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 1969 Women's World Chess Championship 1969 The 1969 Women's World Chess Championship was won by Nona Gaprindashvili, who successfully defended her title against challenger Alla Kushnir. This was the second of three consecutive title matches between the two strongest female players of their time. The Candidates Tournament was held in Subotica in September and October 1967. Unlike the previous tournament three years before, Kushnir won this one outright and again earned the right to challenge the reigning champion Gaprindashvili. The championship match was played in Tbilisi and Moscow in 1969. Once again, there was never really any doubt about who was