Rebels Kasparov, Kramnik end row with FIDE

Chess giants Vladimir Kramnik and Garry Kasparov ended their nine-year old rebellion against the sport's ruling body FIDE on Monday, agreeing to respect the group as the sole global representative of their sport.

Czech news agency CTK said Kasparov and Kramnik signed a deal with the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in Prague on Monday, confirming they would not organise any more rival world championships in the coming years.

The deal gives FIDE the right to organise a world championship in 2003 that will give the sport a single world champion for the first time in nearly a decade, CTK reported.

"Everybody had to bring a sacrifice today, but all are leaving as winners," CTK quoted FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as saying.

Kasparov, the No. 1 chess player, launched a boycott of FIDE when he set up his own group, the PCA, and begun holding a separate world championship.

Kramnik has run another rival championship organised by his own Einstein Group.

FIDE officials were not immediately available for comment.