელიანი; born 12 February 1962) is a Georgian chess player. She was awarded by FIDE the Woman Grandmaster title in 1980 and the International Master title in 1993. Already in 1978 she was s ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

by the runaway score of 8½-2½. *Kasparov wins a very strong

Linares Linares may refer to: People *Fernando de Alencastre, 1st Duke of Linares (1641–1717), Spanish nobleman and military officer; viceroy of New Spain from 1711 to 1716 *Andreu Linares (born 1975), Spanish futsal player * Art Linares, American polit ...

tournament with 10/13 from Karpov and

(both 8½/13); 11 of the world's top 14 players are in attendance. *Karpov wins at

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is th ...

with 5½/7, ahead of

and

Christopher Lutz Christopher Lutz (born 24 February 1971) is a German chess grandmaster and a two-time German Chess Champion. Chess career Born in 1971, Lutz earned his international master title in 1989 and his grandmaster title in 1992. He won the German C ...

(both 4/7). *

wins at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

with 8/11 (from

on 7½/11). *

Alexander Beliavsky Alexander Genrikhovich Beliavsky (, ua, Олександр Генріхович Бєлявський, sl, Aleksander Henrikovič Beljavski; also romanized ''Belyavsky''; born December 17, 1953) is a Soviet, Ukrainian and Slovenian chess play ...

(7½/9) wins at Belgrade, ahead of Vladimir Kramnik (6/9). *

Ivan Morovic Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

is victorious in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

with 6/9, edging out Anand and

Alexander Khalifman Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (russian: Алекса́ндр Вале́рьевич Халифма́н; born 18 January 1966) is a Russian chess player and writer. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1990, he was FIDE World Chess Cha ...

(both 5½/9). *Karpov wins the knockout tournament at

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-lar ...

, defeating

Vasily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk ( uk, Василь Михайлович Іванчук; born March 18, 1969), also transliterated as Vassily Ivanchuk, is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leadin ...

in the final. *FIDE's

Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the ...

is held at

Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; , ) is a town and a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Biel/Bienne lies on the language boundary between the French-speaking and German-spea ...

, Switzerland. Boris Gelfand excels to win with 9/13, in front of a large group on 8½/13. Michael Adams,

Gata Kamsky Gata Kamsky ( tt-Cyrl, Гата Камский, italics=no; russian: Гата Камский; born June 2, 1974) is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and a five-time U.S. champion. Kamsky reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Ch ...

, Alexander Khalifman, Vladimir Kramnik,

Joël Lautier Joël Lautier () is a French chess grandmaster and one of the world's leading chess players in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 1986, He won U-14 World Youth Chess Championship in Puerto Rico, Argentina. In 1988, he won the World Junior Chess Cham ...

Paul van der Sterren Paul van der Sterren (born 17 March 1956 in Venlo, Netherlands) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. He won the Dutch Chess Championship twice, in 1985 and 1993. In 1993 he qualified for the Candidates Tournament for the FIDE World Chess Championshi ...

Leonid Yudasin Leonid Yudasin ( he, ליאוניד גריגורייביץ' יודסין; russian: Леонид Григорьевич Юдасин, translit=Leonid Grigoryevich Yudasin; born August 8, 1959) is a Soviet-born Israeli chess player and trainer. He ...

and Viswanathan Anand all qualify for the next stage. *The PCA Qualifier (equivalent to FIDE's Interzonal) is held in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, Netherlands. It is won by Michael Adams and Viswanathan Anand. The other qualifiers for the Candidates Matches are Vladimir Kramnik,

Sergei Tiviakov Sergei Tiviakov (russian: Серге́й Тивяков; born 14 February 1973) is a Russian–Dutch chess grandmaster. He is a three-time Dutch Champion and was European Champion in 2008. Chess career Tiviakov won the World Under-18 Champion ...

Boris Gulko Boris Franzevich Gulko ( rus, Борис Францевич Гулько, p=bɐˈrʲis ɡʊlʲˈko; born February 9, 1947) is a Soviet- American Grandmaster in chess. Gulko is noted to be the only person to win both the Soviet Chess Championship ...

and

Oleg Romanishin Oleg Mikhailovich Romanishin ( uk, Олег Михайлович Романишин, translit=Oleh Mykhailovych Romanyshyn; born 10 January 1952) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster and former European junior champion. Career Many honours and ...

. *The Women's Interzonal, held in Jakarta is won by

Ketevan Arakhamia Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (née Arakhamia) is a Georgian (former Soviet Union)-born Scottish Grandmaster of chess. Chess career In 1985, she won the World Junior Chess Championship for Girls, held in Dobrna (and taking silver in Adelaide three ...

. *The

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Rits ...

is won by

Igor Miladinović Igor Miladinović ( sr-Cyrl, Игор Миладиновић; born 25 January 1974) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. Miladinović won the 1993 World Junior Chess Championship and at the end of the year was declared athlete of the Year in FR Yu ...

of Serbia. *

Alexander Shabalov Alexander Anatolyevich Shabalov (russian: Алекса́ндр Анато́льевич Шаба́лов; lv, Aleksandrs Šabalovs; born September 12, 1967) is an American chess grandmaster and a four-time winner of the United States Chess Ch ...

and

Alex Yermolinsky Alex Yermolinsky (russian: Алексей Ермолинский, translit=Alexey Yermolinskiy; born April 11, 1958) is an American chess player. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1992, he is a two-time U.S. champion. Career Yermoli ...

both enjoy success in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, winning the US Open and World Open, respectively. The two tie for the

US Chess Championship The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the United States chess champion. Begun as a challenge match in 1845, the U.S. Championship has been decided by tournament play for most of its long history. Since 1936, i ...

held at

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporated ...

