The PCA World Chess Championship 1993 was a historic chess match that took place from September 7 to October 30, 1993, between Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short.
It was the first World Chess Championship organized by the Professional Chess Association (PCA), breaking away from the traditional governing body, FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs).
Before 1993, the World Chess Championship was governed by FIDE.
Nigel Short, an English Grandmaster, won the 1993 FIDE Candidates Tournament, earning the right to challenge reigning champion Garry Kasparov.
However, both Kasparov and Short had disputes with FIDE, particularly over its handling of finances and organization.
Instead of playing under FIDE’s rules, they decided to form a new organization, the PCA, and held their own World Championship match.
In response, FIDE stripped Kasparov of his official title and held its own parallel FIDE World Chess Championship 1993 between Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman, which Karpov won.
The match took place in London, England and was a best-of 24 games contest.
Prize Fund: Approximately £1.7 million ($2 million at the time), with Kasparov getting 60% and Short 40%.
Kasparov dominated the match, winning 6 games to 1 with 13 draws.
Final score: 12.5 – 7.5 in Kasparov’s favor.
Short played aggressively but was frequently outplayed by Kasparov’s superior positional understanding and tactical skills.
This was Kasparov’s fifth World Championship title, continuing his reign as the world’s strongest player.
The PCA Championship marked a major schism in the chess world, leading to two competing titles until reunification in 2006.
The event brought global attention to chess, as it was heavily promoted and even featured live commentary, a rarity at the time.
Kasparov continued to hold the PCA title until losing to Vladimir Kramnik in 2000.
FIDE continued organizing its own World Championships, leading to confusion about the "true" world champion until the title was unified in 2006.
Short remained a strong grandmaster but never played in another World Championship match.
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