List of World Chess Championships
The
Key
Date | The year the event took place, further disambiguated as needed |
---|---|
† | Event was a tournament, as opposed to a match. |
‡ | Event resulted in a draw, with the champion retaining the title. |
# | Scheduled event did not take place. |
✻ | Event began, but was abandoned without any result. |
Winner | The winner of the event, or the champion otherwise retaining the title. Numerals denote the updated number of event wins or title defences by the champion. |
Score | The performance of the eventual champion. Segments such as tie-breaks are listed sequentially. Head-to-head tournament results are given in a footnote. |
Runner-up | The second-place finisher of the event, or the challenger for a match without a winner |
Ref | References and footnotes corresponding to the event. |
Predecessor events (before 1886)
Chess was first introduced to Europe during the 9th century.[1] In the early modern era, following the solidification of the modern rules of chess, the game continued to carry consistent prestige and public interest.[2] While numerous players have been characterized as the game's strongest over the centuries, the idea of an international chess match or tournament did not occur until the 18th century,[3] and did not materialize until the 19th century.[4] While the following events did not have the title of World Champion at stake, they have been recognized—either at the time or in retrospect—as indicating the world's leading player.
Date | Location | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Format | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1834 | London | Louis de La Bourdonnais | 18 | – 74 – 56½ – 5½11½ – 6½7½ – 4½4 – 5Alexander McDonnell | Casual play | [5] |
1843 | Paris | Howard Staunton | 13 | – 8Pierre Saint-Amant
|
First to 11 wins | [6] |
1851† | London | Adolf Anderssen | 15[a] | – 6Marmaduke Wyvill | Single-elimination tournament with 16 players | [7] |
1858 | Paris | Paul Morphy | 8 | – 3Adolf Anderssen | First to 7 wins | [8] |
1862† | London | Adolf Anderssen | 11½ | – 1½Louis Paulsen | Round-robin tournament with 14 players | [9] |
1866 | London | Wilhelm Steinitz | 8 | – 6Adolf Anderssen | Best of 15 | [10] |
1883† | London | Johannes Zukertort | 22 | – 4Wilhelm Steinitz | Double round-robin tournament with 14 players | [11] |
- ^ 2½Kieseritzky; 4 – 2 Szén; 4 – 1 Staunton; 4½ – 2½ Wyvill – ½
Privately organized matches (1886–1946)
With both Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort seen as plausible claimants, the two played a match for the first World Championship in 1886. While Steinitz would later claim that he had been the World Champion since the 1860s, no match before 1886 was played for any formal title.[12] From then until after World War II, championship matches were privately organized, and the champion was not formally obliged to face an opponent. An agreement had to be reached between the champion, the challenger, and the patrons sponsoring each match, which included providing the funds for the prize pool.[13] Lasker's 27-year reign as World Champion is the longest in the history of organized chess since 1886, but featured two separate 10-year spans during which he did not defend his title.
