1994–95 Candidates Matches (PCA)

◇The PCA's own cycle

In 1993 Garry Kasparov, believing FIDE corrupt, broke away and formed the Professional Chess Association. FIDE stripped him of its title and crowned Anatoly Karpov in a separate event; Kasparov, undefeated by any challenger, ran a rival cycle to defend his own claim. For the first time since 1886 the chess world had two competing World Championships, and the PCA cycle described here was the only complete one it managed to stage.

The path began with a 54-player Swiss qualifier at Groningen in December 1993, from which the top seven advanced. They were joined by Nigel Short — the man Kasparov had beaten in the 1993 PCA title match — to make an eight-player Candidates bracket contested entirely as knockout matches.

◇Knockout to Las Palmas

The quarterfinals, best of eight games, were held at Trump Tower in New York in June 1994 and opened by Donald Trump. Gata Kamsky beat Vladimir Kramnik 4½–1½, Nigel Short edged Boris Gulko 6½–5½, Michael Adams overcame Sergei Tiviakov 7½–6½ after tie-breaks, and Anand defeated Oleg Romanishin 5–2. The best-of-ten semifinals followed at Linares in September 1994, where Kamsky routed Short 5½–1½ and Anand crushed Adams by the same 5½–1½ score.

The best-of-twelve final was played at Las Palmas in March 1995. Anand defeated Kamsky 6½–4½ to become the PCA challenger. Because this archive is a bracket rather than a round-robin, the computed cross-table — which simply sums each player's match points — does not model the knockout; it happens to place Anand first only because he won three matches on the way to the title.

◇The match on the 107th floor

Anand met Kasparov in the PCA World Chess Championship 1995, played on the 107th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York from September to October. The two opened with eight straight draws before Anand struck first in game nine; Kasparov answered immediately and pulled away, taking the twenty-game match after eighteen with four wins, one loss, and thirteen draws — 10½–7½ — to keep his title.