World Chess Championship History 1886–2026

Player

Era

Title events, 1886–2024: 59 (50 matches played)
Players who held a title: 22
Most events played: 11 Karpov
Most events ending as champion: 6 Karpov, Kasparov and Lasker
Drawn matches, champion kept the title: 5
Level matches settled by extra games: 6

Timeline of champions

Every championship event

Scores are the winner’s first; knockouts show the final. “New” marks a change of champion.

World Chess Championship events
Year	Winner	Score	Loser or runner-up	Venue	Format and notes
Before FIDE (1886–1946)
1886	Wilhelm Steinitz new	12½–7½	Johannes Zukertort	New York, St Louis and New Orleans	Match
1889	Wilhelm Steinitz	10½–6½	Mikhail Chigorin	Havana	Match
1890–91	Wilhelm Steinitz	10½–8½	Isidor Gunsberg	New York	Match
1892	Wilhelm Steinitz	10–10 (2½–½)	Mikhail Chigorin	Havana	Match. Level after 20 games; won in extra games
1894	Emanuel Lasker new	12–7	Wilhelm Steinitz	New York, Philadelphia and Montreal	Match
1896–97	Emanuel Lasker	12½–4½	Wilhelm Steinitz	Moscow	Match
1907	Emanuel Lasker	11½–3½	Frank Marshall	Six US cities, from New York to Memphis	Match
1908	Emanuel Lasker	10½–5½	Siegbert Tarrasch	Düsseldorf and Munich	Match
1910 (Jan–Feb)	Emanuel Lasker	5–5	Carl Schlechter	Vienna and Berlin	Match. Drawn match: the champion kept the title
1910 (Nov–Dec)	Emanuel Lasker	9½–1½	Dawid Janowski	Berlin	Match
1921	José Raúl Capablanca new	9–5	Emanuel Lasker	Havana	Match
1927	Alexander Alekhine new	18½–15½	José Raúl Capablanca	Buenos Aires	Match
1929	Alexander Alekhine	15½–9½	Efim Bogoljubow	Germany and the Netherlands	Match
1934	Alexander Alekhine	15½–10½	Efim Bogoljubow	Twelve German cities	Match
1935	Max Euwe new	15½–14½	Alexander Alekhine	Twelve Dutch cities	Match
1937	Alexander Alekhine new	15½–9½	Max Euwe	Nine Dutch cities	Match
FIDE (1948–1990)
1948	Mikhail Botvinnik new	14/20	Vasily Smyslov	The Hague and Moscow	Tournament. Five-player tournament after Alekhine died as champion in 1946
1951	Mikhail Botvinnik	12–12	David Bronstein	Moscow	Match. Drawn match: the champion kept the title
1954	Mikhail Botvinnik	12–12	Vasily Smyslov	Moscow	Match. Drawn match: the champion kept the title
1957	Vasily Smyslov new	12½–9½	Mikhail Botvinnik	Moscow	Match
1958	Mikhail Botvinnik new	12½–10½	Vasily Smyslov	Moscow	Match. Return match
1960	Mikhail Tal new	12½–8½	Mikhail Botvinnik	Moscow	Match
1961	Mikhail Botvinnik new	13–8	Mikhail Tal	Moscow	Match. Return match
1963	Tigran Petrosian new	12½–9½	Mikhail Botvinnik	Moscow	Match
1966	Tigran Petrosian	12½–11½	Boris Spassky	Moscow	Match
1969	Boris Spassky new	12½–10½	Tigran Petrosian	Moscow	Match
1972	Bobby Fischer new	12½–8½	Boris Spassky	Reykjavík	Match
1975	Anatoly Karpov new	–	Bobby Fischer	Manila (scheduled)	Match. No match: Fischer did not defend the title
1978	Anatoly Karpov	16½–15½	Viktor Korchnoi	Baguio	Match
1981	Anatoly Karpov	11–7	Viktor Korchnoi	Merano	Match
1984–85	No result	25–23	Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov	Moscow	Match. Stopped after 48 games without a result (Karpov led)
1985	Garry Kasparov new	13–11	Anatoly Karpov	Moscow	Match
1986	Garry Kasparov	12½–11½	Anatoly Karpov	London and Leningrad	Match
1987	Garry Kasparov	12–12	Anatoly Karpov	Seville	Match. Drawn match: the champion kept the title
1990	Garry Kasparov	12½–11½	Anatoly Karpov	New York and Lyon	Match
Split title: Classical (PCA and Braingames) line, 1993–2004
1993	Garry Kasparov	12½–7½	Nigel Short	London	Match. PCA title, played outside FIDE
1995	Garry Kasparov	10½–7½	Viswanathan Anand	New York	Match. PCA title
2000	Vladimir Kramnik new	8½–6½	Garry Kasparov	London	Match. Braingames title
2004	Vladimir Kramnik	7–7	Peter Leko	Brissago	Match. Drawn match: the champion kept the title
Split title: FIDE line, 1993–2005
1993	Anatoly Karpov new	12½–8½	Jan Timman	Netherlands and Jakarta	Match. FIDE title
1996	Anatoly Karpov	10½–7½	Gata Kamsky	Elista	Match. FIDE title
1998	Anatoly Karpov	3–3 (2–0)	Viswanathan Anand	Lausanne	Knockout. Knockout; Karpov was seeded into the final, won on tie-break games
1999	Alexander Khalifman new	3½–2½	Vladimir Akopian	Las Vegas	Knockout. 100-player knockout; score of the final
2000	Viswanathan Anand new	3½–½	Alexei Shirov	New Delhi and Tehran	Knockout. Knockout; score of the final
2002	Ruslan Ponomariov new	4½–2½	Vasyl Ivanchuk	Moscow	Knockout. 128-player knockout; score of the final
2004	Rustam Kasimdzhanov new	4½–3½	Michael Adams	Tripoli	Knockout. 128-player knockout; score of the final
2005	Veselin Topalov new	10/14	Viswanathan Anand	San Luis (Potrero de los Funes)	Tournament. Eight-player double round-robin
Reunified FIDE title (2006 onwards)
2006	Vladimir Kramnik new	6–6 (2½–1½)	Veselin Topalov	Elista	Match. Reunification match, won on rapid tie-break games
2007	Viswanathan Anand new	9/14	Vladimir Kramnik	Mexico City	Tournament. Eight-player double round-robin
2008	Viswanathan Anand	6½–4½	Vladimir Kramnik	Bonn	Match
2010	Viswanathan Anand	6½–5½	Veselin Topalov	Sofia	Match
2012	Viswanathan Anand	6–6 (2½–1½)	Boris Gelfand	Moscow	Match. Won on rapid tie-break games
2013	Magnus Carlsen new	6½–3½	Viswanathan Anand	Chennai	Match
2014	Magnus Carlsen	6½–4½	Viswanathan Anand	Sochi	Match
2016	Magnus Carlsen	6–6 (3–1)	Sergey Karjakin	New York	Match. Won on rapid tie-break games
2018	Magnus Carlsen	6–6 (3–0)	Fabiano Caruana	London	Match. All 12 classical games drawn; won on rapid tie-break games
2021	Magnus Carlsen	7½–3½	Ian Nepomniachtchi	Dubai	Match
2023	Ding Liren new	7–7 (2½–1½)	Ian Nepomniachtchi	Astana	Match. Won on rapid tie-break games
2024	Gukesh D new	7½–6½	Ding Liren	Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore	Match. Decided in game 14
2026	To be played	–	Gukesh D v Javokhir Sindarov	Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cologny, Geneva	Match. Scheduled: games from 24 November to 11 December 2026, first to 7½ of 14

