View source for List of World Chess Champions

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[[File:Bobby Fischer 1960 in Leipzig.jpg|thumb|[[Bobby Fischer]] at the [[Leipzig]] [[Chess Olympiad]] in 1960]]
[[File:Viswanathan Anand 08 14 2005.jpg|thumb|Former World Champion [[Viswanathan Anand]].]]
[[File:MagnusCarlsen17f.jpg|thumb|Former World Champion [[Magnus Carlsen]]]]

'''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 [[Viswanathan Anand|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 Dommaraju|Gukesh Dommuraju]] of India is the youngest and current World Chess Champion since 2024.

== 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.<ref name="Murray">{{cite book | author=Murray H.J.R. | title=A history of chess | publisher= Oxford University Press | year=1913 | isbn=0-19-827403-3}}</ref><ref>Van der Linde A. 1874. ''Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels''. Edition Olms reprint 1981. ISBN 3-283-00079-4</ref> Some authors of important early works on chess are noted.

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|+
|-
!|Name||Year||Country
|-
|Francesch Vicent (author)|| ~1475||{{flag|Spain}} First printed book on chess. (Catalonia)<ref>The author was a Catalan. Until 1716, [[Catalonia]], a principality of the [[Crown of Aragon]], kept its own Constitution, language, usages and laws.</ref>
|-
|[[Luis Ramirez de Lucena]] (author)||~1490 ||{{flag|Spain}} First printed book on chess to have survived.
|-
|[[Pedro Damiano]] (author)||~1512 ||[[File:Flag Portugal (1495).svg|22px|border]] [[Portugal]]
|-
|[[Ruy López de Segura]] (author)||1559–1575 ||{{flag|Spain}}
|-
|El Morro||~1560–1575 ||[[File:Flag Portugal (1495).svg|22px|border]] [[Portugal]]
|-
|Leonardo da Cutro||1575||[[File:Flag of the Kingdom of Naples.svg|22px]] Kingdom of [[Naples]]
|-
|Paolo Boi||1575||[[File:Bandiera del Regno di Sicilia 4.svg|22px]] Kingdom of [[Sicily]]
|-
|Giulio Polerio||~1580||[[File:Flag of the Kingdom of Naples.svg|22px]] Kingdom of [[Naples]]
|-
|[[Alessandro Salvio]] (author)||~1600||[[File:Flag of the Kingdom of Naples.svg|22px]] Kingdom of [[Naples]]
|-
|[[Gioachino Greco]] (author)||~1620–1634||[[File:Flag of the Kingdom of Naples.svg|22px]] Kingdom of [[Naples]]
|-
|Pietro Carrera||~1640||[[File:Bandiera del Regno di Sicilia 4.svg|22px]] Kingdom of [[Sicily]]
|-
|Ercole del Rio (author)||~1750||{{flag|Italy}} (Duchy of Modena)
|- |-
|[[Giambattista Lolli]] (author)||~1760||{{flag|Italy}} (Duchy of Modena)
|- |-
|[[Domenico Ponziani]] (author)|| ~1770||{{flag|Italy}} (Duchy of Modena)
|-
|[[François-André Danican Philidor]] ||1745–1795||{{flag|France}}
|-
|[[Johann Baptist Allgaier]] (author)||~1795–~1815||{{flag|Austrian Empire}}
|-
|Verdoni||~1795–~1804||{{flag|Italy}}
|-
|[[Alexandre Deschapelles]]||1815–1821||{{flag|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.<ref>Winter, Edward G. (ed) 1981. ''World chess champions''. Pergamon. {{ISBN|0-08-024094-1}}.</ref><ref>Hooper, David and Whyld, Kenneth 1992. ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0-19-866164-9}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
!|Name||Year||Country
|-
|[[La Bourdonnais|Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais]]||1821–1840||{{flag|France}}
|-
|[[Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant]]||1840–1843||{{flag|France}}
|-
|[[Howard Staunton]]||1843–1851||{{flag|England}}
|-
|[[Adolf Anderssen]]||1851–1858<br />1860–1868||{{flag|Prussia|1803}}
|-
|[[Paul Morphy]]||1858–1860||{{flag|United States|1858}}
|-
|1. [[Wilhelm Steinitz]]||1886–1894||{{flag|Austria-Hungary}}<br />{{flag|England}}<br />{{flag|United States|1891}}
|-
|2. [[Emanuel Lasker]]||1894–1921||{{flag|Germany}}
|-
|3. [[José Raúl Capablanca]]||1921–1927||{{flag|Cuba}}
|-
|4. [[Alexander Alekhine]]||1927–1935<br />1937–1946||{{flagicon|Russia}} [[White émigré|Russia]]<br />{{flag|France}} 
|-
|5. [[Max Euwe]]||1935–1937||{{flag|Netherlands}}
|}

