Chess Challengers Tournament
To determine the rival of the world champion in the world championship match, contests of applicants are held. In 1946, the international chess organization FIDE adopted a new world championship system.
The first tournament of such a system took place in 1950 in Budapest from April 9 to May 20. Competitions were held in 2 circles, 10 participants played. Of the 6 participants in the 1948 match-tournament, 4 grandmasters participated – Vasily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Samuel Reshevsky, Max Euwe. 5 winners of the interzonal tournament were admitted to the competition, the American grandmaster Royben Fine received a personal invitation. Euwe and Fayn refused to play in the tournament; Reshevsky, the American authorities banned travel to Hungary. Instead, they invited 4 more participants of the interzonal tournament.
The tournament was held in 2 rounds. 1-2 places were shared by Boleslavsky and Bronstein. An additional match was appointed to determine the winner. In 14 games, Bronstein won and became a rival to the world champion.
The 1953 applicants’ tournament to identify rival Mikhail Botvinnik was held in Neuhausen and Zurich (Switzerland) in August – October. 15 grandmasters took part, 9 of whom were representatives of the Soviet Union. The winner of the tournament, which was held in 2 rounds, was Vasily Smyslov (USSR).
The 1956 applicants tournament was held in Amsterdam from March to May among 10 applicants in 2 rounds. The second time the victory was won by Vasily Smyslov and became a rival to the world champion.
The 1959 applicants’ tournament was held from September to October in the cities of Yugoslavia – Bled, Zagreb, Belgrade. 8 grandmasters competed in 4 rounds. Ex-world champion Vasily Smyslov, the second prize-winner of applicants in 1956 participated. Paul Keres and 6 winners of the 1958 interzonal tournament. Mikhail Tal became the winner, the next year became the world champion, having won the match against Botvinnik.
The 1962 Candidates Tournament was held on the island of Curacao (Antilles) from May to June. The game was played in 4 rounds among 8 participants. After the 3rd round, Mikhail Tal left the tournament due to illness. After the tournament, American Robert Fisher, who took 4th place, accused some Soviet grandmasters of conspiring to win one of the Soviet participants in the competition.
In 1963 – 1983 Challenger tournaments have been replaced by Challenger matches.
The applicants tournament in 1985 was held in Montpellier (France) from October to November. The game involved 16 chess players. 1-3 places were shared by the Soviet grandmasters Arthur Yusupov, Rafael Vaganyan, Andrey Sokolov.
In 1986, FIDE candidates were again canceled.
In the 1990s, a split occurred in the chess movement. In 1993, the current world champion Garry Kasparov and the challenger Englishman Nigel Short accused the International Chess Organization of corruption, left it and formed the Professional Chess Association (PSA).
For several years, two world chess championships were held in parallel: according to FIDE and PSA. As a result of the loss of financial support in 1996, the PSA ceased to exist. In 2006, FIDE restored its monopoly on holding the world championship and awarding the title of world chess champion.
In 2012, FIDE again returned to the tournament system for the applicants. New rules and regulations have been developed.
The 2013 Candidates Tournament was held in London. 8 applicants played in 2 rounds. The winner was the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen.
The 2014 Candidates Tournament was held in Khanty-Mansiysk. 8 participants played in 2 rounds. Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand defeated.
The 2016 Candidates Tournament was held in Moscow. The candidate for the competition was American Los Angeles, but in the end, the organizer, who took upon himself the financial costs of the competition, chose Moscow. 8 applicants played in 2 rounds.
The participants, in addition to Russian players, included two US representatives, one from Armenia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and India. Russian Sergey Karjakin and American Fabiano Caruana reached the final. At the fifth hour of the game, the victory was won by the Russian grandmaster. In the 14 rounds of the tournament, Sergey Karjakin won 4 victories and suffered only one defeat.
