---
title: "World Chess Championship History 1886–2026 | Chess Meadow"
description: "Every World Chess Championship match since 1886: winner, loser, score, year and venue, the 1993–2006 split titles, Gukesh v Ding 2024 and 2026."
url: https://chessmeadow.me/world-championship-history/
---

From Steinitz to Gukesh · 1886 to 2026

# World Chess Championship history: every match since 1886

Every World Championship match and title event, from Steinitz against Zukertort in 1886 to Gukesh D against Ding Liren in Singapore in 2024, with the 2026 match in Geneva as scheduled. Filter by player or era.

## Every championship event

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

| 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.

Annotated game collections and PGN packs of World Championship matches are often given away for an email address. A temporary inbox from [CleanTempMail](https://cleantempmail.com/), with no sign-up and emptied after three days, receives the download link without the newsletters that follow; download straight away. Use your real address for your chess-site accounts and tournament entries.

## Sources

- Matches from 1886 to 2023, with scores, venues and formats: Wikipedia, [List of World Chess Championships](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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](https://museum.fide.com/champions?type=men) names the champions.
- 2024: [FIDE, “Game 14: Gukesh D claims title”](https://www.fide.com/fide-world-championship-game-14-gukesh-d-claims-title/) (12 December 2024).
- 2026: [FIDE, Regulations for the FIDE World Championship Match 2026](https://doc.fide.com/docs/DOC/2026_2FC_decisions/CM2-2026_06.pdf) and [FIDE’s schedule announcement](https://www.fide.com/salesforce-fide-world-championship-match-2026-schedule-format-and-prize-fund-confirmed/) (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.