== FIDE world champions 1948–1993 ==
Long matches, initially best of 24 games.
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
!#||Name||Year||Country
|-
|6||[[Mikhail Botvinnik]]||1948–1957<br />1958–1960<br />1961–1963||{{flag|Soviet Union|1923}} ([[Russia]])
|-
|7||[[Vasily Smyslov]]||1957–1958||{{flag|Soviet Union|1955}} ([[Russia]])
|-
|8||[[Mikhail Tal]]||1960–1961||{{flag|Soviet Union|1955}} ([[Latvia]])
|-
|9||[[Tigran Petrosian]]||1963–1969||{{flag|Soviet Union|1955}} ([[Armenia]])
|-
|10||[[Boris Spassky]]||1969–1972||{{flag|Soviet Union|1955}} ([[Russia]])
|-
|11||[[Bobby Fischer|Robert J. Fischer]]||1972–1975||{{flag|United States}}
|-
|12||[[Anatoly Karpov]]||1975–1985||{{flag|Soviet Union}} ([[Russia]])
|-
|13||[[Garry Kasparov]]||1985–1993||{{flag|Soviet Union}} ([[Russia]])
|}{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

== FIDE world champions 1993–2006 ==
These knock-out events are separately numbered.
{|class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
!#||Name||Year||Country
|-
|1||[[Anatoly Karpov]]||1993–1999||{{flag|Russia}}
|-
|2||[[Alexander Khalifman]]||1999–2000||{{flag|Russia}}
|-
|3||[[Viswanathan Anand]]||2000–2002||{{flag|India}}
|-
|4||[[Ruslan Ponomariov]]||2002–2004||{{flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|5||[[Rustam Kasimdzhanov]]||2004–2005||{{flag|Uzbekistan}}
|-
|6||[[Veselin Topalov]]||2005–2006||{{flag|Bulgaria}}
|}
{{col-2}}

== Classical world champions 1993–2006 ==
These are matches of the traditional kind, and of 15 or 20 games.
{|class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
!#||Name||Year||Country
|-
|13||[[Garry Kasparov]]||1993–2000||{{flag|Russia}}
|-
|14||[[Vladimir Kramnik]]||2000–2006||{{flag|Russia}}
|}
{{col-end}}

== Undisputed world champions 2006–present ==
Various formats have been used, especially during Carlsen's tenure.
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
!#||Name||Year||Country
|-
|14||[[Vladimir Kramnik]]||2006–2007||{{flag|Russia}}
|-
|15||[[Viswanathan Anand]]||2007–2013||{{flag|India}}
|-
|16||[[Magnus Carlsen]]||2013–2023||{{flag|Norway}}
|-
|17
|[[Ding Liren]]
|2023–2024
|{{Flag|China|name=People's Republic of China}}
|-
|18
|[[:en:Gukesh_Dommaraju|Gukesh Dommaraju]]
|2024-present
|{{flag|India}}
|}
== Women's World Champions ==
{| class="wikitable"
!|Name||Years||Country
|-
||[[Vera Menchik]]||1927–1944||{{flag|Czechoslovakia}} / {{flag|England}}
|-
|[[Lyudmila Rudenko]]||1950–1953||{{flag|Soviet Union}} (Ukraine)
|-
|[[Elisabeth Bykova]]||1953–1956||{{flag|Soviet Union}} (Russia)
|-
|[[Olga Rubtsova]]||1956–1958||{{flag|Soviet Union}} (Russia)
|-
|[[Elisabeth Bykova]]||1958–1962||{{flag|Soviet Union}} (Russia)
|-
|[[Nona Gaprindashvili]]||1962–1978||{{flag|Soviet Union}} / {{flag|Georgia}}
|-
|[[Maia Chiburdanidze]]||1978–1991||{{flag|Soviet Union}} / {{flag|Georgia}}
|-
|[[Xie Jun]]||1991–1996||{{flag|People's Republic of China}}
|-
|[[Susan Polgar]]||1996–1999||{{flag|Hungary}} / {{flag|United States}}
|-
|[[Xie Jun]]||1999–2001||{{flag|People's Republic of China}}
|-
|[[Zhu Chen]]||2001–2004||{{flag|People's Republic of China}}
|-
|[[Antoaneta Stefanova]]||2004–2006||{{flag|Bulgaria}}
|-
|[[Xu Yuhua (chess player)|Xu Yuhua]]||2006–2008||{{flag|People's Republic of China}}
|-
|[[Alexandra Kosteniuk]]||2008–2010||{{flag|Russia}}
|-
|[[Hou Yifan]]||2010–2012||{{flag|People's Republic of China}}
|-
|[[Anna Ushenina]]||2012–2013||{{flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Hou Yifan]]||2013–2015||{{flag|People's Republic of China}}
|-
|[[Mariya Muzychuk]]||2015-2016||{{flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Hou Yifan]]
|2016-2017
|{{flagicon|China|variant=|size=}} [[People's Republic of China]]
|-
|[[Tan Zhongyi]]||2017&ndash;2018||{{flag|People's Republic of China}}
|-
|[[Ju Wenjun]]||2018&ndash;present||{{flag|People's Republic of China}}
|-
|}

==Related pages==
* [[List of chess Grandmasters]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Chess Champions, List of }}
[[Category:Chess players|*]]
[[Category:Chess lists]]

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