Date | Location | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Format | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1886 | New York City (1–5), St. Louis (6–9), New Orleans (10–15) | Wilhelm Steinitz | 12½ | – 7½Johannes Zukertort | First to 10 wins | [14] |
1889 | Havana | Wilhelm Steinitz (2) | 10½ | – 6½Mikhail Chigorin | Best of 20, tiebreak if required | [15] |
1890–1891 | New York City | Wilhelm Steinitz (3) | 10½ | – 8½Isidor Gunsberg | [16] | |
1892 | Havana | Wilhelm Steinitz (4) | 10 | – 102½ – ½Mikhail Chigorin | [17] | |
1894 | Montréal (12–19)
|
Emanuel Lasker | 12 | – 7Wilhelm Steinitz | First to 10 wins | [18] |
1896–1897 | Moscow | Emanuel Lasker (2) | 12½ | – 4½Wilhelm Steinitz | [19] | |
1907 | New York City (1–6, 15), Philadelphia (7–8), Washington, D.C. (9), Baltimore (10), Chicago (11), Memphis (12–14) | Emanuel Lasker (3) | 11½ | – 3½Frank Marshall | First to 8 wins | [20] |
1908 | Düsseldorf (1–4), Munich (5–16) | Emanuel Lasker (4) | 10½ | – 5½Siegbert Tarrasch | [21] | |
Jan–Feb 1910‡ | Vienna (1–5), Berlin (6–10) |
Emanuel Lasker (5) | 5 | – 5Carl Schlechter | Best of 10 | [22] |
Nov–Dec 1910 | Berlin | Emanuel Lasker (6) | 9½ | – 1½Dawid Janowski | First to 8 wins | [23] |
1921 | Havana | José Raúl Capablanca | 9 | – 5Emanuel Lasker | Best of 24 | [24] |
1927 | Buenos Aires | Alexander Alekhine | 18½ | – 15½José Raúl Capablanca | First to 6 wins | [25] |
1929 | Wiesbaden (1–8, 24–25), Heidelberg (9–11), Berlin (12–17), The Hague (18–19, 23), Rotterdam (20), Amsterdam (21–22) |
Alexander Alekhine (2) | 15½ | – 9½Efim Bogoljubow | First to both 6 wins and 15 points | [26] |
1934 | 12 cities[A] | Alexander Alekhine (3) | 15½ | – 10½Efim Bogoljubow | [27] | |
1935 | 12 cities[B] | Max Euwe | 15½ | – 14½Alexander Alekhine | [28] | |
1937 | 9 cities[C] | Alexander Alekhine (4) | 15½ | – 9½Max Euwe | [29] | |
Title vacant from 1946 to 1948, following the death of Alekhine. |
- (22–24), Berlin (25–26)
- ^ Amsterdam (1–3, 8–9, 12–13, 18, 20, 23, 25–26, 28–30), The Hague (4, 6, 11, 22, 27), Delft (5, 24), Utrecht (7), Gouda (10), Groningen (14), Baarn (15), 's-Hertogenbosch (16), Eindhoven (17), Zeist (19), Ermelo (21), Zandvoort (26). Game 26 began on one day in Zandvoort, and was finished on a later day in Amsterdam.
- ^ The Hague (1, 5, 9–10, 17–18, 25), Rotterdam (2, 7, 15–16, 23–24), Amsterdam (3–4, 12–13, 20–21), Haarlem (6), Leiden (8), Groningen (11), Zwolle (14), Eindhoven (19), Delft (22)
FIDE World Championships (1948–1990)
In 1946,
With the exception of the American Bobby Fischer in 1972, Soviet citizens won every championship from 1948 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. With the further exception of Viktor Korchnoi, who had defected from the USSR in 1976, each challenger was also a Soviet citizen. Following his victory, Fischer never played another game organized by FIDE. Disagreements between the two parties—including Fischer insisting on a format requiring the victor to get a certain number of wins, as opposed to the number of games in a match being fixed—led to his forfeiting the title in 1975. In the absence of a match, FIDE declared Anatoly Karpov, winner of the 1974 Candidates Tournament, to be the World Chess Champion by default.[31]
While the issue had played a role in Fischer's forfeit, FIDE ultimately did change the match format going forward, such that the first to win 6 games would be champion.[32] Under these rules, Karpov twice defended his title against Korchnoi. The next match—which began in September 1984 and featured the 21-year-old Garry Kasparov as Karpov's challenger—ultimately saw 48 games played over the span of five months, with neither player able to get to 6 wins. In an unprecedented step, FIDE president Florencio Campomanes stepped in and declared the match to have ended with no result. A new match, which would revert to having a set number of games, was to be played later in 1985. After nearly being knocked out early in 1984, Kasparov defeated Karpov in their rematch. Over the following decade, the two would play three more championship matches, with Kasparov narrowly retaining the title in each.[33]
