FIDE World Chess Championship 2002 FIDE World Chess Championship 2002 The FIDE World Chess Championship 2002 was held in Moscow, Russia. The first six rounds were played between 27 November and 14 December 2001, and the final match started on 16 January and ended on 23 January 2002. The Ukrainian Grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov, aged 18, won the championship and became the youngest FIDE World Champion. At the time of this championship, the World title was split. The Classical World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik, did not participate, as well as the previous Classical Champion and world's highest-rated player, Garry Kasparov. However, all other strongest players of the
Women's World Chess Championship 1988 place, but Ioseliani won the subsequent playoff 3-2, earning the right to challenge the reigning champion for the title. The championship match was played in Telavi in 1988. This time, challenger Ioseliani put real pressure on the champion, especially when she won the penultimate game, reducing Chiburdanidze's lead to one point. In the end, however, the champion forced a draw with Black in the last game and held onto her title (in what would turn out to be her last successful defense). Women's World Chess Championship 1988 The 1988 Women's World Chess Championship was won by Maia Chiburdanidze, who successfully