The official world chess championship began in 1886 with the match between Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort. Since then the title has changed hands through matches between the champion and a challenger. From 1948 the championship has been organised under FIDE.
The champions
- Wilhelm Steinitz (1886–1894): the first official champion and founder of positional chess.
- Emanuel Lasker (1894–1921): champion for 27 years, the longest reign.
- José Raúl Capablanca (1921–1927): famed for flawless technique and endgame mastery.
- Alexander Alekhine (1927–1935, 1937–1946): master of attacking, combinative play; died as champion.
- Max Euwe (1935–1937): Dutch champion who later became FIDE president.
- Mikhail Botvinnik (1948–1957, 1958–1960, 1961–1963): pioneer of the Soviet school with scientific training methods.
- Vasily Smyslov (1957–1958): known for harmonious, positional play.
- Mikhail Tal (1960–1961): the 'Magician from Riga', legendary for bold sacrifices.
- Tigran Petrosian (1963–1969): master of defence and prophylaxis.
- Boris Spassky (1969–1972): a versatile, universal style.
- Bobby Fischer (1972–1975): his 1972 Reykjavik match brought chess to the world stage.
- Anatoly Karpov (1975–1985): master of positional pressure with hundreds of tournament wins.
- Garry Kasparov (1985–2000): dynamic play and deep opening preparation kept him at the top for 15 years.
- Vladimir Kramnik (2000–2007): took the title from Kasparov and popularised the Berlin Defence.
- Viswanathan Anand (2007–2013): India's first grandmaster and the symbol of chess's rise in India.
- Magnus Carlsen (2013–2023): world number one for many years; did not defend his title in 2023.
- Ding Liren (2023–2024): China's first male world champion.
- Gukesh Dommaraju (2024–): beat Ding Liren in 2024 to become the youngest world champion in history.
Women's world championship
The women's world championship has been held since 1927. Champions such as Vera Menchik, Nona Gaprindashvili, Maia Chiburdanidze, Xie Jun and Hou Yifan played a major role in the growth of women's chess. In recent years the title has passed between Chinese players.
You can study many of the openings the world champions played (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Nimzo-Indian) on mytourneys' opening pages, with results from today's masters.
💡 Playing through world champions' games, replaying the moves from a book or database on a board, is one of the most classic and effective ways to improve your positional understanding.