1991–93 Candidates Matches (FIDE)

◇The ladder

Sixteen qualifiers began the cycle in eighth-final matches early in 1991, with the top four from the previous Candidates — Karpov, Timman, Yusupov and Speelman — carried directly into the draw. Rounds grew longer as the field narrowed, from best-of-eight preliminaries to a fourteen-game final, with rapid games settling any ties.

The matches moved from the first-round cities of 1991 to the quarterfinals in Brussels, the semifinals in Linares in 1992, and the final at San Lorenzo de El Escorial in January 1993. Among the memorable earlier rounds was Artur Yusupov's celebrated quarterfinal comeback against Vassily Ivanchuk in Brussels.

◇Short's run and the Karpov upset

Nigel Short came through Jonathan Speelman and then Boris Gelfand to reach the semifinals. There, in Linares, he did what almost no one expected: he beat Anatoly Karpov, ending the former world champion's cycle and putting an English player one match from the crown.

In the final Short met Jan Timman, who had advanced past Robert Hübner, Viktor Korchnoi and Yusupov. Short won 7½–5½, taking five games to Timman's three, and claimed the right to challenge Kasparov.

◇The 1993 split

Rather than play their 1993 match under FIDE, Short and Kasparov broke away to found the Professional Chess Association and staged the match in London, where Kasparov won convincingly, 12½–7½. The rupture divided the world title between rival organisations for more than a decade. Short remains the only English player to have contested a world-championship match.