Fide World
Championship
Dubai 2021

Highly influential analyst and theoretician, the author of positional school in chess, Wilhelm Steinitz became informal #1 in the world after defeating Adolf Andersen in a very close match (1866). Only twenty years later, he won the World Championship match against Zukertort and became the first World Champion. He defended his title in the matches with Chigorin (1888 and 1892) and Gunsberg (1890), but was dethroned by Lasker (1894).

The longest reigning World Champion (27 years!), Emmanuel Lasker (1868-1941) beat Steinitz in the title match (1894), but became the undisputed leader of the chess world two years later after winning an elite 4-player tournament in St-Petersburg (1895-1896). After amassing an impressive record in tournaments, he successfully defended his crown in the matches against Janovsky (1910), Marshall (1907), Tarrasch (1907) and Schlechter (1910) but eventually lost to Capablanca (1921). Even after losing his title, Lasker remained extremely strong player, famously winning a stellar tournament in New York (1924).

One of the most talented players ever, Jose Raul Capablanca (1888-1942), quickly made his way up on the chess arena before World War I and earned a moral right to challenge Lasker. The title match was played only in 1921 after protracted negotiations. Jose Raul defeated Lasker convincingly +4 -0 = 10 and became the third World Champion. Despite popular belief (the champion seemed invincible), his reign over the chess world lasted only six years.

A top player by the age of 22, Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946), stringed together several impressive tournament victories in the mid-1920s and managed to secure a $10,000 prize fund for a title match with Capablanca. Played in 1927, this duel is still considered one of the most exciting and dramatic in chess history. Alekhine won the match (+6 -3 = 25) and became the fourth World Champion. Dominating tourmanents in the early 1930s, he handily defended his title in the matches with Bogoljubov in 1929 and 1934.

A math professor by occupation, Max Euwe (1901-1981) established himself as a credible challenger to Alekhine in the early 1930s after a series of good results in tournaments in matches. Euwe challenged Alekhine in 1933, and two years later, the champion picked up the gauntlet. Alekhine was considered a favourite, but somewhat unexpectedly, Euwe prevailed in a tight match by a score of 15½-14½ to become the fifth World Champion.

After diligent preparation, Alekhine won the rematch against Euwe in 1937 (+10 -4 =11) and returned the title. Due to World War II played no more matches and remained unbeaten until his untimely death.

After Alexander Alekhine’s death in 1946, the 1948 Wold Chess championship, a five-player tournament, was organized to determine the World Champion. The event saw the triumph of a leader of Soviet chess Mikhail Botvinnik (1911-1995). The pioneer of analytical approach and profound opening preparation, he drew close matches with Bronstein (1951) and Smyslov (1954) to retain his title (under existing rules at that time).

Arguably the strongest player of the 1950s, Vasily Smyslov (1921-2010) challenged Botvinnik in 1954 after winning the Candidates in Zurich (1953), but the match was drawn. He got a second chance in 1957 after coming out on top in the Candidates in Amsterdam (195t) and took the title by defeating Botvinnik 12½-9½.

Mikhail Botvinnik thoroughly prepared for the rematch (1958) and returned the chess crown after beating Smyslov 12½-10½.

The meteoric rise of Mikhail Tal (1936-1992) staggers imagination – he made it all the way from a mere master to the World Champion over three years. After winning the Candidates Tournament (Yugoslavia, 1959), he challenged Botvinnink in 1960 seized the chess crown after winning the title match 12½-8½. His reign was short-lived as he lost the rematch to Botvinnik a year later. He came very close to challenging the World Champion but lost the final Candidates match to Spassky (1965).

Botvinnik again proved himself an unrivalled master of home preparation – he completely changed his strategy and convincingly won the rematch 13-8. However, Tal was not in the best of health.

A fine positional player and brilliant tactician, Tigran Petrosian (1929-1984) was known for his very solid style and event nicknamed “Iron Tigran”. He had participated in three Candidates tournaments before finishing first in Curacao (1962), earning the right to challenge the World Champion. In 1963 he dethroned Botvinnik (+5 -2 = 15) and three years later defended his title in the match against Spassky winning the title match (12½-11½).

One of the most talented players of his generation, Boris Spassky (born in 1937), made his debut in the Candidate Tournament (Amsterdam 1956) at the tender age of 19 and showed great potential but then missed two championship cycles only to resume his quest for chess crown eight years later. After defeating Keres, Geller and Tal, he earned the right to challenge Petrosian but lost the title match (1966). Spassky made it all the way again in the next cycle and won the crown in his second match with the ninth world champion (1969).

The youngest-ever participant of the Candidates Tournament, Robert James Fischer (1943-2008), voluntarily missed two championship cycles but returned to chess strong, winning the Interzonal in Palma de Majorca (1970). After defeating Taimanov (6-0), Larsen (6-0) and Petrosian (6½-2½), he earned the right to play title match with the reigning champion Boris Spassky. Fischer won the match 12½–8½ and became the 11th World Champion. He was expected to defend his title in 1975 against Karpov but refused and lost by default.