. *The

US Women's Chess Championship Following are the results of the U.S. Women's Chess Championship from 1937 to date. The tournament determines the woman chess champion of the United States. List of U.S. Women's Chess Champions *1937 Adele Rivero *1938 Mona May Karff *1940 Adele ...

, held in Illinois is shared by

Elena Donaldson Elena Donaldson-Akhmilovskaya (born ''Elena Bronislavovna Akhmilovskaya'', russian: Елена Брониславовна Ахмыловская; 11 March 1957 – 18 November 2012) was a Soviet-born American chess player. She was awarded t ...

and

Irina Levitina Irina Solomonovna Levitina (born June 8, 1954) is a Russian-American chess and bridge player. In chess, she has been a World Championship Candidate in 1984 and gained the title Woman Grandmaster. In contract bridge she has won five world champio ...

. *

Judit Polgár Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the you ...

and

share victory at the 1992/93

Hastings International Chess Congress The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess tournament which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin t ...

. *Gata Kamsky wins the U.S. National Open in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

. *

Mark Taimanov Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (russian: Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific ch ...

wins the

World Senior Chess Championship The World Senior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament established in 1991 by FIDE, the World Chess Federation. Overview Originally, the minimum age was 60 years for men, and 50 for women. Since 2014, the Senior Championship is split i ...

Bad Wildbad Bad Wildbad is a town in Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located in the government district (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Karlsruhe and in the district (''Landkreis'') of Calw. Its coordinates are 48° 45' N, 8° 33' E. About 10, ...

, Germany. *

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 196 ...

and Judit Polgár play a match in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. Polgar wins. *At the Harvard Cup, held in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, the humans beat the computers by a convincing score of 27-9.

Joel Benjamin Joel Lawrence Benjamin (born March 11, 1964) is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). In 1998, he was voted "Grandmaster of the Year" by the U.S. Chess Federation. , his Elo rating was 2506, making him the No ...

's winning tally is a perfect 6-0. *In

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

, a chess player is shot and killed by a sniper while playing a game. *A movie titled ''

Searching for Bobby Fischer ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'', released in the United Kingdom as ''Innocent Moves'', is a 1993 American drama film written and directed by Steven Zaillian in his directorial debut. Starring Max Pomeranc in his film debut, Joe Mantegna, J ...

'' in the US and ''Innocent Moves'' in the UK is released by

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

. Based on the life of

Joshua Waitzkin Joshua Waitzkin (born December 4, 1976) is an American former chess player, martial arts competitor, and author. As a child, he was recognized as a prodigy, and won the U.S. Junior Chess championship in 1993 and 1994. The film ''Searching for ...

, it stars

Max Pomeranc Max Pomeranc (born March 21, 1984) is an American former child actor. Pomeranc was born in New York City, New York. His mother, Marion Hess Pomeranc, is an author, and his father, Abe Pomeranc, is a stock broker. He made his acting debut at the ...

in the lead role. Oscar-winning actor

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...

plays the part of trainer

Bruce Pandolfini Bruce Pandolfini (born September 17, 1947) is an American chess author, teacher, and coach. A USCF national master, he is generally considered to be America's most experienced chess teacher. In 1983, Pandolfini was the chess consultant to aut ...

Births

Parimarjan Negi Parimarjan Negi (born 9 February 1993) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He achieved the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 4 months, and 20 days, which made him the second youngest grandmaster in history at the time. As of July 2021, h ...

, Indian prodigy, a GM and youngest ever IM - February 9 *

Wesley So Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and 3-time U.S. Chess Champion (in 2017, 2020, and 2021). He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was rank ...

, Filipino prodigy, a GM at little over 14 years - October 9

Deaths

Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...

, a leading player of the 1930s and 1940s, former US Champion and noted writer - March 26. *

Vladimir Makogonov Vladimir Andreevich Makogonov ( rus, Влади́мир Андре́евич Макого́нов, August 27, 1904 – January 2, 1993) was a chess player from Azerbaijan SSR. He was born in Nakhchivan but lived in Baku for most of his life. H ...

, Soviet IM and honorary GM, a leading player of the 1940s - January 2 * Boris Kogan, Russian-American IM and former Soviet Junior Champion - December 25. *

Alexander Koblencs Alexander Koblencs ( lv, Aleksandrs Koblencs, russian: Александр Кобленц; 3 September 1916, Riga – 9 December 1993, Berlin) was a Latvian chess master, trainer, and writer. He is best known as the trainer of the 1960-61 World Ch ...

, Latvian IM, trainer and writer - December 9 * Johannes Turn, a leading Estonian master of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s - March 8

References

*
Chess History & Chronology - Bill Wall
2009-10-20)
Olimpbase - Olympiads and other Team event informationDanny Kopec account of 4th Harvard Cup
{{chess 20th century in chess Chess by year