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World Chess Championship 1990

The World Chess Championship 1990 was played between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. It was the fifth and final Kasparov-Karpov championship match, Kasparov winning by a single point.

1987 Interzonal tournaments

Three Interzonals were held in the summer of 1987, with 16 to 18 players playing in each and the top three scorers from each qualifying.

June-July 1987 Interzonal, Subotica
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Total Tie break
1 Gyula Sax (Hungary) 2570 - 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 10½ 74.25
2 Nigel Short (England) 2615 0 - ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 10½ 73.00
3 Jon Speelman (England) 2550 ½ ½ - 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 10½ 70.75
4 Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union) 2605 ½ ½ 1 - ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 10 72.50
5 Zoltán Ribli (Hungary) 2580 ½ 0 0 ½ - ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 63.25
6 Amador Rodríguez Cespedes (Cuba) 2495 0 0 ½ ½ ½ - ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 8½
7 Slavoljub Marjanović (Yugoslavia) 2505 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ - ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 8
8 Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union) 2550 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ - ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 7½ 52.00
9 Alexander Chernin (Soviet Union) 2570 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ - 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 7½ 51.00
10 Petar Popović (Yugoslavia) 2540 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 - 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 7
11 Alonso Zapata (Colombia) 2505 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 - ½ 0 1 ½ 1 6½
12 Thomas Ernst (Sweden) 2465 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 ½ - 1 1 1 0 6
13 Lev Alburt (United States) 2575 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 0 - ½ 0 ½ 5½
14 Xu Jun (China) 2495 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 ½ - 1 ½ 5
15 Devaki Prasad (India) 2425 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 - ½ 4
16 Ahmed Ibrahim Hamed (Egypt) 2310 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ - 3

In the first tournament in Subotica, Sax, Short, and Speelman qualified. Lubomir Kavalek withdrew after six rounds; his results are not included in the totals for the other players. Robert Hübner was invited, but declined to participate. As a result, Ribli had a free day during the last round. To show his displeasure, he refused to take part in a playoff against Tal, which could have been important, if a reserve spot had opened up in the Candidates Tournament.

July-August 1987 Interzonal, Szirak
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total Tie break
1 Valery Salov (Soviet Union) 2575 - ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 12½ 97.25
2 Jóhann Hjartarson (Iceland) 2550 ½ - ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 12½ 96.50
3 Lajos Portisch (Hungary) 2615 ½ ½ - ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 12 98.50
4 John Nunn (England) 2585 ½ ½ ½ - ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 12 92.50
5 Alexander Beliavsky (Soviet Union) 2630 0 ½ 0 ½ - ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 11
6 Ulf Andersson (Sweden) 2600 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ - ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 10½
7 Ljubomir Ljubojević (Yugoslavia) 2625 ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ - ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 10
8 Larry Christiansen (United States) 2575 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ - ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 9
9 Joel Benjamin (United States) 2575 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ - 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 8½ 61.75
10 Miodrag Todorcevic (Yugoslavia) 2475 1 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 - 1 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 1 8½ 59.75
11 Mihail Marin (Romania) 2475 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 - 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 7½ 52.75
12 Dragoljub Velimirović (Yugoslavia) 2520 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 - 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 7½ 51.75
13 András Adorján (Hungary) 2540 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 - 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 7 55.00
14 Gilberto Milos (Brazil) 2495 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 0 - ½ 1 0 1 7 49.75
15 Glenn Flear (England) 2480 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ - ½ 1 1 6
16 Jesús de la Villa (Spain) 2485 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ - 0 1 5½
17 Slim Bouaziz (Tunisia) 2370 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 1 - ½ 4½
18 Denis Allan (Canada) 2310 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ - 1½

In the Szirák tournament, Valery Salov and Jóhann Hjartarson finished at the top of the table, while Lajos Portisch and John Nunn tied for third. The last place in the Candidates Tournament was decided in a separate playoff in Budapest, with Portisch defeating Nunn 4-2.

