List of World Chess Championships

The following is a list of World Chess Championships, including the hosting cities.

Before 1948, the matches were privately organised. After 1948, challengers were usually chosen by a Candidates Tournament.

List of World Chess Championships

Unofficial Championships (before 1886)

These matches and tournaments were not for the world championship, but retrospectively they have been fairly widely recognized as establishing the world's leading player at the time.

Year Host country Host city Winner Runner(s)-up Won (+) Lost (−) Draw (=) Format
1834  United Kingdom London Louis de La Bourdonnais Alexander McDonnell 45 27 13
1843  United Kingdom and
 France		 London (6 rounds)
Paris (21 rounds)		 Howard Staunton Pierre Saint-Amant 13 9 5
1846  United Kingdom London Howard Staunton (2) Bernhard Horwitz 14 7 3
1851  United Kingdom London Adolf Anderssen Marmaduke Wyvill 4 2 1 single-elimination tournament, best-of-7 final
1858  France Paris Paul Morphy Kingdom of Prussia Adolf Anderssen 7 2 2 first to 7 wins
1862  United Kingdom London Kingdom of Prussia Adolf Anderssen (2) German Confederation Louis Paulsen 11 1 1 round robin tournament, 14 players
1866  United Kingdom London Austrian Empire Wilhelm Steinitz Kingdom of Prussia Adolf Anderssen 8 6 0 best of 15 games
1872  United Kingdom London Austria-Hungary Wilhelm Steinitz (2) Johannes Zukertort 7 1 4 first to 7 wins
1876  United Kingdom London Austria-Hungary Wilhelm Steinitz (3) Joseph Henry Blackburne 7 0 0
1883  United Kingdom London Johannes Zukertort Austria-Hungary Wilhelm Steinitz 22 4 0 double round robin tournament, 14 players

Pre-FIDE World Championships (1886–1946)

With Steinitz and Zukertort each having a claim to be the world's best player, the two played a match in 1886 for the first World Championship. From then until 1946, there was no formal system: matches were privately organized between the champion and challenger, and the challenger became the new World Champion if he won.

Year Host country Host city World champion Runner(s)-up Won (+) Lost (−) Draw (=) Format
1886  United States New York City
St. Louis
New Orleans		 Wilhelm Steinitz Johannes Zukertort 10 5 5 first to 10 wins
1889  Spain Havana Wilhelm Steinitz (2) Mikhail Chigorin 10 6 1 best of 20 games + tiebreak (if required)
1890–1891  United States New York City Wilhelm Steinitz (3) Isidor Gunsberg 6 4 9
1892  Spain Havana Wilhelm Steinitz (4) Mikhail Chigorin 8+2 8 4+1
1894  United States and
 Canada		 New York City
Philadelphia
Montreal		 Emanuel Lasker Wilhelm Steinitz 10 5 4 first to 10 wins
1896–1897  Russian Empire Moscow Emanuel Lasker (2) Wilhelm Steinitz 10 2 5
1907  United States
6 cities
 Emanuel Lasker (3) Frank Marshall 8 0 7 first to 8 wins
1908  German Empire Düsseldorf
Munich		 Emanuel Lasker (4) Siegbert Tarrasch 8 3 5
1910  Austria-Hungary and
 German Empire		 Vienna
Berlin		 Emanuel Lasker (5) Carl Schlechter 1 1 8 best of 10; disputed whether challenger had to win by 1 or 2 points[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]
1910  German Empire Berlin Emanuel Lasker (6) Dawid Janowski 8 0 3 first to 8 wins
1921  Cuba Havana José Raúl Capablanca Emanuel Lasker 4 0 10 best of 24 games;[lower-alpha 1] Emanuel Lasker resigned after 14 games
1927  Argentina Buenos Aires Alexander Alekhine José Raúl Capablanca 6 3 25 first to 6 wins
1929  Germany and
 Netherlands
6 cities
 Alexander Alekhine (2) Efim Bogoljubow 11 5 9 first to 6 wins and 15 points
1934  German Reich
10 cities
 Alexander Alekhine (3) Efim Bogoljubow 8 3 15
1935  Netherlands
13 cities
 Max Euwe Alexander Alekhine 9 8 13
1937  Netherlands
7 cities
 Alexander Alekhine (4) Max Euwe 10 4 11

FIDE World Championships (1948–1990)

Alexander Alekhine died in 1946 while still World Chess Champion, after which the International Chess Federation (FIDE) organized the World Championships. This began with a one-off tournament in 1948. After that there was a 3-year cycle, in which a series of tournaments was held to decide the challenger, who then played the champion in a match for the World Championship.

