FIDE World Championship 1993: Karpov – Timman
When Kasparov and Short walked out, FIDE stripped them and staged its own title match between the two beaten Candidates finalists — Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman. Karpov won comfortably to become FIDE World Champion, the first holder of a crown that would remain divided until 2006.
◈A title by default
The 1993 FIDE match was born of the breakaway: with Kasparov and Short playing outside its jurisdiction, FIDE declared their titles vacant and matched the losing Candidates finalists instead. Timman had fallen to Short in the Candidates final; Karpov had lost to Short in the quarter-finals. It was an odd pairing to crown a champion, and both men knew it lacked the legitimacy of Kasparov's line.
Played across three Dutch cities and finishing in Jakarta, the match drew a fraction of the attention lavished on London.
◈Karpov prevails
On the board Karpov was the class of the field, steering to a clear 12½–8½ victory. He would defend this FIDE title against Gata Kamsky in 1996 before the FIDE crown passed into a knockout era.
Two champions now reigned at once — Kasparov by lineage, Karpov by FIDE — an uneasy arrangement that shadowed elite chess for over a decade.
◈Cross Table
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karpov | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 12½ |
| Timman | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 8½ |
1 win · ½ draw · 0 loss — click a game number to replay it.