The London duel

Last week I mentioned the fact that two world chess championships were held in September 1993 which was unusual and unprecedented. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) held one championship in the Netherlands, and the Professional Chess Association (PCA) held the other in London. Today I will feature the championship between Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short in London.

 The history of the London duel was controversial as Kasparov, the approved world champion, and Short, his challenger, had walked out on FIDE. Kasparov’s preferred venue for the original FIDE match, Los Angeles, could not raise the prize money and stepped back as organiser. Other venues which were under consideration by FIDE also stepped away.