Unofficial World Champions

Years Names
~1560 Ruy López de Segura (born 1530 in Zafra near Badajoz, died 1580) was a Spanish priest whose book Libro de la invenciσn liberal y arte del juego del Axedrez was one of the first fundamental chess books in Europe. He studied and lived in Salamanca.
~1575 Paolo Boi (born in Siracusa in 1528 and died in Naples in 1598)
~1575 Leonardo da Cutri (born in 1552 and died in 1597)
~1600 Alessandro Salvio (born in Naples in 1570 and died in 1640)
~1620 Gioacchino Greco recorded some of the first chess games on record, 77 in total. His games - all against anonymous opponents ("NN"), were quite possible constructs, but acted as highly useful tools for spotting opening traps.
~1730 – 1747 Legall de Kermeur (1702 - 1792) was a French chess player. Along with other famous players, he played in Paris's Café de la Régence , and is considered to have been possibly the strongest player in the world around the 1730s.
~1747 – 1795 Francois-André Philidor was the most important member of the French Philidor musical family. He was also noted as a chess player. [More info]
~1800 – 1820 Alexandre Deschapelles (1780–1847) was a French chess player who, for a time, was probably the strongest player in the world.
~1820 – 1840 Louis de la Bourdonnais (1795 - 1840) was a French chess master, the strongest player in the early 19th century. [More info]
1843 – 1851 Howard Staunton (April 1810 – June 22 1874) was an English chess master and unofficial World Chess Champion. He was also a newspaper columnist, author, and Shakespearean scholar. His name is remembered most today for the style of chess figures he endorsed, the Staunton pattern of chess pieces.
1851 – 1858
1858 – 1866 		Adolf Anderssen (July 6, 1818 – March 13, 1879) was a famous German chess master, one of the most renowned of the classic masters of 19th century chess. He had a long and distinguished chess career, at times considered the leading player in the world, and world famous for his sparkling play even today.
1858 – 1859 Paul Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884), known as "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess," was generally considered to have been the strongest chess master of his time and an unofficial World Champion. He was also the first American since Benjamin Franklin to have been recognized as the pre-eminent world figure in an intellectual field, as well as the first recorded chess prodigy in history.
1866 – 1886 Wilhelm Steinitz (May 17,1836, Prague, Czech Republic (then Austrian Empire) - August 12 1900,New York City, United States) was an Austrian chess player, and the first official World Champion of chess. Known for his original contributions to chess strategy such as his ideas on positional play, his theories were held in high regard by disparate chess players such as Aron Nimzowitsch, Siegbert Tarrasch, and Emanuel Lasker. [More]


