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 1991 first place. Xie won the playoff in Belgrade and Beijing in February 1991 by 4½-2½, earning the right to challenge the reigning champion for the title. The championship match was played in Manila in 1991. In a result that came as a surprise to most of the chess world, the relatively unknown Chinese challenger Xie won 4 games (against 2) and the match, ending Chiburdanidze's 13-year reign as world champion. Women's World Chess Championship 1991 The 1991 Women's World Chess Championship was won by Xie Jun, who defeated the incumbent champion Maia Chiburdanidze in the title match. As part of