Reading the table

Until 1946 the champion arranged matches privately. After Alexander Alekhine died as champion in 1946, FIDE organised a five-player tournament in 1948, won by Mikhail Botvinnik, and has run the title since, apart from the split years. Several matches ended level and the champion kept the title; since 2006 a level match goes to rapid tie-break games.

The split title, 1993 to 2006

In 1993 Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short played their match outside FIDE, for the new PCA title. FIDE stripped Kasparov of its title and crowned Anatoly Karpov after a match with Jan Timman, so two champions coexisted: the Classical line (Kasparov, then Vladimir Kramnik from 2000) and the FIDE line, decided by knockout events from 1998 and a tournament in 2005. Kramnik beat FIDE champion Veselin Topalov in Elista in 2006 to reunite the title. The table keeps the two lines apart.

Sources

Matches from 1886 to 2023, with scores, venues and formats: Wikipedia, List of World Chess Championships, read on 2 November 2026. Wikipedia is used because FIDE publishes no complete list with scores and venues; its Chess Museum list of champions names the champions.
2024: FIDE, “Game 14: Gukesh D claims title” (12 December 2024).
2026: FIDE, Regulations for the FIDE World Championship Match 2026 and FIDE’s schedule announcement (14 September 2026), as of 2 November 2026.

Questions

Who was the first World Chess Champion?

Wilhelm Steinitz, who beat Johannes Zukertort 12½–7½ in 1886 in a match played in New York, St Louis and New Orleans.

Who held the title longest?

Emanuel Lasker, for 27 years, from beating Steinitz in 1894 until losing to José Raúl Capablanca in Havana in 1921.

Who won the 2024 World Championship?

Gukesh D beat Ding Liren 7½–6½ in Singapore, winning game 14. FIDE called him, at 18, the youngest champion in history.

Why were there two world champions?

From 1993 to 2006 Kasparov and then Kramnik held the Classical title played outside FIDE, while FIDE ran its own championship. The 2006 Kramnik–Topalov match reunited them.