Every fact on these pages, from birth dates to match results and ratings, comes from the sources listed at the bottom of each page, checked against each other. Where the sources disagree, only what they agree on is given. The match results have also been checked against the games themselves.
The world champions, from Steinitz to Gukesh
Each has a page of their own with their title matches, how they played and, for many of them, games to replay here on LaviChess.
No. 1 · 1886–1894
Wilhelm Steinitz
The first. Showed that patience can beat wild attacks.
No. 2 · 1894–1921
Emanuel Lasker
World champion for 27 years, the longest of all.
No. 3 · 1921–1927
José Raúl Capablanca
Light, quick and clear. Unbeaten for eight years.
No. 4 · 1927–1935, 1937–1946
Alexander Alekhine
The attacker. The only champion to die holding the title.
No. 5 · 1935–1937
Max Euwe
The math teacher who beat Alekhine.
No. 6 · 1948–1957, 1958–1960, 1961–1963
Mikhail Botvinnik
The engineer who made chess a science. Champion three times.
No. 7 · 1957–1958
Vasily Smyslov
The harmonious one. A Candidates final past sixty.
No. 8 · 1960–1961
Mikhail Tal
Sacrificed and attacked like no one else.
No. 9 · 1963–1969
Tigran Petrosian
The master of defense, almost impossible to beat.
No. 10 · 1969–1972
Boris Spassky
The universal player. Lost with grace in Reykjavík.
No. 11 · 1972–1975
Bobby Fischer
The prodigy who won in Reykjavík.
No. 12 · 1975–1985
Anatoly Karpov
The patient one. Usually counted as the winner of the most tournaments.
No. 13 · 1985–2000
Garry Kasparov
The youngest up to then, and world number one longer than anyone.
No. 14 · 2000–2007
Vladimir Kramnik
Beat Kasparov without losing a game. Reunited the title.
No. 15 · 2007–2013
Viswanathan Anand
India's first grandmaster. Won the title every way it was decided.
No. 16 · 2013–2023
Magnus Carlsen
The highest rating ever. Gave up the title by choice.
No. 17 · 2023–2024
Ding Liren
The first from China to hold the open title. A hundred games unbeaten.
No. 18 · since 2024
Gukesh Dommaraju
The youngest undisputed world champion yet.
The split title, 1993–2006
From 1993 to 2006 there were two world champions. Garry Kasparov broke with the world chess federation FIDE in 1993, and the classical title, the one that runs unbroken from Steinitz, passed to Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Meanwhile FIDE named champions of its own: Anatoly Karpov (1993–1999), Alexander Khalifman (1999), Viswanathan Anand (2000), Ruslan Ponomariov (2002), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (2004) and Veselin Topalov (2005). Most of them won the title in large knockout events. In 2006 Kramnik won a match against Topalov, and since then there has been a single world champion again.
Here we follow the classical line, as most lists do. Karpov and Anand have their own pages all the same, since both have also been undisputed world champion.
The world champion today
Gukesh Dommaraju of India won the title in Singapore in December 2024, aged 18. On November 24, 2026, he begins his title defense against Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan in Geneva. The match runs to at most fourteen games, and any tiebreak is played on December 12, according to FIDE's regulations for the match. These pages will be updated when the match has been played.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the world chess champion?
Gukesh Dommaraju of India, since December 2024. On November 24, 2026, he begins his title defense against Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan in Geneva. The match runs to at most fourteen games, and any tiebreak is played on December 12.
Who was the first world chess champion?
Wilhelm Steinitz. He won the first official world championship match, against Johannes Zukertort, in 1886 and was world champion until 1894.
Who was world champion the longest?
Emanuel Lasker, for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921.
Who is the youngest world champion?
The youngest undisputed world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who was 18 when he won the title in December 2024. Before him the youngest was Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he became world champion in 1985. Ruslan Ponomariov was a few months younger than Gukesh when he won FIDE's title in 2002, in the years when there were two world champions.
How many world chess champions have there been?
Eighteen in the unbroken line since 1886, from Wilhelm Steinitz to Gukesh Dommaraju. From 1993 to 2006 the world chess federation FIDE also named champions of its own.
Updated November 8, 2026