Linares 1993

The eleventh Linares was a Category XVIII tournament, an average rating of 2677 that made it one of the strongest fields ever assembled to that point. World Champion Garry Kasparov won it undefeated on 10/13, a point and a half clear — but the tournament is remembered just as much for a 17-year-old debutant named Vladimir Kramnik, who finished a startling fifth.

◇Kasparov ahead of a very strong field

By 1993 Linares had become the toughest annual round-robin in the world, and this edition, Category XVIII, was the strongest yet: Kasparov, Karpov, Anand, Ivanchuk, Gelfand, Salov, Beliavsky, Timman, and the young Alexei Shirov and Gata Kamsky all in one hall. Kasparov went through all thirteen rounds without a loss to finish on 10/13.

His pursuers could not close the gap. Anatoly Karpov and Viswanathan Anand tied for second on 8½, the placings settled on tie-break with Karpov ahead; Anand took the tournament's brilliancy prize for his win over Boris Gelfand. Shirov followed in fourth on 8, capping a fortnight of relentlessly high-level chess.

◇Kramnik arrives

The lasting image of Linares 1993, though, was a newcomer. Seventeen years old and rated 2685, Vladimir Kramnik was playing his first tournament of this magnitude — and he finished fifth on 7½, ahead of established stars like Ivanchuk and Beliavsky.

It was, as commentators noted at the time, a debut that boded well for the future. Seven years later Kramnik would take the world title from the very man who won this event; Linares 1993 was where the chess world first saw what he could do.

“Kasparov eventually won the tournament, undefeated... The 5th place by 17-year-old debutant Kramnik also boded well for the future. The brilliancy prize went to Anand, for Gelfand vs Anand, 1993.”