The FIDE World Chess Championship 2000 was held in New Delhi, India, and Tehran, Iran.

Anatoly Karpov, the 1998 FIDE World Champion and No.11-rated player, also did not take part in the tournament as he was in the midst of filing a lawsuit against the organization.

28 players (27 best rated and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, one of the quarterfinalists of the previous championship) were given byes to the second round.

Rounds 1–5 consisted of a two-game match, followed by tie breaks at faster time controls if required.

The final match of the FIDE World Championship featured Viswanathan Anand, the pre-tournament favorite and No.

1 seed, and Alexei Shirov, who had previously been denied a chance to challenge Garry Kasparov for the Classical World Championship despite winning a candidates' match two years earlier.

Qf6?, missing a sound queen sacrifice that would have led to an equal endgame with winning opportunities (19... Qxe2 20.