The Classical World Chess Championship 2004 was held from September 25, 2004 - October 18, 2004 in Brissago, Switzerland. Vladimir Kramnik, the defending champion, played Péter Lékó, the challenger, in a fourteen game match. Comune di Brissago (the community of Brissago) is a small town on the banks of Lago Maggiore in the Ticino canton of Switzerland. ... Vladimir Kramnik at the 2005 Corus chess tournament. ... Péter Lékó Péter Lékó (b. ...

The match ended 7-7, each player scoring two wins. Kramnik retained his title under the rules of the match.^[1]

Background

Since Garry Kasparov split from FIDE in 1993, there have been two world chess champions. There has been the 'Classical' world champion, the title that only passes on to a player when he beats the previous world champion. This was held by Kasparov, until he was defeated by Kramnik in the Classical World Chess Championship 2000. Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (Russian: Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров. IPA: ; (born April 13, 1963) is a chess grandmaster and former World Chess Champion. ... The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The Classical World Chess Championship 2000, also known as the Braingames World Chess Championship 2000, was a match for the Classical World Chess Championship between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. ...

There has also been the 'Official' FIDE world champion who, at the time of this match, was Rustam Kasimdzhanov. The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ... (Rustam Qosimjonov in Uzbek, Рустам Касымджанов in Russian born December 5, 1979) is a chess grandmaster from Uzbekistan. ...

Qualification

The 2002 Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting acted as the Candidates Tournament to determine the challenger to Kramnik's title. However not all the top ranked players were present. World #1 Garry Kasparov declined his invitation, instead insisting that he deserved a rematch with Kramnik based on his tournament results in 2001.^[2] Some other players, including world #2 Viswanathan Anand, declined invitations because they believed they were in conflict with their obligations under the rival FIDE World Championship. The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an elite chess tournament held every July in Dortmund, Germany. ... The Candidates Tournament was an annual chess tournament in which various chess players play against each other. ... Viswanathan Anand (IPA: ) (born December 11, 1969 in Chennai (then called Madras), India) is an Indian chess grandmaster. ... The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ...

Lékó qualified by beating Veselin Topalov in the final.^[3] Veselin Topalov Veselin Topalov (Bulgarian: ; born Ruse, Bulgaria, March 15, 1975) is a Bulgarian chess player. ...

The games

References

See also

• World Chess Championship
• Classical World Chess Championship 2000
• FIDE World Chess Championship 2004