How did Vladimir Kramnik reunify the world chess championship in 2006?

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A chessboard showing the standard starting position for a game, with white and black pieces arranged in two rows on each side: rooks, knights, bishops, queen, and king on the back row, and pawns in front. — chess Position of chess pieces at the beginning of a game. The pieces are placed on the two ranks closest to the player. In the closest rank, pieces are arranged from left to right: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, and rook. In front of that rank, each square has a pawn.

In 2006, Vladimir Kramnik reunified the world chess championship by defeating the Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov in a unification match.1

At the time, the title was split, with Kramnik recognized as the classical world champion and Topalov holding the title after winning the 2005 FIDE World Championship Tournament. Kramnik secured the victory with a final score of five wins, seven draws, and four losses.1

The match was marked by significant controversy, specifically an acrimonious dispute dubbed "toilet gate," which involved unsubstantiated accusations that Kramnik was cheating during frequent visits to the restroom. This dispute resulted in one of Kramnik's losses being recorded as a forfeit. Following his victory, Kramnik agreed to defend the newly consolidated title in the 2007 FIDE World Championship Tournament.1