Date | Location | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Format | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1948† | The Hague (1–10), Moscow (11–20) |
Mikhail Botvinnik | 14[a] | – 6Vasily Smyslov | Quintuple round-robin tournament with 5 players | [34] |
1951‡ | Moscow | Mikhail Botvinnik (2) | 12 | – 12David Bronstein | Best of 24 | [35] |
1954‡ | Mikhail Botvinnik (3) | 12 | – 12Vasily Smyslov | [36] | ||
1957 | Vasily Smyslov | 12½ | – 9½Mikhail Botvinnik | [37] | ||
1958 | Mikhail Botvinnik (4) | 12½ | – 10½Vasily Smyslov | [37] | ||
1960 | Mikhail Tal | 12½ | – 8½Mikhail Botvinnik | [38] | ||
1961 | Mikhail Botvinnik (5) | 13 | – 8Mikhail Tal | [39] | ||
1963 | Tigran Petrosian | 12½ | – 9½Mikhail Botvinnik | [40] | ||
1966 | Tigran Petrosian (2) | 12½ | – 11½Boris Spassky | [41] | ||
1969 | Boris Spassky | 12½ | – 10½Tigran Petrosian | [42] | ||
1972 | Reykjavík | Bobby Fischer | 12½ | – 8½Boris Spassky | [43] | |
1975# | Manila | Anatoly Karpov | — | Bobby Fischer | [44] | |
1978 | Baguio | Anatoly Karpov (2) | 16½ | – 15½Viktor Korchnoi | First to 6 wins | [45] |
1981 | Merano | Anatoly Karpov (3) | 11 | – 7Viktor Korchnoi | [46] | |
1984–1985✻ | Moscow | Anatoly Karpov | 25 | – 23Garry Kasparov | [47] | |
1985 | Garry Kasparov | 13 | – 11Anatoly Karpov | Best of 24 | [48] | |
1986 | Moscow (1–12), London (13–24) |
Garry Kasparov (2) | 12½ | – 11½Anatoly Karpov | [49] | |
1987‡ | Seville | Garry Kasparov (3) | 12 | – 12Anatoly Karpov | [50] | |
1990 | New York City (1–12), Lyon (13–24) |
Garry Kasparov (4) | 12½ | – 11½Anatoly Karpov | [51] |
- Euwe
Split title (1993–2006)
In 1993, following
Meanwhile, FIDE once again began experimenting with the championship format. Beginning with the 1998 championship, the system of Zonal, Interzonal, Candidates, and Championship stages was replaced with one single-elimination tournament featuring dozens of players competing for the championship. For the next event in 1999, the incumbent World Champion would not automatically qualify for the finals. Due to this additional change, Karpov—who had won three additional titles during the schism—declined to participate going forward. Each of the four Classical Championships retained a traditional match format.[55]
Date | Location | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Format | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | London | Garry Kasparov (5) | 12½ | – 7½Nigel Short | Best of 24 | [56] |
1995 | New York City | Garry Kasparov (6) | 10½ | – 7½Viswanathan Anand | Best of 20 | [57] |
2000 | London | Vladimir Kramnik | 8½ | – 6½Garry Kasparov | Best of 16 | [58] |
2004‡ | Brissago | Vladimir Kramnik (2) | 7 | – 7Peter Leko | Best of 14 | [59] |
Date | Location | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Format | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Anatoly Karpov (4) | 12½ | – 8½Jan Timman | Best of 24 | [60] | |
1996 | Elista | Anatoly Karpov (5) | 10½ | – 7½Gata Kamsky | Best of 20 | [61] |
1998† | London | Anatoly Karpov (6) | 3 [a] |
– 32 – 0Viswanathan Anand | Single-elimination tournament with 100 players | [62] |
1999† | Las Vegas | Alexander Khalifman | 18½ [b] |
– 11½Vladimir Akopian | [63] | |
2000† | Viswanathan Anand | 14 [c] |
– 6Alexei Shirov | [64] | ||
2002† | Moscow | Ruslan Ponomariov | 19 [d] |
– 9Vasyl Ivanchuk | Single-elimination tournament with 128 players | [65] |
2004† | Tripoli | Rustam Kasimdzhanov | 20 [e] |
– 10Michael Adams | [66] | |
2005† | Potrero de los Funes
|
Veselin Topalov | 10 [f] |
– 4Viswanathan Anand | Double round-robin tournament with 8 players | [67] |
- ^ Karpov was automatically seeded into the final round: a best of 6, with tie-breaks as needed.
