The recent FIDE World Chess Championship 2021 was a show-stopper, grabbing the news headlines with the fifth consecutive victory of the reigning champion Magnus Carlsen.
The championship was initially scheduled for the latter half of 2020 but got postponed due to the pandemic outburst. Luckily, as 2021 fared better, the tournament was successfully held in Dubai from Nov-Dec with Carlsen’s spectacular victory over challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi.
However, the history of chess is dotted with Championships that were scheduled but never happened. Here’s a peek into the top 5 chess tournaments that never took off.
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Lasker vs Rubinstein
Emanuel Lasker, the then-reigning champion didn’t play any match between 1896-1907, and his possible challenger Harry Pillsbury had passed away in 1906. Later Lasker had his opponent in Akiba Rubinstein whom he met in 1909 in St.Petersburg. They were scheduled to compete when World War I broke out, instigating a shortage of money. The championship never took place and Lasker went on to become the longest-ever reigning chess champion in history.
In 1921, Lasker lost to Jose Raul Capablanca, ending his 27-year-old reign.
Capablanca vs Alekhine: The Rematch
When Jose Raul Capablanca faced Alexander Alekhine in 1927, Alekhine won. It was the longest deciding world title match in chess history, lasting 34 games. (The only lengthier one was the match involving GM Garry Kasparov and GM Anatoly Karpov in 1984, which finished in a draw after 48 rounds). Two years later when Alekhine had to defend his title, he chose the German GM and first FIDE champion Efim Bogoljubov as his challenger. Capablanca had to wait for his face-off with Alekhine in the World Championship. But World War II ruined every possibility of the match between both. Capablanca passed away in 1942.
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Tal vs. Petrosian
A championship match between the aggressive attacker Mikhail Tal and the greatest single defender Tigran Petrosian would have been an epic war to watch for chess lovers. That too was a battle that was eagerly awaited but got fizzled out into nothing!
Petrosian became world champion in 1963 after defeating GM Mikhail Botvinnik in 1963 to become world champion. Tal entered the finals of the 1965 Candidates and would have faced Petrosian in the Championship finals had he not lost to GM Boris Spassky. Spassky who won the match, 7-4, faced Tigran Petrosian for the championship in 1966. Petrosian won the match.
Later in 1969, yet another confrontation between Petrosian and Tal brewed up as the latter almost qualified for the finals after reaching the Candidates semifinal. But chess lovers who were eagerly awaiting a matchup between both the brilliant players were disappointed as Petrosian lost to Spassky and Tal lost to GM Viktor Korchnoi.
The never-happened match between “the unstoppable force” of Mikhail Tal and the “immovable object” of Petrosian would have been a gemstone in the history of world championships. Also, if Tal had won the match, and became world champion for a second time, it would have etched his name among the top-ranking players in history.
Karpov vs Fischer
The world championship match that never took off between the two legends Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov is the one that gets a mention whenever the two names are discussed. Even after 45 years, chess lovers argue over who would have won if it had happened. And every interview that Karpov had, seemed to have a question regarding the same.
This never-happened gem is also intriguing as the only match where the potential contenders have never confronted each other, not only for the world championship titles but in any scenario as well.
Theoretically, this match did take place, and Fischer forfeited. As the active titleholder, he sought to exert some old-school influence over the championship process. Fischer didn't choose his opponent, but he may try to modify the format of the encounter. FIDE was satisfied with changing the format from best-of-24 to first-to-10 wins, but not with Fischer's insistence that he retain the championship in a 9-9 tie.
Whereas Tal-Petrosian match would've been a battle of styles, much like the Kasparov-Karpov encounters, a Fischer-Karpov championship match would've been an intriguing study of similar styles clashing with each other.
If Fischer's chess had a distinguishing feature, it was his ability to identify paradoxical plays at the perfect time. Fischer needed a great positional sense to know when to breach the general laws of chess, but arguably no player is more famous for a "keen positional sense" than Karpov.
Fischer was great between 1969-72, while Karpov became the champion in the end.
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Kasparov vs Carlsen
This match - an incomparably brilliant one - is the only one that could not have taken place in our current timeline. But if we suppose that Carlsen was born two years before and Kasparov two years later, maybe the scene would have been different. It’s really unfortunate that we never got the chance to witness Carlsen and Kasparov competing in their prime.
Since both the players were so spectacular, a match between them would be legendary. They were also listed as the top two chess players in 2020. However, the year before he retired, Kasparov met Carlsen in a tournament held in Reykjavik. The game was a draw.
Conclusion
There are numerous incidents in history that force us to wonder “what-if” destiny had a different course. Milestones would have been different, and victories redefined. In this context, if such championships weren’t canceled or postponed indefinitely, the outcomes would have enriched the history of chess.
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