World Chess Championship 1987 World Chess Championship 1987 The 1987 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in Seville from October 12 to December 19, 1987. Before the 24th game, Kasparov was down 12-11, but in the 24th game, Kasparov made a comeback by using the English Opening to win the final game to retain his title. Three Interzonal tournaments were held in 1985 in Tunis, Taxco, and Biel, with four players qualifying from each. Yusupov, Beliavsky, and Portisch qualified outright, while Chernin beat Gavrikov 3½-2½ in a Moscow playoff to take the fourth spot. Slim Bouaziz also started the
Women's World Chess Championship 2001 2nd), Wang Lei (4th), Pia Cramling (6th), Koneru Humpy (13th), Qin Kanying (15th), Sofia Polgar (16th), and Viktorija Cmilyte (20th). Polgár, ranked 1st female and 19th overall in the world, chose instead to participate in the concurrent open event. Reigning champion Xie Jun had put her active career on hold at the time and decided not to defend her title. Women's World Chess Championship 2001 The Women's World Chess Championship 2001 took place from November 25 to December 14, 2001 in Moscow, Russia. It was won by Zhu Chen, who beat Alexandra Kosteniuk in the final by 5 to 3.