- Nisipeanu; 3½ – 2½ Akopian
- Macieja; 3½Adams; 3½ – 2½ Khalifman; 2½ – 1½ – ½ Shirov
- Svidler; 4½ – 2½ Ivanchuk
- ^ 2½Ramírez; 1½ – ½ Ghaem Maghami; 2½ – 1½ Ivanchuk; 2 – 0 Almási; 3 – 1 Grischuk; 4 – 2 Topalov; 4½ – 3½ Adams – 1½
- ^ 1Leko; 1½ – ½ Kasimdzhanov; 1½ – ½ Adams; 1½ – ½ Polgár – 1 Anand; 1½ – ½ Svidler; 1½ – ½ Morozevich; 1½ – ½
FIDE World Championships (2006–present)
Following a period of negotiation, in 2006 the Classical Champion Vladimir Kramnik played a match against the FIDE Champion Veselin Topalov to reunify the World Championship.[68] Since then, the championship has remained under the auspices of FIDE. The Candidates Tournament returned, and with the exception of the 2007 tournament, FIDE would return to a match format for the World Championship. Instead of the previous system of Zonals and Interzonals to provide candidates, the system was redesigned around the Chess World Cup.[69] Later, means for selecting candidates would variously include the FIDE Grand Prix, the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament, selection by rating, and wild cards selected by the venue hosting the event.[70]
While shorter matches had taken place at various points, the block of 12 classical games was much shorter than matches had been for much of the 20th century. In the 2018 match, all 12 classical games resulted in draws for the first time in the history of the championship. Following this, the number of games was increased to 14.[71] Citing a lack of motivation and interest in the format, incumbent five-time champion Magnus Carlsen declined to defend his title in 2023.[72] Instead, the match featured the two best performers in the Candidates, with Ding Liren defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi to become the new World Champion. Carlsen later declined his spot in the 2024 Candidates Tournament.[73]
Date | Location | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Format | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Elista | Vladimir Kramnik (3) | 6 | – 62½ – 1½Veselin Topalov | Best of 12, tie-breaks if necessary | [74] |
2007† | Mexico City | Viswanathan Anand (2) | 9 [a] |
– 5Vladimir Kramnik | Double round-robin tournament with 8 players | [75] |
2008 | Bonn | Viswanathan Anand (3) | 6½ | – 4½Vladimir Kramnik | Best of 12, tie-breaks if necessary | [76] |
2010 | Sofia | Viswanathan Anand (4) | 6½ | – 5½Veselin Topalov | [77] | |
2012 | Moscow | Viswanathan Anand (5) | 6 | – 62½ – 1½Boris Gelfand | [78] | |
2013 | Chennai | Magnus Carlsen | 6½ | – 3½Viswanathan Anand | [79] | |
2014 | Sochi | Magnus Carlsen (2) | 6½ | – 4½Viswanathan Anand | [80] | |
2016 | New York City | Magnus Carlsen (3) | 6 | – 63 – 1Sergey Karjakin | [81] | |
2018 | London | Magnus Carlsen (4) | 6 | – 63 – 0Fabiano Caruana | [82] | |
2021 | Dubai | Magnus Carlsen (5) | 7½ | – 3½Ian Nepomniachtchi | Best of 14, tie-breaks if necessary | [83] |
2023 | Astana | Ding Liren | 7 | – 72½ – 1½Ian Nepomniachtchi | [84] | |
2024 | TBA | Ding Liren vs. Gukesh D | [85] |
- Aronian; 1½Grischuk– ½
Unrecognized championship events
In 1909, amid discussions that would ultimately culminate with the World Championship match played the following year, Emanuel Lasker played a casual match with Dawid Janowski in Paris. This was reported in later decades as being a World Championship match.[86] However, research by Edward Winter has demonstrated that the title was not at stake.[87]
Date | Location | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Format |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1909 | Paris | Emanuel Lasker | 8 | – 2Dawid Janowski | Best of 10, casual play |
See also
- Fischer–Spassky (1992 match) – rematch between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in Belgrade 20 years after their first match, considered by Fischer to be and billed as a World Chess Championship
References
Citations
- ^ Murray 1913, p. 405.
