List of World Chess Champions
World Chess Champions are players who have won a match or tournament for the World Championship at chess. Both men and women can become champion, but no woman has ever been a challenger for the title. There is however a separate championship for women. There are also separate championships for specific age groups.
Before 1886, there was no official championship held, but some players were thought to be pre-eminent. From 1948 on, the World Chess Federation FIDE held the championships. Between 1993 and 2006 there were two world champion titles, the FIDE one and the classical one.
The 2013 World Championship match took place between Anand and Magnus Carlsen (challenger) in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, where Anand grew up. Usually, world champions are played on neutral ground. Fischer played Spassky in Iceland; Alekhine played Capablanca in Buenos Aires. The Soviets always played in Moscow. However, sponsorship is needed for these matches, and the decision to accept the Chennai bid was taken by FIDE. The Challenger was victorious winning 3 games and achieving the necessary 6.5 points to win the title at the end of game 10.
Gukesh Dommuraju of India is the youngest and current World Chess Champion since 2024.
Some players and authors before 1821
[change | change source]These players are included (pre-18th century) on little more than opinion, and (18th century) on the basis of more substantial information.[1][2] Some authors of important early works on chess are noted.
| Name | Year | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Francesch Vicent (author) | ~1475 |  Spain First printed book on chess. (Catalonia)[3]
|
| Luis Ramirez de Lucena (author) | ~1490 | Spain First printed book on chess to have survived.
|
| Pedro Damiano (author) | ~1512 | .svg){kind=small} Portugal
|
| Ruy López de Segura (author) | 1559–1575 | Spain
|
| El Morro | ~1560–1575 | Portugal
|
| Leonardo da Cutro | 1575 |  Kingdom of Naples
|
| Paolo Boi | 1575 |  Kingdom of Sicily
|
| Giulio Polerio | ~1580 | Kingdom of Naples
|
| Alessandro Salvio (author) | ~1600 | Kingdom of Naples
|
| Gioachino Greco (author) | ~1620–1634 | Kingdom of Naples
|
| Pietro Carrera | ~1640 | Kingdom of Sicily
|
| Ercole del Rio (author) | ~1750 |  Italy (Duchy of Modena)
|
| Giambattista Lolli (author) | ~1760 | Italy (Duchy of Modena)
|
| Domenico Ponziani (author) | ~1770 | Italy (Duchy of Modena)
|
| François-André Danican Philidor | 1745–1795 |  France
|
| Johann Baptist Allgaier (author) | ~1795–~1815 |  Austrian Empire
|
| Verdoni | ~1795–~1804 | Italy
|
| Alexandre Deschapelles | 1815–1821 | France
|
World Champions pre-FIDE
[change | change source]These players are included on the basis of their winning matches against credible opponents. Champions are numbered from Steinitz onwards, because his match against Zukertort was publicly declared as a world championship and generally accepted.[4][5]
| Name | Year | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais | 1821–1840 | France
|
| Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant | 1840–1843 | France
|
| Howard Staunton | 1843–1851 |  England
|
| Adolf Anderssen | 1851–1858 1860–1868 |
 Prussia
|
| Paul Morphy | 1858–1860 |  United States
|
| 1. Wilhelm Steinitz | 1886–1894 |  Austria-Hungary England United States
|
| 2. Emanuel Lasker | 1894–1921 |  Germany
|
| 3. José Raúl Capablanca | 1921–1927 |  Cuba
|
| 4. Alexander Alekhine | 1927–1935 1937–1946 |
 Russia France
|
| 5. Max Euwe | 1935–1937 |  Netherlands
|
FIDE world champions 1948–1993
[change | change source]Long matches, initially best of 24 games.
| # | Name | Year | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Mikhail Botvinnik | 1948–1957 1958–1960 1961–1963 |
 Soviet Union (Russia)
|
| 7 | Vasily Smyslov | 1957–1958 |  Soviet Union (Russia)
|
| 8 | Mikhail Tal | 1960–1961 | Soviet Union (Latvia)
|
| 9 | Tigran Petrosian | 1963–1969 | Soviet Union (Armenia)
|
| 10 | Boris Spassky | 1969–1972 | Soviet Union (Russia)
|
| 11 | Robert J. Fischer | 1972–1975 |  United States
|
| 12 | Anatoly Karpov | 1975–1985 | Soviet Union (Russia)
|
| 13 | Garry Kasparov | 1985–1993 | Soviet Union (Russia)
|
FIDE world champions 1993–2006[change | change source]These knock-out events are separately numbered.
|
Classical world champions 1993–2006[change | change source]These are matches of the traditional kind, and of 15 or 20 games.
|
Undisputed world champions 2006–present
[change | change source]Various formats have been used, especially during Carlsen's tenure.
| # | Name | Year | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Vladimir Kramnik | 2006–2007 | Russia
|
| 15 | Viswanathan Anand | 2007–2013 |  India
|
| 16 | Magnus Carlsen | 2013–2023 |  Norway
|
| 17 | Ding Liren | 2023–2024 |  People's Republic of China
|
| 18 | Gukesh Dommaraju | 2024-present | India
|
Women's World Champions
[change | change source]| Name | Years | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Vera Menchik | 1927–1944 |  Czechoslovakia / England
|
| Lyudmila Rudenko | 1950–1953 | Soviet Union (Ukraine)
|
| Elisabeth Bykova | 1953–1956 | Soviet Union (Russia)
|
| Olga Rubtsova | 1956–1958 | Soviet Union (Russia)
|
| Elisabeth Bykova | 1958–1962 | Soviet Union (Russia)
|
| Nona Gaprindashvili | 1962–1978 | Soviet Union /  Georgia
|
| Maia Chiburdanidze | 1978–1991 | Soviet Union / Georgia
|
| Xie Jun | 1991–1996 | People's Republic of China
|
| Susan Polgar | 1996–1999 |  Hungary / United States
|
| Xie Jun | 1999–2001 | People's Republic of China
|
| Zhu Chen | 2001–2004 | People's Republic of China
|
| Antoaneta Stefanova | 2004–2006 |  Bulgaria
|
| Xu Yuhua | 2006–2008 | People's Republic of China
|
| Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2008–2010 | Russia
|
| Hou Yifan | 2010–2012 | People's Republic of China
|
| Anna Ushenina | 2012–2013 |  Ukraine
|
| Hou Yifan | 2013–2015 | People's Republic of China
|
| Mariya Muzychuk | 2015-2016 | Ukraine
|
| Hou Yifan | 2016-2017 | People's Republic of China
|
| Tan Zhongyi | 2017–2018 | People's Republic of China
|
| Ju Wenjun | 2018–present | People's Republic of China
|
Related pages
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- ↑ Murray H.J.R. (1913). A history of chess. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-827403-3.
- ↑ Van der Linde A. 1874. Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels. Edition Olms reprint 1981. ISBN 3-283-00079-4
- ↑ The author was a Catalan. Until 1716, Catalonia, a principality of the Crown of Aragon, kept its own Constitution, language, usages and laws.
- ↑ Winter, Edward G. (ed) 1981. World chess champions. Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-024094-1.
- ↑ Hooper, David and Whyld, Kenneth 1992. The Oxford Companion to Chess 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-866164-9