Year Host country Host city World champion Runner(s)-up Won (+) Lost (−) Draw (=) Format
1948  Netherlands and
 Soviet Union		 The Hague
Moscow		 Mikhail Botvinnik Vasily Smyslov 14 points out of 20 5-player, 5-cycle round-robin tournament
1951  Soviet Union Moscow Mikhail Botvinnik (2) David Bronstein 5 5 14 best of 24 games[lower-alpha 1]
1954  Soviet Union Moscow Mikhail Botvinnik (3) Vasily Smyslov 7 7 10
1957  Soviet Union Moscow Vasily Smyslov Mikhail Botvinnik 6 3 13
1958  Soviet Union Moscow Mikhail Botvinnik (4) Vasily Smyslov 7 5 11
1960  Soviet Union Moscow Mikhail Tal Mikhail Botvinnik 6 2 13
1961  Soviet Union Moscow Mikhail Botvinnik (5) Mikhail Tal 10 5 6
1963  Soviet Union Moscow Tigran Petrosian Mikhail Botvinnik 5 2 15
1966  Soviet Union Moscow Tigran Petrosian (2) Boris Spassky 4 3 17
1969  Soviet Union Moscow Boris Spassky Tigran Petrosian 6 4 13
1972  Iceland Reykjavík Bobby Fischer Boris Spassky 7 3 11
1975  Philippines Manila Anatoly Karpov Bobby Fischer by default
1978  Philippines Baguio Anatoly Karpov (2) Viktor Korchnoi 6 5 21 first to 6 wins
1981  Italy Merano Anatoly Karpov (3) Viktor Korchnoi 6 2 10
1984–1985  Soviet Union Moscow No winner Anatoly Karpov / Garry Kasparov 5 3 40 first to 6 wins; unfinished match
1985  Soviet Union Moscow Garry Kasparov Anatoly Karpov 5 3 16 best of 24 games[lower-alpha 1]
1986  United Kingdom and
 Soviet Union		 London
Leningrad		 Garry Kasparov (2) Anatoly Karpov 5 4 15
1987  Spain Seville Garry Kasparov (3) Anatoly Karpov 4 4 16
1990  United States and
 France		 New York City
Lyon		 Garry Kasparov (4) Anatoly Karpov 4 3 17

Split title (1993–2006)

In 1993, World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov and challenger Nigel Short split from FIDE, and played their title match under the auspices of the Professional Chess Association. In response, FIDE stripped Kasparov of his title and arranged its own World Championship match between former champion Anatoly Karpov and Candidates finalist Jan Timman. For the next 13 years there were two rival world titles.

Beginning with the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996, FIDE changed its rules and the incumbent World Champion was no longer automatically qualified for the final match; but this tradition was maintained for the Classical title.

Year Host country Host city World champion Runner(s)-up Won (+) Lost (−) Draw (=) Format
Classical World Chess Championships (1993–2006)
1993  United Kingdom London Garry Kasparov (5) United Kingdom Nigel Short 6 1 13 best of 24[lower-alpha 1]
1995  United States New York City Garry Kasparov (6) Viswanathan Anand 4 1 13 best of 20[lower-alpha 1]
2000  United Kingdom London Vladimir Kramnik Garry Kasparov 2 0 13 best of 16[lower-alpha 1]
2004   Switzerland Brissago Vladimir Kramnik (2) Peter Leko 2 2 10 best of 14[lower-alpha 1]
FIDE World Chess Championships (1993–2006)
1993  Netherlands and
 Indonesia		 Zwolle
Arnhem
Amsterdam
Jakarta		 Anatoly Karpov (4) Jan Timman 6 2 13 best of 24[lower-alpha 1]
1996  Russia Elista Anatoly Karpov (5) Gata Kamsky 6 3 9 best of 20[lower-alpha 1]
1998  Netherlands and
  Switzerland		 Groningen
Lausanne		 Anatoly Karpov (6) Viswanathan Anand 2+2 2 2 single-elimination tournament with finals best of 6 + tiebreaks
1999  United States Las Vegas Alexander Khalifman Vladimir Akopian 2 1 3
2000  India and
 Iran		 New Delhi
Tehran		 Viswanathan Anand Alexei Shirov 3 0 1
2002  Russia Moscow Ruslan Ponomariov Vasyl Ivanchuk 2 0 5 single-elimination tournament with finals best of 8 + tiebreaks
2004  Libya Tripoli Rustam Kasimdzhanov Michael Adams 2+1 2 2+1 single-elimination tournament with finals best of 6 + tiebreaks
2005  Argentina Potrero de los Funes
San Luis		 Veselin Topalov Viswanathan Anand
Peter Svidler		 10 points out of 14 8-player double round-robin tournament

FIDE World Championships (2006–present)

The Classical and FIDE titles were unified with the 2006 match between Classical champion Vladimir Kramnik and FIDE champion Veselin Topalov. All subsequent championships have been administered by FIDE. Since 2008, FIDE has returned to the format of an incumbent champion playing a challenger.