- ^ Murray 1913, pp. 774–779.
- ^ Murray 1913, p. 845.
- ^ Murray 1913, p. 883.
- ^
- Pope, Nick. "1834 La Bourdonnais–Macdonnell Matches". Chess Archaeology. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- Capablanca 1977, p. 47
- Sergeant 1934, p. 39, "Labourdonnais by his victory might fairly be entitled to call himself the leading player of the world"
- ^
- Wall, Bill (16 August 2007). "Staunton Beats a Saint". Chess.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023.
- Horowitz 1973, p. 3
- Harding 2012, pp. 43–46
- OCLC 3561640.
- Capablanca 1977, p. 47
- Murray 1913, p. 888, "But after 1860 the opinion that the Tournament was not the best way of discovering the strongest player of the day became general, and the match became the recognized test. It was as a result of his match with Wilhelm Steinitz, in 1866, which he lost by 6 games to 8, that Anderssen's supremacy is assumed to have come to an end."
- Winter 2023a
- "The International Tournament of 1883". Chess Player's Chronicle. 27 June 1883. p. 26.
- "Rules & regulations for the Candidates Tournament of the FIDE World Championship cycle 2014–2016" (PDF). International Chess Federation (FIDE). 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- "FIDE reforms the qualifications paths to the Candidates Tournament" (Press release). International Chess Federation (FIDE). 7 January 2023. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
Works cited
- Bareev, Evgeny; Levitov, Ilya (2007). From London to Elista. Alkmaar: ISBN 978-9-056-91219-2.
- ISBN 978-0-486-23189-1.
- ISBN 978-0-786-46568-2.
- OCLC 7430014.
- ISBN 978-1-857-44433-9.
- ——— (2009). Modern Chess Part 3: Kasparov vs. Karpov 1986–1987. Translated by Neat, Kenneth Philip. London: Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-857-44625-8.
- ——— (2010). Modern Chess Part 4: Kasparov vs. Karpov 1988–2009. Translated by Neat, Kenneth Philip. London: Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-857-44652-4.
- Kažić, B. M. (1974). International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events. New York: Pitman. OL 5072262M.
- ISBN 978-0-713-45343-0.
- ISBN 978-1-632-20293-2.
- Plisetsky, Dmitry; Voronkov, Sergey (1994). Russians versus Fischer. Chess World. OCLC 34245316.
- OCLC 1835573.
- Verhoeven, Robert G. P.; Skinner, Leonard M. (1998). Alexander Alekhine's Chess Games, 1902–1946. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-40117-8.
- Wilson, Fred, ed. (1975). Classical Chess Matches: 1907–1913. New York: Dover. OCLC 1551131.
- ISBN 978-0-080-24117-3.
- ——— (3 April 2023). "Early Uses of 'World Chess Champion'". chesshistory.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ——— (29 July 2023) [1988]. "The Termination". New in Chess. Archivedfrom the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024 – via chesshistory.com.
- ISBN 978-4-871-87828-9.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-4-871-87924-8.
- Davidson, Henry A. (1981) [1949]. A Short History of Chess. McKay. ISBN 978-0-679-14550-9.
- ISBN 978-0-399-11575-2.
- Winter, Edward (ed.). "World Chess Championship Rules". Retrieved 9 January 2024 – via chesshistory.com.
External links
- "World Champions Timeline". FIDE World Championship.