1995 in chess

Below is a list of events in chess in 1995, as well as the top ten FIDE rated chess players of that year.

Top players
FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1995


 * 1) Garry Kasparov 🇷🇺 2805
 * 2) Anatoly Karpov 🇷🇺 2765
 * 3) Valery Salov 🇷🇺 2715
 * 4) Viswanathan Anand 🇮🇳 2715
 * 5) Vladimir Kramnik 🇷🇺 2715
 * 6) Alexei Shirov 🇪🇸 2710
 * 7) Gata Kamsky 🇺🇸 2710
 * 8) Boris Gelfand 🇧🇾 Belarus 2700
 * 9) Vassily Ivanchuk 🇺🇦 2700
 * 10) Evgeny Bareev 🇷🇺 2675

Chess news in brief

 * Garry Kasparov defeats Viswanathan Anand 10½-7½ in New York to win the PCA World Chess Championship 1995. The match swings first to Anand, when he takes a 5-4 lead and then to Kasparov, as he then wins four of the next five games and turns the tables in dramatic fashion. The match is preceded by Anand's 6½-4½ victory over Gata Kamsky in the qualifier.
 * The FIDE World Championship 1996 progresses to the semi-final stage, where Kamsky convincingly defeats Valery Salov 5½-1½ and Anatoly Karpov overcomes Boris Gelfand's challenge 6-3. The final is postponed due to the lack of any sponsorship or venue.
 * Kasparov wins the Tal Memorial in Riga with 7½/10, ahead of Anand (7). A strong field includes Vassily Ivanchuk, Vladimir Kramnik and Nigel Short.
 * Joël Lautier wins a double round tournament at Amsterdam, with 4/6, ahead of Kasparov (3½).
 * Kamsky, Karpov and Michael Adams share a three-way win at Dos Hermanas (all 5½/9).
 * Kramnik is sole winner at the Dortmund Sparkassen Tournament with 7/9. Karpov finishes second on 6½.
 * Kasparov wins at Novgorod (6½/9), ahead of Short, who shared second.
 * The Horgen tournament is shared between Kramnik and Ivanchuk with 7/10. Kasparov can only manage fifth and Anand does not play at all, after falling out with the organisers.
 * Ivanchuk is the winner at the Linares International Chess Tournament with 10/13, ahead of Karpov (9).
 * Gelfand and Kramnik share victory at Belgrade with 8/11.
 * Viktor Korchnoi wins at Madrid (6½/9), ahead of Salov (6).
 * In the Grand Prix series of tournaments, Ivanchuk is successful in Moscow, Adams in London and Kasparov at the New York and Paris events.
 * The body of Gilles Andruet, former French Champion, is found near Paris. He was the son of famous French Rally Car Driver, Jean-Claude Andruet. Three men later stand trial for his murder.
 * In the world of Computer chess, Kasparov is engaged for two more 'man-machine' contests. He gains revenge for his earlier defeat to Chess Genius, beating the Pentium-run program in a 2-game rapid match, held in Cologne. The later contest against Fritz is branded a farce, when the machine's operator slips up and plays the wrong move. Referee Stewart Reuben will not allow the move to be retracted.
 * Mikhail Umansky wins the 13th Correspondence chess World Championship for the period 1989-1995.
 * Florencio Campomanes steps down as FIDE President. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is appointed the new President.
 * Spectators at the British Chess Championship in Swansea witness two upcoming stars take their first full titles; Matthew Sadler wins the Men's/Open event and Harriet Hunt the Ladies' Championship.
 * In Modesto, California, Patrick Wolff wins the U.S. Chess Championship commemorative ring after a play-off with Nick DeFirmian and Alexander Ivanov. The title is however shared three ways. The Ladies' title is shared between Anjelina Belakovskaia and Sharon Ellen Burtman.

Births

 * Sahaj Grover, Indian player who won the 2005 World Youth Chess Championship (Under 10 category) -
 * Daniel Naroditsky
 * Levy Rozman

Deaths

 * Mikhail Botvinnik, leading Soviet Grandmaster and former world chess champion - May 5
 * Lev Polugaevsky, leading Soviet Grandmaster and world championship candidate - August 30
 * Harry Golombek, English Grandmaster, three-time British Champion, chess journalist, writer and World War II codebreaker - January 7
 * Mario Monticelli, Italian chess Grandmaster and three-time national champion - June 30
 * Sir Stuart Milner-Barry, English player, theoretician, writer, former President of the British Chess Federation and World War II codebreaker - March 25
 * Genrikh Kasparyan, Armenian chess player and leading chess problem composer - December 27
 * Gilles Andruet, International Master, former French Champion - August 22
 * Nicolaas Cortlever, Dutch International Master - April 5
 * Dr. Roza Herman, Polish chess master, twice the national Ladies' champion - March 7
 * Mario Napolitano, Italian master and leading correspondence chess player - October 31
 * Dr. Miroslav Katetov, Czech mathematician and former Prague chess champion - December 15
 * Pablo Moran, noted Spanish chess journalist and writer - November ?