Chess History in a Nutshell 101 – Peter Leko
Peter Leko (born September 8, 1979) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and commentator. He became the world's youngest grandmaster in 1994. In 2004, he came agonizingly close to winning the Classical World Chess Championship, but the match ended in a 7–7 draw, allowing Vladimir Kramnik to retain the title. Leko also placed fifth in the 2005 FIDE World Chess Championship and fourth in the 2007 World Chess Championship.
Throughout his career, Leko has won numerous prestigious tournaments, including the annual events in Dortmund, Linares, Wijk aan Zee, and the Tal Memorial in Moscow. Representing Hungary in eight Chess Olympiads, he earned two silver team medals and a gold individual medal. Additionally, he secured bronze and silver team medals, along with a silver individual medal, in three European Team Championships. Leko reached fourth place on the FIDE rating list for the first time in April 2003.
Leko's extraordinary talent was evident from a young age. At just 14 years and four months, he broke the record previously held by Bobby Fischer and Judit Polgar, becoming the youngest grandmaster in history at that time. As a newly minted grandmaster, he already managed to defeat Kramnik in a game played in Belgrade in 1995—far from their last encounter over the board.
Leko continued his rise throughout the late 1990s. By the time he was still in his teens, he had achieved a rating of 2701 and ranked 11th in the world. In January 2000, he entered the top 10, climbing to sixth place with a rating of 2725. Except for a brief drop to 11th in April 2002, he remained in the top 10 on every FIDE list until January 2010.
The 2002 Dortmund tournament was a crucial event, as it served as a qualifier for the Classical World Chess Championship, then held by Kramnik. The tournament took place in July, with Leko entering as the world's eighth-ranked player. However, due to the absence of several top-ranked players—including classical champion Kramnik (world number two), FIDE champion GM Ruslan Ponomariov (world number six), world number one GM Garry Kasparov, and world number three GM Viswanathan Anand—Leko had the fourth-highest rating among participants.
The tournament featured an unusual hybrid format. Eight players were divided into two groups of four, playing a double round-robin to eliminate half the field. The top two from each group advanced to a knockout stage. The first-place finisher in each group faced the second-place finisher from the other group in the semifinals.
Leko's group included GMs Michael Adams, Evgeny Bareev, and Alexander Morozevich. He won and lost a game against Bareev, drew twice with Morozevich, and secured a crucial 1½–½ score against Adams, finishing second behind Bareev. This was enough to advance him to the knockout stage, where he faced GM Alexei Shirov. Leko defeated Shirov in three games, winning twice. Meanwhile, Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov overcame Bareev, setting up a final showdown between Leko and Topalov.
Leko's momentum carried through to the final. He won the first two games against Topalov, and though Topalov fought back with a victory in game three, a draw in game four secured the tournament victory for Leko. His next challenge? A world championship match against Vladimir Kramnik!
The 2004 World Championship was a defining moment in Leko’s career. The match took place in Brissago, Switzerland, under the terms of the so-called Prague Agreement, which stipulated that the winner of the Leko-Kramnik match would face the winner of a separate match between Kasparov and the reigning FIDE World Champion.
Leko had a rough start, losing the first game. However, he equalized in game five and boldly took the lead in game eight. Heading into the final game, Leko needed only a draw to become world champion. But in a dramatic turn, Kramnik managed to win the last game, leveling the score at 7–7. Under the existing rules, the reigning champion retained the title in case of a tie—tiebreaks were not yet standard at that time. This traditional rule was later abandoned after the reunification of the world championship in 2006, when rapid tiebreaks were introduced.
In the diagram position below Magnus, playing Black, has just played 27... Qc8 with the dangerous threat 28... Qh3+, which creates a mating pattern around White’s king. How should White respond to this threat?
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