The World Chess Championship is the tournament that determines the best player of the world of this sport.
Big names have achieved the highest world recognition and many other excellent players didn’t get the title of best of the bests even though their excellence in this game. Through this article we will cover the history of the World Chess Championship from its origins until today.
First World Chess Champions
Since 18th century there are registries of great chess players that specially shined over their contemporary opponents, like Ruy Lopez, who deserves a special recognition for his playing quality and his success over the board.
Nevertheless, nobody until 1872 claimed the World Chess Champion Title.
Wilheim Steinitz, after overcame against Johannes Zukertort at that year’s London tournament (the strongest that time) , claimed the World Chess title for him.
Anybody officially recognized his title but anybody discussed it either until the year 1883, when Johannes Zukertort won the same tournament of London ahead of Steinitz and proclaims himself as the new World Chess Champion.
After tough negotiations between both players, in 1886 took place the first officially recognized World Chess Championship. So in the year of 1886 Wilheim Steinitz was proclaimed as the first World Chess Champion.
The final result was 10 victories for Steinitz, 5 for Zukertort and 5 draws.
FIDE World Chess Champions
After the decease of the current World Chess Champion, Alexander Alekhine, in 1948, the FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) became responsible for the organization of the next championships.
In 1948 the FIDE organized, at The Hague and Moscow, its first World Chess Championship with the following participants: Mijail Botvinnik (URSS), Vasili Smyslov (URSS), Paul Keres (URSS), Max Euwe (Holanda) y Samuel Reshevsky (US)
The winner of that tournament, and therefore, the World Chess Champion was Mijail Botvinnik.
The PCA appearance and the posterior title reunification.
In 1993 Garry Kasparov, World Chess Champion of that time, and his challenger Nigel Short, reported irregularities at the FIDE and step aside and created the PCA (Professional Chess Association), under which developed their match.
The FIDE and the PCA developed their own Wolrd Chess Championships separately up to 2006, when took place a reunification match between Topalov and Kramnik. As a consequence of that match Vladimir Kramink became the new World Chess Champion.
Unofficial World Chess Champions before 1886
Each player of the following list is recognized as the world’s best chess player of his time. The period of time when each one is considerate as the World Chess Champion is indicated too.
| Player Name | Year | Country | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franci de Castellví Narcís Vinyoles Bernat Fenollar and Francesc Vicent | ~1475 |  Spain | ~37 25 |
| Luis Ramirez de Lucena | ~1490 | Spain | ~25 |
| Pedro Damiano | ~1520 |  Portugal | ~40 |
| Ruy López de Segura | 1559-1575 | Spain | 19-35 |
| El Morro | ~1560-1575 |  Portugal | |
| Leonardo da Cutri and Paolo Boi | 1575 |  Kingdom of Naples Kingdom of Sicily | 33 47 |
| Giulio Polerio | ~1580 | Kingdom of Naples | ~32 |
| Alessandro Salvio | ~1600 | Kingdom of Naples | ~30 |
| Gioachino Greco | ~1620-1634 | Kingdom of Naples | ~20-34 |
| Pietro Carrera | ~1640 | Kingdom of Sicily | ~67 |
| Alexander Cunningham of Block | ~1700 |  Scotland | ~45 |
| Legall de Kermeur | ~1730-1745 |  France | ~28-43 |
| François-Andr Danican Philidor | 1745-1795 | France | 19-69 |
| Johann Baptist Allgaier | ~1795-~1815 |  Austrian Empire | ~32-~52 |
| Verdoni | ~1795-~1804 |  Italy  France | |
| Jacob Henry Sarrat | ~1805-~1815 |  United Kingdom | ~33-~43 |
| Alexandre Deschapelles | 1815-1821 | France | 35-41 |
| Louis-Charles Mah de La Bourdonnais | 1821-1840 | France | 26-45 |
| Alexander McDonnell | 1834 | United Kingdom | 36 |
| Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant | 1840-1843 | France | 40-43 |
| Howard Staunton | 1843-1851 |  England | 33-41 |
| Adolf Anderssen | 1851-1858 |  Prussia | 33-40 |
| Paul Morphy | 1858-1862 |  United States | 21-25 |
| Adolf Anderssen | 1862-1866 | Prussia | 44-48 |
| Wilhelm Steinitz | 1866-1878 |  Austria-Hungary | 30-42 |
| Johannes Zukertort | 1878-1886 |  Poland Germany | 36-44 |
World Chess Champions between 1886 and 1993
| Player Name | Year | Country | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilhelm Steinitz | 1886-1894 | Austria-Hungary United States | 50-58 |
| Emanuel Lasker | 1894-1921 | Germany | 26-52 |
| José Raúl Capablanca | 1921-1927 |  Cuba | 33-39 |
| Alexander Alekhine | 1927-1935 1937-1946 | France Russian émigré | 35-43 45-54 |
| Max Euwe | 1935-1937 |  Netherlands | 34-36 |
| Mikhail Botvinnik | 1948-1957 1958-1960 1961-1963 |  Soviet Union (Russia) | 37-46 47-49 50-52 |
| Vasily Smyslov | 1957-1958 |  Soviet Union (Russia) | 36 |
| Mikhail Tal | 1960-1961 | Soviet Union (Latvia) | 24 |
| Tigran Petrosian | 1963-1969 | Soviet Union (Armenia) | 34-40 |
| Boris Spassky | 1969-1972 | Soviet Union (Russia) | 32-35 |
| Robert J. Fischer | 1972-1975 |  United States | 29-32 |
| Anatoly Karpov | 1975-1985 |  Soviet Union (Russia) | 24-34 |
| Garry Kasparov | 1985-1993 | Soviet Union Russia | 22-30 |
FIDE World Chess Champions between 1993 and 2006
| Player Name | Year | Country | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anatoly Karpov | 1993-1999 | Russia | 42-48 |
| Alexander Khalifman | 1999-2000 | Russia | 33 |
| Viswanathan Anand | 2000-2002 |  India | 31-33 |
| Ruslan Ponomariov | 2002-2004 |  Ukraine | 19-21 |
| Rustam Kasimdzhanov | 2004-2005 |  Uzbekistan | 25 |
| Veselin Topalov | 2005-2006 |  Bulgaria | 30 |
PCA World Chess Champions between 1993 and 2006
| Player Name | Year | Country | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garry Kasparov | 1993-2000 | Russia | 30-37 |
| Vladimir Kramnik | 2000-2006 | Russia | 25-31 |
World Chess Champions from 2006 to present
| Player Name | Year | Country | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vladimir Kramnik | 2006-2007 | Russia | 31 |
| Viswanathan Anand | 2007-2013 | India | 38 |
| Magnus Carlsen | 2013-2023 |  Norway | 22 |
| Ding Liren | 2023-Present |  China | 30 |