World Champions

Years Names
1886 – 1894 Wilhelm Steinitz (May 17, 1836, Prague, Czech Republic (then Austrian Empire) - August 12, 1900, New York City, United States) was an Austrian chess player, and the first official World Champion of chess.
1894 – 1921 Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 - January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, born at Berlinchen in Brandenburg (now Barlinek in Poland). In 1894 he became the second World Chess Champion by beating Steinitz with 10 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses. He maintained his title for 27 years, the longest of all World Champions.
1921 – 1927 Jose Raul Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 - March 8, 1942) was a famous Cuban chess player in the early to mid twentieth century. He was the game's third World Champion, between 1921 and 1927.
Additional Info and games
1927 – 1935
1937 – 1946 		Alexander Alekhine (October 31 or November 1, 1892 – March 24, 1946) was a chess master, one of the great world chess champions. He was known for his fierce attacking style.
Additional information and games.
803 games
1935 – 1937 Machgielis (Max) Euwe (May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion.
1948 – 1957
1958 – 1960
1961 – 1963 		Mikhail Botvinnik (August 17, 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess.
Botvinnik's Games (1924-1977)
1957 – 1958 Vasily Smyslov (born March 24, 1921) in Moscow.
Smyslov was a fine baritone singer, only deciding on a career in chess after a failed audition for the Bolshoi Theatre in 1950. Later, he sometimes gave recitals during chess tournaments, often accompanied by fellow Grandmaster and pianist Mark Taimanov.
1960 – 1961 Mikhail Tal "the Magician from Riga"(November 9, 1936 - June 28, 1992), was relatively unknown to the chess world compared to his famous Soviet compatriots, viz., Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Spassky, Petrosian, etc., until the late 1950's, when his name shot around the chess world when he won the Championship of the Soviet Union both in 1957 and 1958, and then winning the World Championship Interzonal Tournament in 1959 to become the official challenger to Botvinnik's chess throne. In the 1959 tournament, he even scored 4-0 against the young, but brilliant future World Champion, Bobby Fischer. Tal's style mesmerized the chess world, and GM Ragozin explained the reason best: "Tal does not move chess pieces by hand, he uses a magic wand".
1963 – 1969 Tigran Petrosian (June 17, 1929 - August 13, 1984). He was the only player to win a game against Bobby Fischer during the latter's 1971 Candidates matches, finally bringing an end to Fischer's amazing streak of nineteen consecutive wins (6 to finish of the Interzonal, 6 against Taimanov, 6 against Larsen and the first game in their match).
1969 – 1972 Boris Spassky (born January 30, 1937). Spassky was considered an all-rounder on the chess board, and his "universal style" became a distinct advantage in beating many top Grandmasters.
Spassky's games at chessgames.com
1972 – 1975 Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008), won the World Chess Championship on September 1, 1972 and lost the title when he failed to defend it on April 3, 1975. He is considered to be one of the most gifted chess players of all time. [More]
1975 – 1985 Anatoly Karpov (born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He is considered one of the greatest chess players in history, especially in tournament play: he is the most successful tournament player of all time, with over 140 first-places to his credit.
Additional information and games.
1985 – 1993 Garry Kasparov (born April 13, 1963) is a chess grandmaster and possibly the strongest chess player in the world. He is highest rated on the FIDE January 2005 list at 2804, and he is the highest rated player ever with his 2851 ELO in 1999. He was classical world chess champion from 1985 until 2000. [More]

After 1993

"Classical" World Champions

Years Names
1993 – 2000 Garry Kasparov (born April 13, 1963) is a chess grandmaster and possibly the strongest chess player in the world. He is highest rated on the FIDE January 2005 list at 2804, and he is the highest rated player ever with his 2851 ELO in 1999. He was classical world chess champion from 1985 until 2000.
2000 – present Vladimir Kramnik (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian chess player. In 2000, he beat Garry Kasparov in a 16 game match played in London. In the eyes of the participants and many observers, this was a match for the world championship, and made Kramnik the chess world champion, although the International Chess Federation (FIDE) did not recognise the match as such.
Kramnik's games

FIDE World Champions since 1993

Years Names
1993 – 1999 Anatoly Karpov (born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He is considered one of the greatest chess players in history, especially in tournament play: he is the most successful tournament player of all time, with over 140 first-places to his credit.
Additional information and games.
1999 – 2000 Alexander Khalifman (born January 18, 1966) is a Russian chess player. He gained the International Grandmaster title in 1990 with one particularly good early result being his first place in the 1990 New York Open ahead of a host of strong players. Perhaps his most notable achievement was winning the FIDE World Chess Championship in 1999, a title he held until the following year.
Some chess puzzles from the games of Alexander Khalifman
2000 – 2002 Viswanathan Anand (born December 11, 1969 in Chennai (then called Madras), India) is an Indian chess grandmaster. [More]
2002 – 2004 Ruslan Ponomariov (born October 11, 1983) is a Ukrainian chess player. In 1994 he placed third in the World Under-12 Championship at the age of ten, and the following year won it at the age of eleven. In 1996 he won the European Under-18 Championship at the age of just twelve, and the following year won the World Under-18 Championship. In 1998, at the age of fourteen, he was awarded the Grandmaster title, making him the youngest ever player at that time to hold the title
2004 – 2005 Rustam Kasimdzhanov (born December 5, 1979) is a chess grandmaster from Uzbekistan.
2005 – 2006 Veselin Topalov (born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE world champion.

Since 2006

Unified World Champions

Years Names
2006 – 2008 Vladimir Kramnik (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian chess player. In 2000, he beat Garry Kasparov in a 16 game match played in London. In the eyes of the participants and many observers, this was a match for the world championship, and made Kramnik the chess world champion, although the International Chess Federation (FIDE) did not recognise the match as such.
Kramnik's games
2008 – present Viswanathan Anand (born December 11, 1969 in Chennai (then called Madras), India) is an Indian chess grandmaster. [More]