Year Host country Host city World champion Runner(s)-up Won (+) Lost (−) Draw (=) Format
2006  Russia Elista Vladimir Kramnik (3) Veselin Topalov 3+2 3+1 6+1 best of 12 + tiebreaks
2007  Mexico Mexico City Viswanathan Anand (2) Vladimir Kramnik
Boris Gelfand		 9 points out of 14 8-player double round-robin tournament
2008  Germany Bonn Viswanathan Anand (3) Vladimir Kramnik 3 1 7 best of 12 + tiebreaks
2010  Bulgaria Sofia Viswanathan Anand (4) Veselin Topalov 3 2 7
2012  Russia Moscow Viswanathan Anand (5) Boris Gelfand 1+1 1 10+3
2013  India Chennai Magnus Carlsen Viswanathan Anand 3 0 7
2014  Russia Sochi Magnus Carlsen (2) Viswanathan Anand 3 1 7
2016  United States New York City Magnus Carlsen (3) Sergey Karjakin 1+2 1 10+2
2018  United Kingdom London Magnus Carlsen (4) Fabiano Caruana 0+3 0 12
2021  United Arab Emirates Dubai Magnus Carlsen (5) Ian Nepomniachtchi [lower-alpha 3] 4 0 7 best of 14 + tiebreaks
2023  Kazakhstan Astana Ding Liren[lower-alpha 4] Ian Nepomniachtchi[lower-alpha 5] 3+1 3 8+3
2024 TBD TBD Ding Liren vs. Challenger

Other
Year Host country Host city Winner Runner(s)-up Won (+) Lost (−) Draw (=) Format
Non-recognized World Chess Championships
1909  France Paris Emanuel Lasker Dawid Janowski 7 1 2 Best of 10. This match has sometimes been called a world championship match,[2] but research by Edward Winter demonstrates that the title was not at stake.[3]
1992  FR Yugoslavia Sveti Stefan
Belgrade		 Bobby Fischer Boris Spassky 10 5 15 First to reach 10 wins, draws not counting. Fischer claimed this was a world championship.[4]

Multiple-title champions

Unofficial championships are not counted.

Titles Player Country
6 Emanuel Lasker German Empire German Empire
Anatoly Karpov (3 during split title) Soviet Union Soviet Union
Russia Russia
Garry Kasparov (2 during split title) Soviet Union Soviet Union
Russia Russia
5 Mikhail Botvinnik Soviet Union Soviet Union
Magnus Carlsen Norway Norway
Viswanathan Anand (1 during split title) India India
4 Wilhelm Steinitz Austria-Hungary Austrian Empire
United States United States
Alexander Alekhine France France
3 Vladimir Kramnik (2 during split title) Russia Russia
2 Tigran Petrosian Soviet Union Soviet Union

Notes
  1. In the case of a tie, the title defender retains the world championship.
  2. There is dispute over whether Lasker would keep the title in the case of a 1 point win by Schlechter, and even question over whether the match was for the world championship. See World Chess Championship 1910 (Lasker–Schlechter) for discussion.
  3. Nepomniachtchi is Russian, but competed as a neutral competitor under the Chess Federation of Russia flag, due to WADA sanctions against Russia.[1]
  4. Since Magnus Carlsen decided not to defend his World Championship title, the 2023 world championship was contested between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, the winner and runner-up of the Candidates Tournament 2022.
  5. Nepomniachtchi is Russian, but competed under the FIDE flag due to the ban of Russian and Belarusian flags by FIDE due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

References
  1. Nepomniachtchi Can't Play Carlsen Under Russian Flag, Peter Doggers, chess.com, April 30 2021.
  2. For instance: "From Morphy to Fischer", Israel Horowitz, Batsford 1973, p. 64; "The Centenary Match - Kasparov-Karpov III", Raymond Keene and David Goodman, Batsford 1986
  3. Chess Notes 5199, by Edward Winter
  4. "World Chess Championship : 1992 Fischer – Spassky Rematch". Mark-weeks.com. Retrieved 1 February 2014.

Further reading
  • Davidson, Henry A. (1949, 1981). A Short History of Chess. McKay. ISBN 0-679-14550-8.
  • Barcza, Alföldy, Kapu: Die Weltmeister des Schachspiels. Hamburg 1975
  • Jens Enevoldsen: Verdens bedste Skak, Politiken (Denmark) 1966
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