August 1987 Interzonal, Zagreb
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Total Tie break
1 Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland) 2630 - ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 11
2 Jaan Ehlvest (Soviet Union) 2540 ½ - ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 10 80.75
3 Yasser Seirawan (United States) 2600 0 ½ - 1 ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 10 73.50
4 Jesus Nogueiras (Cuba) 2555 1 ½ 0 - 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 9½ 71.00
5 Predrag Nikolić (Yugoslavia) 2620 ½ 0 ½ 0 - ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 9½ 67.50
6 Julio Granda (Peru) 2525 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ - ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 0 0 9½ 67.50
7 Eugenio Torre (Philippines) 2540 1 1 0 ½ 1 ½ - ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 9
8 Lev Polugaevsky (Soviet Union) 2595 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ - ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 8½ 65.25
9 Vereslav Eingorn (Soviet Union) 2575 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ - ½ 0 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 8½ 61.25
10 Yehuda Gruenfeld (Israel) 2545 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ - 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 8½ 59.50
11 József Pintér (Hungary) 2575 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 - 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 8½ 59.25
12 Krunoslav Hulak (Yugoslavia) 2495 0 0 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 0 0 - ½ 1 ½ 1 1 7½
13 Ventzislav Inkiov (Bulgaria) 2485 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ - ½ ½ ½ ½ 7
14 Tony Miles (England) 2585 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ - 0 0 1 6½
15 Dragan Barlov (Yugoslavia) 2555 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 - ½ 1 6
16 Jörg Hickl (West Germany) 2455 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ - 1 5
17 Fletcher Baragar (Canada) 2320 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 - 1½

Viktor Korchnoi emerged as winner of the last tournament in Zagreb, ahead of Jaan Ehlvest and Yasser Seirawan. In an extra playoff in Havana in November, Nikolić took the place as reserve for the Candidates Tournament with 6 points, ahead of Granda (4) and Nogueiras (2). No reserve was needed, however.

1988-90 Candidates Tournament

In addition to nine players from the Interzonals, the top four of the previous Candidates Tournament (Sokolov, Timman, Vaganian, and Yusupov) qualified directly for this tournament. The Canadian organizers of the preliminary matches (which were held in Saint John, New Brunswick) nominated one player, (Spraggett). Finally, Karpov, the challenger in the previous cycle, was seeded into the quarterfinals.

  Preliminary matches
Saint John, Jan-Feb 1988		 Quarterfinals
Antwerp, London, Quebec, and Seattle, Aug 1988 - Feb 1989		 Semifinals
London, Oct 1989		 Final
Kuala Lumpur, Mar 1990
                                     
   Lajos Portisch 3½  
   Rafael Vaganian 2½  
      Lajos Portisch 2½  
        Jan Timman 3½  
   Valery Salov 2½
   Jan Timman 3½  
      Jan Timman 4½  
      Jon Speelman 3½  
   Jon Speelman 4  
   Yasser Seirawan 1  
      Jon Speelman 3½
        Nigel Short 1½  
   Nigel Short 3½
   Gyula Sax 1½  
      Jan Timman 2½
      Anatoly Karpov 6½
   Artur Yusupov 3½  
   Jaan Ehlvest 1½  
      Artur Yusupov 5
        Kevin Spraggett 4  
   Kevin Spraggett 6½
   Andrei Sokolov 5½  
      Artur Yusupov 3½
      Anatoly Karpov 4½  
   Jóhann Hjartarson 4½  
   Viktor Korchnoi 3½  
      Jóhann Hjartarson 1½
      Anatoly Karpov 3½  
   

Karpov won, once again facing Kasparov for the fifth and final time in seven years. Karpov later alleged that a Dutch sponsor had offered to pay him to lose the match against Timman.

1990 Championship match

The first twelve games were played in New York (8 October - 7 November), the other twelve taking place in Lyon, France (26 November - 30 December).

World Chess Championship Match 1990
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Total
Anatoly Karpov (Soviet Union) 2730 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 11½
Garry Kasparov (Soviet Union) 2800 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 12½

Kasparov won and retained his title.

Controversy

Although still a Soviet citizen, Kasparov refused to play under the flag of the Soviet Union. Instead, he wanted to use the Russian flag; not the flag of the RSFSR, but the old tri-color - which, incidentally, would be re-adopted after the collapse of the Soviet Union a year later. Kasparov was indeed allowed to play with a small Russian tri-color at the table.

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