ChessTerra.com

December 20 in Chess History

8 birthdays, 5 matches, tournaments and games and 3 deaths from chess history on December 20.

December 20, 2000: FIDE World Chess Championship 2000 began, won by Viswanathan Anand. On this day in chess history.

200026 years ago today

FIDE World Chess Championship 2000 began

Won by Viswanathan Anand

Facebook X WhatsApp RedditDownload square

Card photo: GFHund, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tap any entry to put it on the share card.

Matches, tournaments and games

1948USSR women's chess championship 1948/49Began · won by Olga Rubtsova
19611961 USSR Chess Championship (29th)Ended · won by Boris Spassky
19621962 USSR Chess ChampionshipEnded · won by Viktor Korchnoi
2000FIDE World Chess Championship 2000Began · won by Viswanathan Anand
20182018 Ukrainian Chess ChampionshipEnded

Born on December 20

1736Hans Moritz von BrühlGerman diplomat and astronomer
1903Ramón Rey ArdidSpanish chess player
1932Pedro Puig PulidoSpanish chess player
1935Arthur FeuersteinAmerican chess player
1942Hans DuistermaatDutch mathematician
1946Aleksandra KislovaSoviet and Russian chess player
1976Alexei KornevRussian chess player
1993David KleinDutch chess player

Died on December 20

1954Emīls MelngailisLatvian composer
1987Narelle KellnerAustralian chess player
2008Albin PlanincSlovenian chess Grandmaster

Dates from Wikidata (CC0). Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each card. Dates can differ between sources, especially before 1918 when Russia used the old calendar.

<div id="puzzlebot-container"></div>

<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.polyfills.min.js"></script>

<script>
  var board = null;
  var game = new Chess();

  function onDragStart(source, piece, position, orientation) {
    // do not allow dragging when game is over
    if (game.game_over()) return false;

    // only allow white pieces to be dragged
    if (piece.search(/^b/) !== -1) return false;
  }

  function onDrop(source, target) {
    // see if the move is legal
    var move = game.move({
      from: source,
      to: target,
      promotion: "q" // always promote to a queen for example simplicity
    });

    // illegal move
    if (move === null) return "snapback";

    // update the board position
    board.position(game.fen());

    // get a random move from the engine
    window.setTimeout(makeRandomMove, 250);
  }

  // make a random move
  function makeRandomMove() {
    var possibleMoves = game.moves();

    // game over
    if (possibleMoves.length === 0) return;

    var randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * possibleMoves.length);
    game.move(possibleMoves[randomIndex]);
    board.position(game.fen());
  }

  // initialize the chessboard
  function init() {
    var config = {
      draggable: true,
      onDragStart: onDragStart,
      onDrop: onDrop,
      position: 'start'
    };

    board = Chessboard('puzzlebot-container', config);

    makeRandomMove();
  }

  $(document).ready(init);
</script>

<script src="https://revolvermaps2.com/embed.js" data-site="z79wnx94gq4m" data-size="300" data-theme="custom" data-color="ffffff" data-land="d4a843" data-ocean="0f1a2e" async></script>