World Chess Champions, 1859-present

The world chess champion was an informal title from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) held the first official World Chess Championship in 1948.

Player

Year

Men
Adolf Anderssen (Germany)	1859-1866
Wilhelm Steinitz (Bohemia)	1866-1894
Emanuel Lasker (Germany)	1894-1921
José Raúl Capablanca (Cuba)	1921-1927
Alexander Alekhine¹ (Russian-born)	1927-1935
Max Euwe (The Netherlands)	1935-1937
Alexander Alekhine¹ (Russian-born)	1937-1946
Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR)	1948-1957
Vassily Smyslov (USSR)	1957-1958
Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR)	1958-1960
Mikhail Tal (USSR)	1960-1961
Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR)	1961-1963
Tigran Petrosian (USSR)	1963-1969
Boris Spassky (USSR)	1969-1972
Bobby Fischer (United States)	1972-1975
Anatoly Karpov (USSR)	1975-1985
Garry Kasparov^{2, 3, 6} (USSR/Russia)	1985-2000
Anatoly Karpov⁴ (Russia)	1993-1999
Aleksandr Khalifman⁴ (Russia)	1999-2000
Viswanathan Anand⁴ (India)	2000-2001
Ruslan Ponomariov⁴ (Ukraine)	2001-2004
Rustam Kasimdzhanov⁴ (Uzbekistan)	2004-2005
Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)	2005-2006
Vladimir Kramnik (Russia)	2006-2007
Viswanathan Anand (India)	2007-
Women⁵
Vera Menchik (USSR)	1927-1944
Ludmilla Rudenko (USSR)	1950-1953
Elizaveta Bykova (USSR)	1953-1956
Olga Rubtsova (USSR)	1956-1958
Elizaveta Bykova (USSR)	1958-1962
Nona Gaprindashvili (USSR)	1962-1978
Maya Chiburdanidze (USSR)	1978-1991
Xie Jun (China)	1991-1996
Zsuzsa Polgár (Hungary)	1996-1999
Xie Jun (China)	1999-2001
Zhu Chen (China)	2001-2004
Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria)	2004-2006
Xu Yuhua (China)	2006-2008
Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia)	2008-
¹ Alekhine was a French citizen when he became world champion. He held the title when he died in 1946. ² In 1993 Kasparov split with the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) to start his own organization but remained the world's top-ranked player. ³ Represented the USSR until its dissolution in 1991. ⁴ FIDE champion. ⁵ All women's champions determined by FIDE. ⁶ In 2000 Kasparov competed in the Classical World Championship and was defeated by his pupil, Vladimir Kramnik. Kasparov retired from competitive chess in 2005.

Appears in these articles:

Spassky, Boris; Polgár, Zsuzsa; Xie Jun; Chiburdanidze, Maya; Steinitz, Wilhelm; Alekhine, Alexander; Kasparov, Garry; Capablanca, José Raúl; Fischer, Bobby; Karpov, Anatoly Yevgenyevich; Chess; Euwe, Max; Lasker, Emanuel

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