Born in Zlatoust (Ural Region, USSR) in 1951, Anatoly Karpov showed great promise from the very start of his career. After a series of excellent results in various competitions, including the Interzonal in Leningrad (1973), he qualified for the Candidates matches. Although Karpov stated “it is not my cycle” on a few occasions, he confidently beat Polugaevsky, Spassky and Kortchnoj and earned the right to challenge Fischer. After Fischer refused to defend his title, Karpov was crowned as the 12th World Champion. He retained his crown over ten years, defeating Korchnoi in the title matches in Bagio (1978) and Merano (1981).

Garry Kasparov (born in 1963) was widely thought to be a future champion in his teens and he lived up to these expectations after winning the Interzonal and Moscow (1982) and crushing Beliavsky Korchnoi and Smyslov in Candidates matches. His unlimited first-to-win-six match with Karpov in 1984 was terminated without result and stirred up a lot of controversy. Next year another match was organized, which Kasparov won 13-11 to become the youngest World Champion. In the following five years Kasparov defended his title in three matches with Karpov in London-Leningrad 1986 (12½–11½), Linares 1987 (12-12) and New York – Lyon 1990 (12½–11½).

After Kasparov and Short created PCA and played the title match under this new organization, FIDE organized its own title match between Anatoly Karpov (who lost to Short in semis) and the finalist of the Candidates matches Jan Timman (1993). Karpov defeated his old rival and then defended the title in the match against Kamsky (Elista 1996) and the FIDE World Championship final against Anand (1998).

The first-ever FIDE World Championship in knockout format was held in 1999 in Las Vegas. Rated only 44th in the world at that time, GM Alexander Khalifman (born in 1966) from St-Petersburg won seven consecutive matches and took the title.

The first grandmaster from India (born in 1969), one of the most talented players of his generation, Viswanathan Anand, started his quest for the chess crown in the championship cycle 1990-1993 but lost the semifinal against Karpov. Ten years later, he entered FIDE World Championship 2000 as the main favourite and delivered on his promise by winning six straight matches and taking the title.

A native of Ukraine, Ruslan Ponomariov (born in 1983) became the youngest FIDE World Championship winner in chess history. Although not listed among favourites of FIDE World Championship 2002, the 18-year old Ukrainian made it to the final in which he beat his compatriot Vasyl Ivanchuk by a score of 4½-2½

The FIDE World Chess Championship 2004 was held in Tripoli, Libya. Somewhat unexpectedly, Rustam Kasimdzhanov from Uzbekistan (born in 1979) won six matches, including the victory over the favourites Vasil Ivanchuk and Veselin Topalov and advanced to the final in which he faced Michael Adams. After six games were drawn, Rustam prevailed on a tiebreak to clinch the title.

A native of Ruse, Bulgaria, Veselin Topalov (born in 1975) earned the right to play in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 as one of the top-rated grandmasters. After scoring 6½ out of 7 in the first part of the event Topalooovvv secured the victory with a round to spare.

In 1993 Kasparov and Short (the winner of the candidates cycle) played the title match outside of FIDE jurisdiction, which Kasparov won 12½–7½. Two years later he defended his title in the match against the winner of the PCA candidate cycle Viswanathan Anand by a score of 10½–7½ (New York, 1995).
Despite losing the chess crown in 2000, he continued to dominate tournaments and was #1 in the FIDE rating list when he retired from professional chess.

A pupil of Botvinnik chess school, Vladimir Kramnik showed great potential early and debuted in the Russian team at Olympiad in Manila (1992) at 17. In the following years, he built a very impressive tournament record and became #1 in the FIDE rating list in January 1996. In 2000 Kasparov organized a title match against Kramnik that took place in London. Kramnik dethroned Kasparov in a memorable battle 8½–6½ without losing a single game. Four years later, he defended his title after drawing the match against Peter Leko (Brissago, 2004).

In April 2006, FIDE announced a reunification match between Kramnik and Topalov (the FIDE World Chess Championship 2006). The match took place in Elista, Kalmykia. Vladimir Kramnik beat Veselin Topalov on a tiebreaker and became an undisputed World Champion.

The World Chess Championship 2007 was held in a double round-robin format with the undisputed World Champion Vladimir Kramnik participating. Viswanathan Anand won the event and became the only undefeated player. In the following years, he successfully defended his title by defeating Kramnik 6½-4½ (Bonn, 2008), Topalov 6½-4½ (Sofia, 2010), and prevailing over Gelfand on a tiebreak (Moscow, 2012).

The youngest player ever to surpass a 2800 rating mark, Magnus Carlsen from Norway (born in 1990) stormed into chess elite in his teens. In 2013 he won the Candidates Tournament (London) thanks to better tiebreaks over Vladimir Kramnik and became the challenger. The same year he convincingly defeated Viswanathan Anand in the title match by a score of 6½–3½ and became the World Champion. During his reign, Magnus defended the title beating Anand again 6½–4½ (Sochi 2014) and prevailing in tiebreaks over Sergey Karjakin (New York 2016) and Fabiano Caruana (London 2018).