Thirty years ago, in September 1993, two separate World Championship matches were played in the Netherlands and England for the first and only time in chess history. It was a controversial occasion for chess, as it is memorable.
The chess warriors were Anatoly Karpov of Russia and Jan Timman of the Netherlands, and Garry Kasparov of Russia and Nigel Short of England. Kasparov and Short had decided to part ways with FIDE and organise their own World Championship match in London under the auspices of the new Professional Chess Association. At the same time, FIDE had organised a World Championship match featuring Karpov and Timman in the Netherlands.
