The World Champions & Their Greatest Games
Chess history is a relay race. For nearly 140 years the world title has been passed hand to hand, each champion forced to defend the crown against the one player good enough to take it. This is the story of that lineage — and the games that made the legends immortal. Each champion gets a deep dive: who they were, the style that defined them, and the single game every chess player should know by heart.
Byrne–Fischer, New York 1956 — the "Game of the Century." A 13-year-old Bobby Fischer has just played 17...Be6!! (highlighted), offering his queen. This is the kind of moment this series is built around: not just who the champions were, but the exact positions that made them famous.
The crown, passed hand to hand
What makes the world champions worth studying together — rather than as isolated names — is that they are connected. Tal took the title from Botvinnik; Spassky took it from Petrosian; Fischer took it from Spassky; Karpov inherited it; Kasparov took it from Karpov; Kramnik took it from Kasparov; Anand took it from Kramnik. The history of chess at its highest level is a single chain of succession, and each link is a story.
This section is being built champion by champion. The first three are live — chosen because their games tie directly into the opening and tactics guides already on this site. Bobby Fischer's brilliance, Mikhail Tal's sacrifices, and Boris Spassky's King's Gambit are the perfect entry points.
- 1858 (unofficial)
Paul Morphy Live
The pride and sorrow of chess — the New Orleans genius and unofficial champion before official champions existed.
- 1886–94
Wilhelm Steinitz Live
The first official World Champion and father of positional chess — the man who turned the game into a science.
- 1894–1921
Emanuel Lasker Live
Champion for 27 years — the longest reign in history, and a fighter who played the man as much as the board.
- 1921–27
José Raúl Capablanca Live
The Cuban endgame machine — said to almost never make a mistake. Effortless technical perfection.
- 1927–46
Alexander Alekhine Live
The first great attacking theorist-champion, and the only champion to die holding the title.
- 1948–63
Mikhail Botvinnik Live
The "Patriarch" of the Soviet school — scientific preparation that shaped chess for generations.
- 1960–61
Mikhail Tal Live
"The Magician from Riga." The most feared attacker who ever lived — sacrifices that defied calculation.
- 1969–72
Boris Spassky Live
The universal player who kept the King's Gambit alive at the world-championship level.
- 1972–75
Bobby Fischer Live
The lone American who broke the Soviet machine — and perhaps the most naturally gifted player ever.
- 1975–85
Anatoly Karpov Live
The python — positional constriction so smooth opponents were strangled before they noticed.
- 1985–2000
Garry Kasparov Live
The most dominant champion of the modern era — world #1 for two decades of ferocious dynamism.
- 2000–07
Vladimir Kramnik Live
The man who dethroned Kasparov, using the Berlin Wall to neutralize the strongest attacker alive.
- 2007–13
Viswanathan Anand Live
India's first champion and the great unifier — lightning calculation across every time control.
- 2013–23
Magnus Carlsen Live
The highest-rated player in history, who reshaped the modern game before stepping away from the title.
- 2023–24
Ding Liren Live
China's first men's champion — the 17th titleholder, crowned in the most human championship in memory.
- 2024–now
Gukesh Dommaraju Live
The reigning champion — and at 18 the youngest in history, the spearhead of India's chess generation.
Legends beyond the open crown
Not every immortal held the open world title. Some beat the champions without ever needing the crown; one gave the game its most famous opening; and the women's world champions reshaped what the top of chess looks like. All belong in any honest history of the game.
- —
Judit Polgar Live
The strongest female player in history — world #8, and a slayer of nine world champions including Kasparov.
- —
Miguel Najdorf Live
"The Polish Immortal" — blindfold record-holder and the name behind the Najdorf Sicilian.
- —
Harry Nelson Pillsbury Live
The American who won Hastings 1895 on debut, ahead of Lasker and Steinitz — the great might-have-been before Capablanca.
- Women's WC
Hou Yifan Live
Four-time Women's World Champion and the second-strongest woman ever — youngest female GM in history.
- Women's WC
Ju Wenjun Live
The reigning five-time Women's World Champion — half of China's simultaneous hold on both world titles.
The first three legends
Bobby Fischer →
The "Game of the Century" and the 1972 match that stopped the world. The 13-year-old queen sacrifice that announced a genius.
Mikhail Tal →
The Magician from Riga and the knight sacrifice that won him the title from Botvinnik in 1960. Attacking chess as an art form.
Boris Spassky →
The universal champion and his immortal 1960 King's Gambit against Bronstein — the f-file attack at its purest.
Chess champions — FAQ
Who was the greatest chess player of all time?
There is no settled answer. Garry Kasparov held world #1 longer than anyone and is the most common pick; Bobby Fischer's 1972 peak is legendary; Magnus Carlsen has the highest rating ever achieved. Comparing eras is subjective — competition depth, training methods, and computer assistance changed enormously across the 20th and 21st centuries.
How does the world chess championship lineage work?
The classical title has passed by match play since Wilhelm Steinitz in 1886, each champion defending against a qualified challenger. The line runs through Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, and Carlsen — with a fractured FIDE/classical period (1993–2006) that Kramnik reunified in 2006.
Who is the strongest female chess player in history?
Judit Polgar, by a wide margin. She reached world #8 — the only woman ever in the overall top ten — and defeated nine undisputed or FIDE world champions, including Kasparov, Karpov, Spassky, and Anand. She competed in open events her whole career and never played in the women's world championship.
Famous games, opening by opening
These champions' games run straight through the opening guides on this site — Spassky's King's Gambit, Fischer's Najdorf Sicilian, Tal's sacrificial tactics. Start with a legend, or start with an opening.