World Chess Championship a Kasparov match, either with 2002 FIDE champion Ponomariov, or 2004 FIDE champion Kasimdzhanov. Partly due to his frustration at the situation, Kasparov retired from chess in 2005, still ranked No. 1 in the world. Soon after, FIDE dropped the short knockout format for a World Championship and announced the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005, a double round robin tournament to be held in San Luis, Argentina between eight of the leading players in the world. However Kramnik insisted that his title be decided in a match, and declined to participate. The tournament was convincingly won by the Bulgarian Veselin
Women's World Chess Championship 1972 Women's World Chess Championship 1972 The 1972 Women's World Chess Championship was won by Nona Gaprindashvili, who successfully defended her title against challenger Alla Kushnir. This was the third (and last) consecutive title match between the two strongest female players of their time. For the first time, the women's championship cycle consisted of all the same stages as the open cycle. An Interzonal tournament was held in Ohrid in May 1971, featuring the best players from each FIDE zone, for a total of 18 participants. The top three would qualify for the Candidates Tournament. The top three from the Interzonal