World Active Chess Championship
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Chess |
| Location | Mazatlan, Mexico |
| Dates | 10 December 1988–17 December 1988 |
| Administrator | FIDE |
| Format | Rapid |
Tournament format(s) | Swiss-system, Single-elimination |
| Venue | El Cid Resort |
| Participants | 61 |
| Purse | 150,000 USD |
| Final positions | |
| Champion |  Anatoly Karpov |
| Runner-up | Viktor Gavrikov |
The World Active Chess Championship was the inaugural edition of the World Rapid Chess Championship. It was the first known elite tournament in rapid chess, which was then known as "active chess". The tournament was held at El Cid Resort in Mazatlan, Mexico from 10 to 17 December 1988 and was a multi-stage tournament that featured 61 players. Former World Champion Anatoly Karpov won the event, edging out GM Viktor Gavrikov on tiebreaks after their finals match ended in a 5–5 tie.
Details
[edit]The tournament began with a 13-round preliminary Swiss system stage. The top eight players from the Swiss proceeded to a single-elimination knockout, where players played four-game matches in quarterfinals and semifinals, and an eight-game match in the finals. The time control was 30 minutes per player (no increment) and the total prize fund was 150,000 USD.[1][2]
61 players competed in the tournament, with notable participants listed below:[3]
- Anatoly Karpov (URS), 2715
- Rafael Vaganian (URS), 2625
Yasser Seirawan (USA), 2595- Jaan Ehlvest (URS), 2585
Bent Larsen (DEN), 2570- Vladimir Tukmakov (URS), 2570
- Maxim Dlugy (USA), 2550
- Viktor Gavrikov (URS), 2545
- Lev Alburt (USA), 2535
- Walter Browne (USA), 2530
Roman Dzindzichashvili (ISR), 2530- Nana Ioseliani (URS), 2455
Gábor Kállai (HUN), 2450- Sofia Polgar (HUN), 2320
Results
[edit]In the finals match between Karpov and Gavrikov, the score was tied 4-4 after the eight rapid games. Two 5-minute blitz games were played as a tiebreaker, both of which were drawn. Thus, Karpov was named the new Active Chess Champion by virtue of his better Buchholz score among the top four tied players (Karpov, Gavrikov, Vaganian and Dlugy).[4] He and Gavrikov were both awarded 40,000 USD.[1]
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Anatoly Karpov
| 2½ | |||||||||||||
| Roman Dzindzichashvili
| 1½ | |||||||||||||
| Anatoly Karpov
| 2½ | |||||||||||||
| Jaan Ehlvest
| 1½ | |||||||||||||
| Jaan Ehlvest
| 2½ | |||||||||||||
| Maxim Dlugy
| 1½ | |||||||||||||
| Anatoly Karpov
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Viktor Gavrikov
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Vladimir Tukmakov
| 2½ | |||||||||||||
| Rafael Vaganian
| ½ | |||||||||||||
| Vladimir Tukmakov
| ½ | |||||||||||||
| Viktor Gavrikov
| 2½ | |||||||||||||
| Viktor Gavrikov
| 2½ | |||||||||||||
| Gábor Kállai
| 1½ | |||||||||||||
Aftermath
[edit]Garry Kasparov, then the current World Champion, declined to participate in the event and derided the concept of an active chess champion, saying, "Active Chess? What does that make me, the Passive World Champion?" The controversy surrounding the event and the crowning of a separate "active chess champion" led to the parallel rapid championship being dropped for future years.[5] It was not until 2001 that FIDE organized their next edition of the World Rapid Championship, which was branded FIDE World Cup of Rapid Chess. [6]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Chess - NYTimes". Archived from the original on 2016-06-04. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
- ↑ Seirawan, Yasser (1988-07-13), English: Advertisement for 1988 World Active Chess Championship, retrieved 2026-09-09
- ↑ "365Chess: Mazatlan rapid 1988". Archived from the original on 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ↑ "1st World Active Chess Championship (1988)". www.chessgames.com. Retrieved 2026-09-03.
- ↑ "Garry Kasparov: A History of Professional Chess". Archived from the original on 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ↑ "The Week in Chess 325". theweekinchess.com. Retrieved 2026-09-03.
