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.

Bobby Fischer at the Leipzig Chess Olympiad in 1960
Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand.
Former World Champion Magnus Carlsen

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 had been 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.

Ding Liren (since 2023 and from China) is the current World Chess Champion.

Some players and authors before 1821

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.

NameYearCountry
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 Portugal
Ruy López de Segura (author)1559–1575 Spain
El Morro~1560–1575 Portugal
Leonardo da Cutro1575 Kingdom of Naples
Paolo Boi1575 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 Philidor1745–1795 France
Johann Baptist Allgaier (author)~1795–~1815 Austrian Empire
Verdoni~1795–~1804 Italy
Alexandre Deschapelles1815–1821 France

World Champions pre-FIDE

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]

NameYearCountry
Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais1821–1840 France
Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant1840–1843 France
Howard Staunton1843–1851 England
Adolf Anderssen1851–1858
1860–1868		 Prussia
Paul Morphy1858–1860 United States
1. Wilhelm Steinitz1886–1894 Austria-Hungary
 England
 United States
2. Emanuel Lasker1894–1921 Germany
3. José Raúl Capablanca1921–1927 Cuba
4. Alexander Alekhine1927–1935
1937–1946		Russia Russia
 France
5. Max Euwe1935–1937 Netherlands

FIDE world champions 1948–1993

Long matches, initially best of 24 games.

#NameYearCountry
6Mikhail Botvinnik1948–1957
1958–1960
1961–1963		 Soviet Union (Russia)
7Vasily Smyslov1957–1958 Soviet Union (Russia)
8Mikhail Tal1960–1961 Soviet Union (Latvia)
9Tigran Petrosian1963–1969 Soviet Union (Armenia)
10Boris Spassky1969–1972 Soviet Union (Russia)
11Robert J. Fischer1972–1975 United States
12Anatoly Karpov1975–1985 Soviet Union (Russia)
13Garry Kasparov1985–1993 Soviet Union (Russia)

Undisputed world champions 2006–present

Various formats have been used, especially during Carlsen's tenure.

#NameYearCountry
14Vladimir Kramnik2006–2007 Russia
15Viswanathan Anand2007–2013 India
16Magnus Carlsen2013–2023 Norway
17 Ding Liren 2023–present  People's Republic of China

Women's World Champions
NameYearsCountry
Vera Menchik1927–1944 Czechoslovakia /  England
Lyudmila Rudenko1950–1953 Soviet Union (Ukraine)
Elisabeth Bykova1953–1956 Soviet Union (Russia)
Olga Rubtsova1956–1958 Soviet Union (Russia)
Elisabeth Bykova1958–1962 Soviet Union (Russia)
Nona Gaprindashvili1962–1978 Soviet Union /  Georgia
Maia Chiburdanidze1978–1991 Soviet Union /  Georgia
Xie Jun1991–1996 People's Republic of China
Susan Polgar1996–1999 Hungary /  United States
Xie Jun1999–2001 People's Republic of China
Zhu Chen2001–2004 People's Republic of China
Antoaneta Stefanova2004–2006 Bulgaria
Xu Yuhua2006–2008 People's Republic of China
Alexandra Kosteniuk2008–2010 Russia
Hou Yifan2010–2012 People's Republic of China
Anna Ushenina2012–2013 Ukraine
Hou Yifan2013–2015 People's Republic of China
Mariya Muzychuk2015-2016 Ukraine
Hou Yifan 2016-2017 China People's Republic of China
Tan Zhongyi2017–2018 People's Republic of China
Ju Wenjun2018– People's Republic of China

References
  1. Murray H.J.R. (1913). A history of chess. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-827403-3.
  2. Van der Linde A. 1874. Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels. Edition Olms reprint 1981. ISBN 3-283-00079-4
  3. The author was a Catalan. Until 1716, Catalonia, a principality of the Crown of Aragon, kept its own Constitution, language, usages and laws.
  4. Winter, Edward G. (ed) 1981. World chess champions. Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-024094-1.
  5. Hooper, David and Whyld, Kenneth 1992. The Oxford Companion to Chess 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-866164-9
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